Hey actors!
I’m a screenwriter, and one thing that always fascinates me is how you bring words to life. I can write the emotions, the beats, even the silences, but once it’s in an actor’s hands, it becomes something new, something alive.
Sometimes I’ll picture a character one way while writing, but then an actor interprets them with completely different energy — and suddenly the scene hits harder than I imagined. It’s wild (and kinda beautiful).
So I’m curious, when you read a script, what’s the first thing you look for to find your way in to the character? Is it the dialogue? The subtext? The given circumstances? Or something else entirely?
Bonus question: What’s something you wish writers knew about how actors work?
Would love to hear your thoughts on this, I think writers and actors speak the same language, just with different accents
— Miguel
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Great questions, Chikaima Uwakwe!
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For me, it's all about the given circumstances and the dialogue. Those are the two things that you can't change. Then I break it down from there.
What I wish writers knew about actors work? Give us as much as possible. Write well, don't use cliches. It is very difficult to play a character with "nothing to do." I come from the theater where every character has a purpose. Every character drives the plot forward. I take that mentality to television and some shows like Law and Order are experts at making every count. It is like watching a stage play. Billions is another great example. But some TV shows....as a viewer who is an actor, sometimes I ask myself, "why are they there?" It's the old Star Trek joke. Whenever a new crew member suddenly appears, you know they're going to die.
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First, I'd like to say actors are at different stages in development: Beginner, intermediate and advanced. Our education is everything from drop in acting classes to acting degrees from universities to community playhouses that offer onstage experience. And more options exist. I say this because there are methods and processes for actors to work through to develop their approach to bringing words to life. You get in front of people and deliver lines. Your instructor gives you notes. You are asked/taught to decipher a scene by answering questions like: What is the scene about; what are the qualities of your character; what qualities of the character can you relate too? Like a writer takes notes, learns structure, tells a coherent story and brings the characters to life. The work of the actor is always aided by the casting directors talent in matching them to the right character. Then during auditions there is input by instructors, coaches, the writers, the directors. The collaborative process requires a trained actor to connect with their character, but to enable that to happen, the actor for years must try, fail, learn, listen, give, risk it all and do so much more. It's like jumping out of a plane with a parachute, yet knowing everything about the plane, the parachute, the air speed, wind currents, the landing spot, the optional landing spot, the emergency parachute. When you are on stage or on set you have control of your physical and emotional self. You earned the booking, you have rehearsed the lines, and understand the character better than the writer and the director. That is a snapshot anyway. -- My ask of writers (I'm learning that craft myself) is to take two months of scene study and two months of improv classes. Step through the veil to learn our language. You may be happily surprised by the overlap between the two disciplines. Bringing the words, and therefor the character and story, to life, will be more evident, and hopefully closer to the results you are hoping for.
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Really good questions Chikaima Uwakwe For me it's about reading the whole script and seeing how the character fits into the script. More specifically, what the function of the character is to the script, what the writer wanted to convey through the character. I then also look at everything the character says and everything others say about them to get as full a picture as possible of them.
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for me it's about the circumstance and I also try to study that character ( the emotions, dialogue, storyline and character motivation)