June 2005 – Vol. II, Issue 5
Feature Article: The Essence of Character
Alan Alda, while being interviewed about his Oscar-nominated role playing Senator Ralph Owen Brewster in the film The Aviator, was asked the following question: “What is your method of preparing to play a character?” In addition to talking about finding some common ground with the character and finding a way to relate, he said something interesting. He said that for him, it all boils down to two 2400-year-old questions that he attributed to Aristotle: 1) “what does the character want?” and 2) “how does the character try to get it?” “So,” Alan said, “How do they go about getting what they want? Are they ingratiating? Are they bullying? Are they devious?” Their actions through their life are colored by what they want, and their character determined by how they try to get it.
That got me thinking. If character can be described by those two things, how would someone describe you? What is the essence of your character? Better still, do you truly know what you want and what you
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