Complex Characterization Quotes

I think the parts that I played sort of broke the mould in terms of - you know, I played grey characters, the bad girl with a good heart, there was a good reason for her to be bad.

Everyone says villains are thankless parts, but those are really the best roles.

I like movies that make you semi fall in love with the villain so you have sympathy for him.

When you cast someone like Natalie Portman, the character can't just be the love interest.

There is this film called 'La Femme Nikita.' I want to play something like that. This woman with a gun in her hand but with tears in her eyes. I would love to play that kind of vulnerability on screen.

I think first-person narrators should be complex, because otherwise the first-person is too shallow and predictable. I like a first-person narrator who can't totally be trusted.

I don't know... I don't think you can trust any of Kurt's characters. That's how Mr. Sutter operates: nothing is what it seems.

Deathstroke is a villain. Don't come to the book with any expectations that he will, in any way or sense or form, act heroically. He's a bad guy, and that's the fun of it.

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

If you can write a character who is attractive but morally reprehensible, then you've got a character. It's got to feel like people I know and it doesn't just become a bag of tricks.

My general philosophy of playing bad guys, which I've sort of done, you know, half the time is, you know, very few people who we view as bad guys get out of bed and think, 'What evil, terrible thing am I going to do today?' Most people see their motivations as justified - as, you know, justifying whatever they do.

Nobody wants to play the antihero.

'Deathstroke' became an interesting challenge - not just because of his ethnicity, but because he's a villain. I've never written a villain as a protagonist of a series before. I thought this could be an interesting challenge. That's really what got my attention, and it just went from there.

Part of what I like about the best villains in TV and film is when you feel sorry for them, and that makes you feel even worse for feeling guilty about wanting them to succeed, in some way.

Yes, I do have a soft spot for complicated villains who can't help themselves.

I don't like the idea of playing a one-dimensional character who is just fearless, strong, and killer and has instincts and just thrives in dangerous circumstances - that's really boring to me, and I don't think it represents what most women feel inside.

There is something very exciting when you're playing a villain. You're being a rebel within the story because you are breaking the norms, and also when it comes to the structure of what a conventional lead is supposed to be.

I've always been interested in the antihero myself.

You know when you see a play and there is a character whom you know so well that you hate them and love them at the same time? That is Michael Potts' portrayal of Turnbo in August Wilson's 'Jitney.'

The thing about villains is most people play them with the shifty eyes and all that, whereas I play them as good guys. 'Cos everyone thinks they're a goodie, don't they?

If I play a villain, I try to find his lightness and his good side. And if I play a hero or a good guy, I'll try to find his darkness or his flaws. Because I don't believe in good and evil. I believe in grays.

I think when you have a character as richly drawn, I suppose then there are subconscious, mental notes that you've made.