Nicole Holofcener Quotes

The bottom line always remains the same: What is the basic humanity of the character? How do I make them resonate with the reader?

When you're building a character, or at least when I'm building a character, you start saying, 'How am I going to make people like him?'

To connect with the characters, you need to connect with the world. If the world feels vaguely familiar, I believe the characters will feel relatable.

A good content always allows me to reach the depth of the characters, and thus, the performance looks more relatable and truthful.

I think it would be very boring dramatically to have a film where everybody was a lawyer or doctor and had no faults. To me, the most important thing is to be truthful.

I always have a contract with a character. Even when he's unappealing. The contract is to give him his due. To tell his story. And to keep his secrets.

I usually don't find myself reacting to my characters. I just create them ... And let the audience decide whether they're empathetic or scared or compelled to cheer me on.

Sympathetic characters usually have a voice. They usually don't have any trouble being heard.

I try to ground most of my characters in reality somehow. That's kind of what I bring to the table.

I do not choose characters because I think, 'Wow, that woman is so strong.' I chose these characters with utmost conviction because I think they were realistic enough to exist, and I really liked the scripts.

I seem to have to make my characters family before I can access their hearts in any way that matters.

I get to play characters that kind of shock people and I enjoy doing that. I like characters that have meaning and get people in the heart. I want to be able to get people to cry or make people angry or sad.

People see truth in my films. That's what they react to, and that's what they relate to.

I love making characters real and believable, through my own experience and choices.

You really have to create everything in order to come away with a full human being on screen.

In my acting, I have tried to do this - to present to audiences a living creature in whom they can recognise themselves or someone they know.

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

Even when I'm playing a lawyer or a doctor, I want to play a person. A human being.

I don't care about sympathy. I care about playing a character who's understandable and clear.

I wanted to give readers the feeling of knowing the characters, a mental image.

I try to create characters that I am fascinated by on some level or intrigued by or can't stand.

But in film you always watch situations or stories that you really have no relation to. A lot of times just because there's no personal connection doesn't mean you can't connect with the film or the characters in the film.

Whether it's a very dramatic part or a comical role, I feel I need to create the same thing: a full-fledged, three-dimensional character that the audience can identify with.

I think the best way to sell a made-up character is to plant his feet into the real earth.

I've always felt, even with sketches, that if you don't care about these people, then it doesn't matter.