Watching familiar characters take unexpected turns is very appealing.
One thing George R. R. Martin does is surprising things to main characters. But he says so himself.
The only reason I'm in 'Kingsman' is because Matthew enjoys playing with the unexpected. I'm not playing Harry Hart because I'm the butchest actor in Britain. I'm playing it because he said I'm the last person anyone would expect to see in that role!
'Thunderbolts' I was mostly attracted to because I really wanted to write Punisher and Elektra and Deadpool, who are characters I have always really enjoyed. But the funny thing is that over time, I came to really like Red Leader; he became one of my favorite guys in the book. Sometimes characters surprise you.
I love the idea of being the underdog, coming in with a take on this underdog character and completely blow people's expectations away. Like, 'Oh, you thought he was going to be a wimpy character? No no no.'
As an actor, you want to do something which audience don't expect from you.
It was great as an actor to be given the story line I was given but I didn't expect Craig to stay so it was a lovely twist when I found out they'd decided to keep him.
If you over-plot your book you strangle your characters. Your characters have to have enough freedom and life to be able to surprise you.
When you put your characters in a dire situation, they often do things that surprise even you, so you have to go back and revise your original conception of who they are.
My favorite characters that I've gotten to do are the ones that surprised me the most.
Writing for me is not a premeditated act. It just happens - characters keep coming out of nowhere and doing things I never expected them to do. The most persistent and most productive of these has been Paul Christopher, whom I didn't expect to see again after he appeared in 'The Miernik Dossier.'
I love it when characters surprise you, just like real people. When I write a scene I just try to make the characters behave in a way that feels natural to them. Sometimes that means they make a left turn and do something unexpected. Those are always the best scenes in my opinion.
For me it's more fun to find an unexpected moment for a character to sing when you don't expect them to.
How’s Norbert doin’?” Norbert?” Charlie laughed. “The Norwegian Ridgeback? We call her Norberta now.” Wha—Norbert’s a girl?
