Be Your Own Character!

Where do characters come from? Of course, that is a rhetorical question, most characters come from our minds. Character development has always been deeply interesting for me. As an actor, I spend a large amount of time finding those perfect characters to portray on stage. As a director, I am constantly pushing my students to find those idiosyncrasies that will create a memorable character. As a writer, my characters come from inside. I can’t say that none of my characters have some counterpart in the real world, but I would like to think that all of them are more or less creations of my fetid imagination. If I have one fall-back position for characters I am constantly looking at ancient history. My characters could many ways, be called stock characters. I am beginning with certain personality traits that were popularized during Commedia dell’arte. I normally begin with one-dimensional characters and then layer on the added dimensions until I get what I need.  I would say one of the most important things is to always remember each character is the hero of their own narrative. This makes the most evil of characters believable.