Top 100 Know Your Character Quotes
#1. You really have to take your time; you have to know your character and your scene. The line you are about to say comes from the moment right before. It's not what's said, it's what is in between the spaces, it's what's in between the lines; that is the most important to play.
Sarah Shahi
#2. That's why I love doing television because it's something that fans and viewers can sit down each week and get to know your character and get to know the show and get to know what's going on and fall in love with you all over again, like they did in previous shows.
Tahj Mowry
#3. Confident people, who understand comedy, improvise so much better than people who are scared. You can't be scared to improvise. You have to know your character, and then you have to let go.
Marlon Wayans
#4. The main thing about improvising is listening so if something happens that wasn't expected and you know your character, you know what has to happen in this scene, you can react to that in a way that's honest and it might take you in a different direction to go to the same place.
Vince Vaughn
#5. With any actor, if you know your character well enough, you'll know pretty much what he would say under any circumstance, or whatever situation might rear its head.
Denis Leary
#6. Television is a lot of fun. It's faster-paced. The schedule is really desirable, I guess. But as far as films go, and I've only done a couple; film is like a definitive beginning, middle and end. You know your character's arch.
Eric Dane
#7. You try to get to know your character as best as you can before you start filming - what's written and not written.
Paul Dano
#8. I'm not a fan of anybody music who I feel like a sucka. I don't listen to you. They play you in the club, you can have the #1 jam, but if I know your character, how can I listen to your music?
Gucci Mane
#9. The ability to admit that you do not know is the surest indication of your enduring strength
Kirsten Beyer
#10. If you think of the people who are funny in your life, you'll note it's not because they tell jokes, it's because of their character. If you develop characters, then you'll know them, and you'll know how they'll speak. The comedy will come out of the character.
Anne Beatts
#11. With a film, you know the beginning, middle and end of your character's arc. But on a TV show, you have no idea where they're going to end up.
Michael Eklund
#12. You take what you know, and you put it through your own prism. If I play characters that break down or cry, it's Gary Oldman crying; it's not the character crying.
Gary Oldman
#13. To know God, you need only to renounce one thing - your sense of division from God. Otherwise, just stay as you were made, within your natural character.
Elizabeth Gilbert
#14. Some days the burdens may seem so heavy and the weariness so profound that you may wonder if God has forsaken you. Why would He allow you to experience such deep adversity? Yet do not despair. He has a clear purpose for your suffering: so you will know the Savior better and reflect His character.
Charles F. Stanley
#15. You get the part, sign the contract and start to realize millions of people follow this guy and know more about your character than you do.
Chris Hemsworth
#16. It's a whole other way of working when you work in films: You know exactly the arc of your character.
Sissy Spacek
#17. Don't let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does, the truth - don't let that get swallowed up by the great chewing complacency.
Aesop
#18. I love the fact that we've made a film that not only the whole family can go to and enjoy but, you know, it's actually having an effect. You know, Rey's character is a tough woman who your 6-year-old can pick up a lightsaber now and go for it.
Maryann Brandon
#19. I don't know how many times I can sit there and talk about my character or my life. It's interesting to talk about experiences in the context of something you're doing for somebody else, and particularly if you can persuade others to join you in your support.
Wendie Malick
#20. Your reputation is what people say about you. Your character is what God and your wife know about you.
Billy Sunday
#21. A character has a distinctive voice - you should be able to hear them in your head and conduct a conversation with them while you're out walking. If the answers surprise you, you know it's the character speaking and not you.
Jeanette Winterson
#22. I was a theater actor back in the U.K., and you knew the whole play, so you could plot your storyline and character. And then I did 'Lost' and didn't know, and it was kind of frustrating, but I enjoyed it.
Henry Ian Cusick
#23. Life experience is what defines our character, even if it means getting your heart broken or being lied to. You know, you need the downs to appreciate the ups. Going on the adventure or taking that risk is important.
Nev Schulman
#24. I'm happy when people come up and say how they feel about what your character went through, you know, I went through and it's helping me deal with it. I get to see the movie through the audience's eyes and that's really gratifying.
Kimberly Elise
#25. Well, I've always been a character actor, you know, and you always get your share of character actors who are bad guys. So it never surprises me. And if it's good writing, you can find your way into the part well enough.
Colm Meaney
#26. Sometimes I like to think it would be nice if you just had a character, and your personal life was your personal life. My life is definitely out there, you know?
