Why This is Good

When talking to writers I consult with, or writing these blog posts, I am always using readers, agents, producers and contest judges as the target audience who will be reading and judging your script. When I tell writers what to do or not to do, it is always with the reader, and eventual audience in mind. While it is vital for new screenwriters to focus on the reader and appealing to them to get their script optioned and produced, it is also important to think about actors and how they perceive a script.

Since actors will be the ones eventually bringing your characters to life and reading your written dialogue on screen, focusing on what appeals to them is a good idea. Having an A-list actor attached to your script is one of the many avenues writers can take to getting their story produced. If you happen to be Will Smith’s nephew or Brad Pitt’s housekeeper, and you can get them to read and love your script and want to star in it, you’re better off than someone who won a contest or got a reader to recommend their script.

I asked one of my actor friends to answer some questions for me about character descriptions and the type of characters that appeal to her as an actress.

Q: When reading a script, do you pay attention to the character description or do you get a sense of the character from reading the whole story? Do you consult with the director to determine how to play a certain role or do you go by the writing and your own instincts?

A: When reading a script- a character’s description or character “breakdown” is often used to inform the rest of the script.  Mainly though, an actor will infer as much as they can from the actual text, when the actor has the opportunity to read the whole script.

Character breakdowns are very important outside of that because they are what is passed along to big name agents or posted on the casting websites to get submissions from agents of their actors- so if it doesn’t speak to them in some way- they may not get submitted

I don’t really know how much of that goes on though when you become a larger name- though my guess is that a script and character breakdown would be passed along to said big name actor and the description of the character could completely turn them off to reading the rest of the script if it is something that would be completely out of left field for them to play.

A lot of times the actor does the initial decision making of how they are going to play the scene/character in the scene and then the director will change up their performance accordingly to ensure it matches the rest of the movie.  Though there can be a rehearsal process initially where this type of stuff is hashed out- but mainly it is up to the actor to bring their concept of the character/their essence to the role and then the director helps to inform their decisions.

Let me offer a disclaimer… all productions/directors work differently, this is just stuff that I have gleaned from my daily life as an actor and the seminars/classes/workshops I attend.

Q:  What type of adjectives can writers use to help you understand how to play a character? Are there certain words that make you understand the essence of the character and how to portray them? Are there certain words that make it difficult or don’t help you at all?

A: This is a tough one because I don’t know specifically a word or words that would be confusing.  I can say the more specific about the character the description could be the better. The more generic and overarching a description the more generic and esoteric the character will be played OR the more the actor will have to base their character on their own thoughts about the script.

Q: What type of character gets you excited about a role? What type of character is cliched and/or boring?

A: This one is going to be different based on the actor. There are “cliched” character types that some people really excel at and enjoy playing whereas others may have been there done that and choose to do something meatier.  I think every actor has a different idea of what their dream roles are and that they probably run the gamut of types.

Q: What can a writer do in describing a minor character that gives you something to go on and enough description to inject personality into the role, even if it’s only a few words of description in the script?

A: In my opinion, the minor characters shouldn’t have to purposely inject personality into the role.  The minor characters are there to support the major characters agenda.  They will generally be cast pretty close to type- so they will be pretty in line with a particular actors essence.

Q: Any other thoughts you have on characters and roles, specifically the words writers use to describe the character and anything the writer can do at the script stage of the filmmaking process to make a role more or less appealing, or more or less clear to the actor.

A:  I would have to say- especially now at the beginning of my career… the roles that speak to me most are the ones that are the most like me but in a different context/situation.   Mainly because I know that those are the types of roles that I would get… it’s not until much further into one’s career will they hire you and train you to be a kung fu artist because they want you to be in their movie. (Right now, they would just hire a kung-fu artist- they wouldn’t bother hiring me to teach me)- does that make sense?