George R. R. Martin Quotes

The literary story is a story that deals with the complicated human heart with an honest tolerance for the ambiguity in which we live. No good guys, no bad guys, just guys: that is, people bearing up in the crucible of their days and certainly not always - if ever - capable of articulating their condition.

To me, any character that is conflicted inside as well as outside of themselves is always a better role to play.

No characters in 'Stay Close,' including the leads, are black and white. I want them to be grey. I think that makes for a much more interesting reading experience, something that will stay with you a little bit longer.

I think conflicted characters are always more interesting.

He's a man who... well, one of the great things about Shakespeare is that his characters are inconsistent, and that's something I think makes him a writer above most writers because inconsistency is what we, as people, are full of. We maybe don't see it in ourselves too often, but we are inconsistent.

Evil is such a simplistic way to describe any character, be it Iago or Caliban, or any character from history.

I love to start characters in a place where you think you know them. We can make all kinds of assumptions about them and think they have no redeeming qualities, but like everyone, they're complex.

I think I'm drawn to characters with complexity or who are under duress in some way and have some conflict going on.

We all have these tendencies in us that could go this way or that. I think that's the real key in writing. To look at a character without judgment.

I happen to like movies and plays about dislikeable people as long as I get to know why they are what they are.

The bad guys are not typical; they are not just bad, they are interesting. They might be good or bad.

I like stories where there's a center that's mushy and complicated.

Evil is relative - and what I mean by that is that our villains are as complex, as deep and as compelling as any of our heroes. Every antagonist in the DC Universe has a unique darkness, desire and drive. And the reason for being of 'Forever Evil' is to explore that darkness.

What I always studied in screenwriting from my mentor John Glavin was that the most interesting characters are characters with shades of gray.

I think any character has to be well-rounded, whether they are male or female - they have to be complex and make choices that maybe we don't agree with, you know? I guess that's what makes them human.

The characters that have greys are the more interesting characters. The hero who sometimes crosses the line and the villain who sometimes doesn't are just much more interesting.

I like playing complex, interesting characters. Sometimes I don't think there's much of a strong line between right and wrong for a character. Every character is somewhere on a moral spectrum.

However, for my characters to have depth, they have to be human and complex, have both qualities and flaws, do the right things at times, and at others, things they'll regret having done and not necessarily know how to undo.

The beauty of Sudhir's protagonists is that they are not shown as black and white. There are various layers to the characters.

I like fractured characters with human follies.

Exploring the dark side of my characters' personality is my forte.

It's really interesting to play someone you wouldn't want to ever spend more than a couple of drinks with - but who has redeemable characteristics.

Somebody - and I'm going to guess it was Hitchcock - once said that everyone has their reasons. If you remember that, as a writer, you'll write better than average villains.

I love playing roles where it's not just the good guy or the bad guy.

It is difficult to portray grey characters because there is a very thin line between being nasty and slightly negative.