The Wayans Brothers said they would go out for the day, running errands, whatever, and get into character, some imagined 'being', and stay in character all day.

You don't have to play the a--hole or extreme of anything, just stay in character, and try to be interesting. People don't like being fooled so beware going overboard with interactions with others. Don't tell them a detailed story they later find out isn't true, and are likely to be disappointed that you 'used' them this way. Just 'create' a character with a back-story motivation you can 'play'.

Julia Marlowe studied 'the business' of every character in a play, the gestures, stances, movements across the stage. She studied Shylock, trying to comprehend why he was the way he was, going beyond the play to study reality to comprehend his life situation in his time.

The actor in "Midnight Cowboy" created the character of Rico Rizzo, not a man to be envied or admired, just 'real', and won high praise for it.
(Dustin Hoffman)

I saw a movie a couple years back where an actor tried to portray a brilliant scientist who walked with a cane and spoke very rapidly. I immediately saw in his movements that he wasn't 'real', overplaying it, and couldn't understand his spluttering speech, so his words didn't work to convey the character either.

Your library has or can get books on Method Acting. A little study to expand your conception of the 'method' can go a long way to increasing your effectiveness.

Lon Chaney got roles by using makeup to make him look more like what he thought they were looking for.

Directors may speak to actors helping them define their character's motives.

Johnny Depp imagined Keith Richards, Keith's mannerisms and speech, to create his Jack Sparrow "Pirates of the Caribbean" character. I defy anyone to spot that 'method' without knowing that's what you're seeing. But it worked. Why is Jack Sparrow the way he is? Some other character explains it to another as a result of Jack's long exposure to the sun while lost at sea, if memory serves.

Jennifer Lawrence has a great facility for becoming the character. See her in several films, not necessarily the Mocking Jay series. "Winter's Bone", "Silver Linings Playbook", any third movie, to study her becoming that character. Subdued, but effective.

I remember Jack Nicholson, the actor disappearing into the character in the first Batman movie, playing The Joker.

Lawrence Fishburn, playing Ike Turner, had me hatin' on Ike Turner, "What's Love Got To Do With It", when I realized, "That ain't Ike! That's actor Lawrence Fishburn. The character wasn't hard to hate, but that the actor had stirred that emotion in me before I realized it, struck me as a well-accomplished method performance.

Last edited by Gary E. Andrews; 07/15/19 07:06 PM.
There will always be another song to be written. Someone will write it. Why not you? www.garyeandrews.com