Suffice it to say, every actor works differently. Laurence Olivier would put on his costume and when the wardrobe was right, he was in character. That sounds superficial, but it's true, and look at the results.
I once did a role which I couldn't rehearse in my street clothes, I had to have the character's costume on before I could rehearse it. I just couldn't think as the character unless I looked like him, or I knew that I looked like him.
I grew up watching old musicals and seeing Ginger Rogers wearing a beautiful fitted bodice that had ostrich feathers. I love how it moved when she danced. Theatrical pieces like that stayed with me. I wanted to grow up to wear those kinds of things.
For me, as an actor, with any character I'm playing, wardrobe brings a whole other aspect. Once I have the clothing on, it helps the transformation.
I've done a few costume dramas, and people say, 'What was it like wearing the costumes? Did they really help you with your character?,' and most of the time it doesn't make any difference. You're wearing something a bit weird, and it's sort of uncomfortable, but it doesn't really have a huge impact on the part that you're playing.
I always use the analogy that when you go to a jeans store and put on a new pair of jeans, it's a pair of jeans and they feel different; so, when you're dealing with these sort of costumes it's a very big departure and really does make you feel quite different. But it's wonderful.
en you show up to work and put on your undergarments, throw on your suspenders and your cowboy boots, throw some dirt on you, and then get on your spurs, you start to walk a bit different. When you put on your gun belts, you change again. You go through this whole transformation process. All that stuff changes you. Riding a horse changes the way you walk and your demeanor.
Coming from the theatre, I have played some fabulous characters where I get to wear gowns, and I get to be a princess or someone from the 1920s, or I get to wear showgirl costumes. I'm used to wearing a wardrobe that changes how I feel. It's a bit of an outside-in approach - so often, the clothing can reveal so much about a character.
You have to let the costume inform you.
I always believe that most people could do it. I mean obviously I didn't just sit and stand. I used to love cradling the gun and just posing with the hand cocked ready to fire the gun, and the costume helped a great deal.
The costume affects your posture, affects your walk, how you hold yourself, and how you breathe. The costumes make you deliver.
The joy of a period film is that you're taken to another world. The costumes determine the way you move, and then consequently the way you breathe. And then, the way you breathe effects the way you think.
The clothes, the shoes, the gold belts and the necklaces always click me into the character, for sure. You could not feel the character, and then you put on the shoes and get the walk.
Wearing a corset, a ball gown, heels and a swan hat with wings to fight in the forest gave me a whole new appreciation for everyday clothes, because you really become that alter ego while wearing those costumes in those environments on the set. They just influenced everything you tried to do.
My mom made me a Shawn Michaels costume when I was a kid. I wore it every day and ran around the house dancing like him.
Usually, one of the first things I think about when I'm developing a character is what they're wearing. I mean, it sounds very cheesy and very actor-y, but it really does help me figure it out.
'Motorcycle Diaries' had the best costumes - that battered jacket and those linen shirts. I wear linen shirts in real life, too, and I have a nice, simple number I got handed down. As a father, you just stop buying stuff for yourself. It's all for the kids.
Once you embody the language, the character comes really naturally, especially when you put the costume on.
A period film, where you, for example, where you have a traditional wardrobes, you are bound to act a certain way. But in a modern film, a lot of body gesture.
I loved the playfulness of fashion. I think maybe that's why I became an actress. You put on one outfit and feel one way, and another one will make you feel another way. Clothes are a wonderful tool.
I think it always helps when you build a character, and then, you actually step into that character's wardrobe, something else happens. Another angle of the character comes to life.
For me, the costume is very important. More the feel of it than the look of it. I take it more from the inside. So if I wear something that's heavy, it will affect my character. Is it very tight, and do I feel almost imprisoned, or is it very comfortable? It's the feeling of the costume that tells me where to go with the character.
Obviously, just on a visual level, as an actor, when you put on wardrobe and you look in the mirror, you're like, 'Oh, my God. This is great.' It instantly changes your posture and how you feel, and it does affect the performance as well.
Costume is a huge part of getting into character. Your body soaks in what you're wearing, and you turn into someone else.
I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the make-up made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked onto the stage he was fully born.