Jenna Marbles
#27. It's important to fight for your character but at the same time realize there's a bigger picture involved and, you know, this is a character that's shared by everybody. It's not just purely your own.
Hayden Panettiere
#28. It's a very strange experience being on set of 'Breaking Bad;' you never know what's coming next for your character. I feel like I don't even know if I'm going to live through the next scene I'm in. It's exciting to work on.
Laura Fraser
#29. The real mark of your character comes from not how you react to your successes, of which I know there will be many. How you react to your failures, of which there will be, if you are bold, a number in your lifetime.
Daniel Goldin
#30. You can't plan your character arc - you have a vague idea, maybe, but I'm constantly surprised. Sometimes actors in films will play the ending of the movie, or even the middle, and you know where it's going - as an audience member you can read the actor.
Evan Peters
#31. I know of nothing more difficult than knowing who you are, and having the courage to share the reasons for the catastrophe of your character with the world.
William H Gass
#32. Ever hear the expression "write what you know?" My version says "write what you want to know." If you want to know about the history of Spain, write about the history of Spain - fiction or nonfiction. If your fascinated by the old west, maybe your character lives there.
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
#33. Creating a company means you're going to go through hell and high water along the way. You need to know the character of the people at your side. Trust is everything.
Adam Braun
#34. Character is more important than rank.
Loyalty is more important than wealth.
And what the people who truly know you think, is more important than your status in the eyes of strangers.
Jeff Kurtti
#35. Just don't pretend you know more about your characters than they do, because you don't. Stay open to them. It's teatime and all the dolls are at the table. Listen. It's that simple.
Anne Lamott
#36. An author is similar to an actor. They play many characters in their lives - photographer, nurse, dancer, doctor, writer, etc. As an author, you have to learn your craft, know each and every element to become that character you're writing about to be able to live and breathe what they do.
Mischa Temaul
#37. To know what you want to say is not the best condition for writing a novel. Novels go happiest when you discover something you did not know you knew: an insight into one of your opaque characters, a metaphor that startles you ... a truth ... that used to elude you.
Norman Mailer
#38. It really helps if you know your subject matter immediately. I find that enormously useful because then you can concentrate on all the usual novelistic things - the character, the plot and so forth - and you don't have to spend an enormous amount of time learning another trade, essentially.
Gregory Benford
#39. Young men, of course, don't want to be guided by old back numbers, but at the same time I know that in my own case I gained a lot by studying the characters of the chiefs under whom I served from time to time. Lord Wolseley, for instance, said: "Use your common sense rather than book instructions."
Robert Baden-Powell
#40. Knowing why you are is your purpose.
Knowing who you are is your style.
Knowing what you are is your character
Debasish Mridha
#41. Fans believe they have a relationship with you, either through your TV character or, more reasonably, through the tweets you may have exchanged. In a way, you have gotten to know them. You learn about people's kids, families, pets.
Gina Bellman
#42. As an actor, you can have your own backstory and prepare all the details that you need to know for your character.
Dwayne Johnson
#43. Great advantage is drawn from knowledge of your adversary, and when you know the measure of his intelligence and character, you can use it to play on his weakness.
Frederick The Great
#44. People doing rote assembly-line movements, or someone tossing dough over and over in a pizza parlour is boring. It's boring to watch and boring to perform. But if you're a bad pizza thrower who drops the dough or watches it stick to the ceiling, then we know something more about your character.
Mark Sutton
#45. Even when I'm writing in character I'm normally still writing about things I know or things that have happened to me or using that character to start an exploration of my own consciousness. Really though, any character that you can examine is just an examination of a part of your own consciousness.
Karen Walker
#46. It's really important to visit a site you are writing about. Even if you know it well, even if you have lived there, it's important to take a fresh look in terms of your characters and your story.
Marge Piercy
#47. To be honest, I can't imagine how anyone could say 'I'm weak' and then stay that way. If you know that about yourself, why not fight it, why not develop your character? Their answer has always been: 'Because it's much easier not to!
Anne Frank
#48. I wouldn't know how to write a weak female character. I read so much epic fantasy growing up, where you have these sword-wielding, in-your-face warrior maidens.
Richelle Mead
#49. If it's time for your character to go, it's time for your character to go - you know what I mean? That's it. It doesn't matter who you are.
Steve Schirripa
#50. I take it you know my companion?"
