Edi Gathegi Quotes

A while ago, I did a television adaptation of 'Bleak House,' and the character I played, as far as I was concerned, had no redeeming features whatsoever. I wasn't about to try to find any; I didn't need to.

If you never fall in love with your character, you'll never be able to do that character justice. No matter who it is, no matter what the character does, you have to find the reason for it. Everyone's got a reason for what they do, even if it's a reason that they're not proud of.

I am not one of those actors who dwells on the histrionics and the subtext and future text of the character. I deal with the scenes that I'm doing at that specific time, because if I do that, they play in more of a real way.

I just try not to look at any role as a comedic role or a dramatic role. I just try to stay in the movie I'm in.

I feel I should never do passive characters. They don't work for me.

I've never seen any character I've ever played as a bad guy or a good guy.

I just want to keep finding special characters that I feel like I can bring to life and characters that are real and not superficial.

If I'm doing my job as an actor, the audience knows everything I know about the character.

There are a lot of actors who will sit here and talk to you about characters - 'He does this, and she's a really interesting character because she does this.' I'm not like that at all. I'm not an actory actor.

I don't categorize characters into one syllable. These are fully-rounded characters that I don't judge; I just play them.

As an actor, I've always found that my job is not to judge the content in which I've agreed to perform in. What I try to do is just find the truth in every moment that they've written.

I don't worry about whether a character is likable, as long as the character is believable.

I do feel more towards certain characters who have depth and intelligence.

The trick to acting is not to show off, it's to think the thoughts of the character.

I think when you play a role, you always have to be a defense attorney for that character.

Your structure and format may not be perfect, and you may not have picked the perfect franchise, but if I pick up a script, and the characters are real, whole, complicated and come from a place of somebody who really is feeling it, that's what people remember.

Even when I'm reading a script where I'm supposed to be looking at the lead role, I'll find myself gravitating toward some small weirdo in a few scenes instead. I'm very instinctive like that and I love the challenge of not having a lot of time to create someone who feels real.

When I look at a character, whether he's good or bad, one scene or 10 scenes, I just have to find my way in.

Every actor turns everything round to their character.

With any project I work on - not just 'True Detective' - I don't feel the need just to play a strong woman. I don't want the audience to say, 'Oh, she was so strong.' I want to play characters that are flawed and interesting.

I think, when I write, one of the things that I'm really attempting to do is I'm attempting to humanize my characters.

In general, between an actor and a character, there needs to be a falling in love, if you will - which I'm saying in quotes.

Vijay Sethupathi looks a film as a film. He never looks at what kind image he is going to get out of the character.

I just don't play a character for the heck of it. Rather, I always look for a human element in every character that I play.

My acting style changes according to the way a character is imagined.