Lena Dunham Quotes

I always just get excited about the character. When something rings true for me, then I'm ready to do it.

We have no filter for music, but we feel it when what's being spoken and sung is telling a story and evidencing a character.

As the camera, I try to subordinate every word to be truthful and honest to each character's context.

A novel that features real people is complicated, but in the end, that extra challenge is all for the good.

I don't just look at things as an actor. I've also written several films, so I look at it as a storyteller and I know if something worked and should have been in there for the benefit of the story and the benefit of the character.

I'm not a big fan of violent movies, it's not something I like to watch. And it's not my aim or goal to make a violent movie. My characters are very important, so when I'm trying to depict a certain character in my movie, if my character is violent, it will be expressed that way in the film. You cannot really deny what a character is about. To repeat, my movie end up becoming violent, but I don't start with the intent of making violent movies.

I don't really think in terms of genre, I think in terms of story and character.

I'm not saying you need to become a spokesperson for every cause your character goes through, but it's important to absolutely do the best job we can in portraying a disease, and all the crap that goes with it.

There's a rule in acting called, 'Don't play the result.' If you have a character who's going to end up in a certain place, don't play that until you get there. Play each scene and each beat as it comes. And that's what you do in life: You don't play the result.

I'm pulling out different aspects of my personality in writing each character and, if I'm doing my job well, I'm being true to the situation and true to the character.

In drama, the characters should determine the story. In melodrama, the story determines the characters.

As a rule, I don't worry about genre. I just want to tell a good story, with characters that interest me and my readers.

I'm working on a project called Lemons, produced by Killer Films. The director has a great perspective on character development.

Well, you put a little piece of yourself into every character that you do. Even if you're playing some psychotic person, which of course I'm not, some part of you is in that character and it's hopefully believable. I always come back to the fact that my own instinct is better than something I build in my mind.

What I do is to collaborate with each actor and work one-on-one to create a character. And that is a matter of huge complexity and is a combination of a great deal of discussion and a lot of practical work. It involves a lot of consideration for the real people out there, and all kinds of sources of real people. The result is the character. But I'm not supposed to talk about what it is we do, because it's nobody's business.

The characters are telling you the story. I'm not telling you the story, they're going to do it. If I do it right, you will get the whole story.

A character to me can't be contrived. I don't like to contrive characters. They have to have an element of truth.

I used to need the character but as I've gotten older I need it less and less - I prefer to play some version of myself. To approach any acting job as me just being me.

There is a story that you have to tell within a certain amount of time, and you can only show so much of the character. So as much as the script is born from the source material, there are certain limitations.

When you do your comedy and your drama, your acting style doesn't change. If it's a comedy, the situations and the characters might be a little funnier, but you're just trying to be honest.

When I was young I used to sit in the cinema thinking wouldn't it be great if you could have a film in which the characters were like real people instead of being like actors.

I never base characters on real people - you can get into so much trouble that way!

When people embrace character, it informs their living, breathing moments in a scene so well.

I really want to try to explore the characters from angles you've never seen and keep them classic and iconic.

I prefer smaller movies because they tend to be more about character than about story.