Oh,yes!" said Savage, his smile disappearing. "We know all about Ruby Journey. Please don't let her kill anyone important. Or set fire to anything."
Your reputation precedes you," Random said dryly to Ruby.
Simon R. Green
#51. I hate the analyzing thing. People say, 'Why do you think your character did that? I don't know. I'm not an analyst, and they're not in psychotherapy. Unless it's a film where they're in therapy.
Samantha Morton
#52. What many people do not understand is: It's not about who you think you know, but about who actually knows you. So better start giving today, be it giving everything at your job, or giving out lunch to that man. Start giving, and the world will know your true character!
Akilnathan Logeswaran
#53. I can't imagine how anyone can say: "I'm weak," and then remain so. After all, if you know it, why not fight against it, why not try to train your character? The answer was: "Because it's so much easier not to!
Anne Frank
#54. The time you spend alone with God will transform your character and increase your devotion. Then your integrity and godly behavior in an unbelieving world will make others long to know the Lord.
Charles Stanley
#55. Besides, I know the Athenian character from experience: you like to be told pleasant news, but if things do not turn out in the way you have been led to expect, then you blame your informants afterwards. I therefore thought it safer to let you know the truth.
Thucydides
#56. I know it sounds silly, but in auditions for film or TV, the words aren't as important - you need to get into the character and have the gist of the scene. But in theater, if you don't do it word for word, then you throw off your scene partner.
Morgan Saylor
#57. Il ne faut point donner d'esprit a' ses personnages; mais savoir les placer dans des circonstances qui leur en donnent. You should not give wit to your characters, but know instead how to put them in situations which will make them witty.
Denis Diderot
#58. As an actor, you have to just think about the truth of your character. You have to think about how to play the character in the way that you know it needs to be played in your heart and why you were hired.
Emma Stone
#59. I'm never lonely when I'm writing, because you live with the characters that are so alive in your mind. And you really see them and know them and get to be friends with them.
Julie Andrews
#60. All of my characters are a little bit based on people I know in real life. You know when you do that you have to change the character a little bit in case your friend or your relative reads the book, because you don't want them to know you wrote about them ... They might get mad.
Meg Cabot
#61. All you need to know about plotting is twofold. 1. Give your characters goals. 2. Don't let them reach those goals.
J.A. Konrath
#62. My aim is to play Test matches. For me, there is a different feel of Test cricket as it tests your character. You come to know about your mental toughness, and most importantly, there is another level of satisfaction as a player.
Suresh Raina
#63. Character creates consistency, and if your people know what they can expect from you, they will continue to look to you for leadership.
John C. Maxwell
#64. You know, I don't talk about the characters that I play. Years ago, I was a little timid about it and I kind of squirmed when I was asked, 'Could you tell us something about your character.' Now with a little self-confidence that comes with the grey beard, I just flatly refuse.
Christoph Waltz
#65. When someone says, 'I admire your character,' I never know whether the person is talking about my ethics or referring to someone in one of my books.
Stifyn Emrys
#66. Early in my career, I'd plan something out for my characters. But I've learned that if you know who your character is and you go on instinct, it won't be wrong. It's never wrong. It's just different.
Ari Millen
#67. For a writer, they say write what you know. As a performer, you find it in yourself, in your heart. You relate to the character. You try to live it, try to have it be real for you.
Uma Thurman
#68. You know, when you're in your twenties you use a great deal of symbolism. You somehow think that a character standing beneath a cross is more interesting than a character standing underneath a billboard, but when you get a little older you realize that there's not much difference.
Paul Schrader
#69. Do you know how writers often say the characters take over ... But that is more or less what it always feels like to me, too. Even though that's just a way of describing how your brain is working, it's still what you tend to feel.
Wes Anderson
#70. Some actors - myself included - like to know where your character's going: you like to know what the arc is for the character so that you can plan where you're going to give beats for this, that, and the other and give the audience what they want. But on 'Homeland,' you do the opposite.
Raza Jaffrey
#71. I'm very kinesthetic, and when you're that way, you just feel it in your body. I know that other actors think with the logical part of their brain, but I wear my character inside my body, even when I'm away from the set.
Natassia Malthe
#73. Plot grows out of character. If you focus on who the people in your story are, if you sit and write about two people you are getting to know better every day, something is bound to happen.
Anne Lamott
#74. You need tell me nothing; I already know your heart. Through your simplest choices you've given yourself away.
