Becoming a character actor involves deep script analysis, careful crafting of each role, and specific choices that require you to work beyond your natural habits and mannerisms. Let's dive in.
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Walton Goggins on "The Righteous Gemstones," Courtesy Ryan Green/HBO
Character actors build a career out of playing a wide range of unconventional, supporting roles. In general, character actors:
- Do their research: The cornerstone of character acting is the homework put into crafting every element of a performance. Character actors ask themselves foundational questions. Who is this person? Where did they come from? What makes them the person they are, who makes the choices they do?
- Disappear: Character actors are most interested in playing roles wholly unlike themselves. "Go fully to the character’s words, actions and contradictions, regardless of how unfamiliar to you they are, and you will transform," says acting teacher Paul Barry. "Drag the character kicking and screaming to the way you already talk, think and act because it is easier for you, and don’t be surprised if you are type cast in every role you ever play."
- Thrive in supporting roles: Character acting lends itself to supporting roles that bolster the performance of the lead actor(s). The character actor is there to provide the lead with new perspectives, comic relief, or any amount of colorful shading. Often, character actors build an eclectic resume. Tim Blake Nelson remembers the advice he received from fellow character actor Lois Smith:
“She said Tim, you’re not only an actor, but you’re a character actor," Nelson says. "For us, it’s not about the one role, it’s not about everything changing in an instant. It’s about what you accumulate over a lifetime. Let your career unfold over a lifetime."
Acting that comes straight from yourself is mainly just living as you would in an imaginary world. It does not require you to make character choices. For example, if you’re a girl from a blue-collar family in New York and you’re acting from yourself, you’ll approach the scene as just that: a blue-collar, young female New Yorker.
In straight acting, an actor might improvise as Larry David did on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” never veering far from his actual personality and only putting himself in different, imaginary situations. But if Larry David chose to play an English king, he would enter the world of script analysis and character interpretation, as the demands of this different being would require a change of voice, manner, and behavior.
The 5 Ws of Acting & Screenwriting: How to Create Realistic, Relatable Characters Character acting requires an actor to fully embody the role they're playing, regardless of their own background and personality. A character actor's research, preparation, and process will impact every aspect of their performance, from the way the character walks to their speech patterns and moment-to-moment decisions.
“It’s up to you to do the work to clean up all of what you’ve heard and feel and think about yourself to be transformative," says actor Giancarlo Esposito ("Breaking Bad," "Better Call Saul"). "I’m a chameleon. That’s what I do. That’s how I make my living, is being a chameleon.”
Unlike the classic idea of a "movie star" performance—which is often bolstered by the strength of the actor's charisma and presence — the hallmark of a great character actor is that the audience doesn't see the actor, you see the character. Character actors immerse themselves in another time, period, class, and world. Therefore, character actors are known for playing a wider range of roles with more room for experimentation. Which isn't to say you can't be a lead actor without also diving deep into character work. Performers like Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Charlize Theron, and Lupita Nyong'o have made movie star careers out of their bold on-screen choices.
“The kind of leading men that I grew up seeing were so pretty, and so amazing at what they did. And I wasn’t that. To me, Paul Newman was a leading man. I wasn’t that. Gary Cooper was a leading man. I wasn’t that,” says Vincent D'Onofrio ("Full Metal Jacket," "Men In Black"). “Even guys like Peter O’Toole who used to do extreme character roles, he was a huge influence on me. I think that sort of acting was always just more interesting to me."
Famous character actors
Many Hollywood stars have built their careers around being character actors. Famous character actors include:
- Shea Whigham ("Boardwalk Empire," "Take Shelter")
- Stephen Root ("Barry," "Office Space")
- Lance Reddick ("John Wick," "The Wire")
- Ann Dowd ("The Handmaid's Tale," "Hereditary")
- Michael Stuhlbarg ("A Serious Man," "Call Me By Your Name")
- Judy Greer ("13 Going on 30," "Ant-Man")
- Octavia Spencer ("Hidden Figures," "Ma")
- Margo Martindale ("The Americans," "Cocaine Bear")
- Harry Dean Stanton ("Alien," "Twin Peaks")
- Luis Guzmán ("Boogie Nights," "Wednesday")
- CCH Pounder ("The X-Files," "Avatar")
With its almost limitless possibilities to expand an acting performance, character acting involves purposeful behavioral and emotional choices that allow you to expand your reach and range as an actor. To start on your own character acting path, read a variety of plays and scripts that have a challenging array of characters and start your exploration.