Richelle E. Goodrich
#75. In real life, you don't know what's going to happen to you, so why would your character know? It's liberating to play the emotion your character is feeling at the time and not know what's coming up. I like it.
Erin Richards
#76. One exercise I always do when I'm getting to know a character is ask her to tell me her secrets. Sit down with a pen and paper, and start with, 'I never told anybody ... ' and go from there, writing in the voice of your character.
Jennifer McMahon
#77. Everyone has to act out of character sometimes. It's like taking your clothes off: you feel free without your character but very naked, unprotected. Unfinished. So you get dressed again- you put on yourself-and then you know who you are.
Jan Siegel
#78. In revision, your imagination becomes deeply engaged with your material. It's when you come to know your characters and begin to perceive their motivations and values.
John Dufresne
#79. The best thing about acting is when you're playing a scene and you actually become your character and lose yourself in that moment. That's when you know you've been succeeded at what you've worked very hard to accomplish in your profession. Those are the truly thrilling moments.
Meryl Streep
#80. Once you know the world you know how your character fits into it.
Rupert Sanders
#81. We all seem to get this idea that, in order to be sacred, we have to make some massive, drastic change of character, that we have to renounce our individuality. To know God, you only need to renounce one thing - your sense of division from God
Elizabeth Gilbert
#82. There are not that many jobs as an actor where you don't get to know what your character will be doing from episode to episode.
Linda Cardellini
#83. But when you get to know a character so well, you start to have insights that you can't show because you're confined to your script of your hit show.
John Lloyd Young
#84. Yeah, it is, because it's a real discovery of your inner resources, you know. That's what my character is all about and what my playing is all about. But to get up there and just go inside and draw out something that makes you feel good first and foremost.
Eric Clapton
#85. You definitely care about your character because you wear it and you're associated to it by all means and I love the change and spontaneity. At the same time, you know, acting is a profession and you realize that this character is not necessarily your property.
Hayden Panettiere
#86. 'On the Road' is another one of those, a film in which the audience has a very clear idea of who they think your character is, so you know you are asking for it. But that's the challenge.
Sam Riley
#87. You don't know me. Don't ever think you know me. The only things you know about me are the things you made me do, and that illustrates your character, not mine.
Rachel Vincent
#88. It's Halloween, you can tell everyone you're going as your favorite Steampunck character."
"I don't even know what that is!"
"Because your generation has no taste in speculative science fiction.
Girl Vs Monster
#89. Your vibes define your character.
Be the one for whom people demand,
When you know you are destined for greatness,
You feel incomplete until you succeed.
Dipika Agarwal
#90. What's great about being a character actor is you know that you can survive forever. It's not about the gloss of your eyebrows.
Martin Short
#91. Mike Leigh encourages you to choose a person that you know to base your character on. You write a whole list of people that you know and you go through that list in great depth with him. And then he chooses one of those people from your list.
Jane Horrocks
#92. You know how sometimes you hear a chord played on an organ and you can feel it vibrating in your bones? Sometimes when I'm writing, I can feel my bones vibrating because I'll have a thought or I'll have a character's voice in my head, and that's when I know I'm on the right track.
Laurie Halse Anderson
#93. If your life gets off to a rough start, just know this is helping you develop depth of personality and depth of character.
John Bytheway
#94. You cannot write your character until you know how he or she thinks, until you know what their philosophy is in the world that they occupy.
Don Roff
#95. Most portraits are lies. People are rarely what they appear to be, especially in front of a camera. You might know me your entire lifetime and never reveal yourself to me. To interpret wrinkles as character is insult not insight.
Duane Michals
#96. The more people know about you, the more face-time you get in the media, the harder your job becomes to create a character in whom people suspend disbelief.
Vera Farmiga
#97. You must achieve the confidence of knowing that you possess absolute, unbending, unimpeachable integrity. Everyone must know that. Above all else, it is integrity that defines your character.
Dave Calhoun
#98. You should think about your character. Know where you are changing, how you will be changed, what cannot be changed back again.
Amy Tan
#99. You risked an awful lot for someone you hardly know.' I narrow my eyes. 'THAT doesn't say much about your character. Perhaps you should wait until someone's about to be executed for a mistake YOU made.
Marie Lu
#100. Science fiction fans are the smartest fans in television. They just are. They're just so smart, and they know so much detail and information. They're a part of the story and they inform your character, as well. We all listen to the fans, and we love their feedback and the attention they give us.
Azita Ghanizada
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