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Character Quotes

Character shows up in fiction, politics and physics.

"Character" is used two distinct ways in this collection — as a literary term about how a fictional character carries moral weight, and as a description of personal integrity tied to one's politics and work. For traits and personality more broadly, see Personality quotes.

Nobody's really unsympathetic, I think. People do good and bad things. If a character's totally unsympathetic, they're not real and I'm not interested.

Quotes by Matthew Macfadyen

On a TV show, you don't know where the character is going.

Quotes by Matthew Morrison

I'm an actor. I try to play a character in a really cool story, the very best I can.

Quotes by Matthew Fox

Filmmaking is always sort of building a mosaic of this arc of what the character is going through.

Quotes by Matthew Fox

Thing is, I'm a funny actor, but I'm not good at being funny. I'm going to ramble for a second: I'm an actor who can make things funny in the moment, like in stakes or in circumstances or out of...

Quotes by Matthew Lillard

Character actors are becoming a thing of the past. They're just going by the wayside. They're just cutting through that caliber of acting.

Quotes by Matthew Lillard

Not a having and a resting, but a growing and becoming, is the character of perfection as culture conceives it.

Quotes by Matthew Arnold

When I draw a character, very often as I'm doing a face, my face mirrors the expression.

Quotes by Matthew Ashford

It ended up being a very good thing, because they finally started writing for the character, and I realized that you have to go to work with a purpose. I learned from the experience and then moved on.

Quotes by Matthew Ashford

I played a lot of character parts in school.

Quotes by Matthew Ashford

After doing this, going away, trying other things and working on other shows, this character, and working within Days of Our Lives, has been one of the most enjoyable experiences in my career.

Quotes by Matthew Ashford

I probably wouldn't make a good accountant. I don't even understand what my accountant tells me. But the character is a sort of exaggerated version of me, he's a little more frightened than I am, everything seems so much bigger...

Quotes by Matthew Broderick

I'm very opinionated, and when you're put in a position where you're getting the storylines that are not necessarily what's cranking at the back of your mind, or digging at the potential of your character and you have to sit...

Quotes by Matthew Davis

Initially, I had started doing theater, where the actor has a direct relationship to the audience. So, moving into film and television disconnected me. When you do a film, you start to get the character, and then it disappears for...

Quotes by Matthew Davis

I spent a lot of time in Chicago at a place called The Annoyance Theater, where we would develop one-act plays through improv, and you would just improvise scenes and then discover something about the character and use it in...

Quotes by Matt Walsh

I'm constantly trying to mine the DNA of John Constantine and stay true to that character in the comic books.

Quotes by Matt Ryan

For me, my preference for comedy is grounding it in the psychology of the character, and not just kind of making faces. Even when it's a crazy character, grounded comedy resonates more with people because it doesn't look like you're...

Quotes by Matt McGorry

My character on 'Orange is the New Black' is not one that requires being absolutely shredded with 5% body fat. But I wouldn't be opposed to doing that for a role one day.

Quotes by Matt McGorry

We're used to boy meets girl, boy likes girl, instant attraction on TV. But you throw a son in there, you throw a marriage in there, and you've got some really good character stuff.

Quotes by Matt Passmore

As an actor, the biggest compliment you can get, in my book is for someone to believe that you're the character.

Quotes by Matt LeBlanc

Frequently Asked Questions

What different meanings of "character" appear on this page?
Several - literary character in the sense of a written character's moral dimension, the idea that one's politics and the character of their work are inseparable, the freeing quality of dialogue comedy, and even a scientific reference to the "duality of character" in matter and radiation.
Is there a quote about writing and moral character in fiction?
Yes, one quote discusses how everything in fiction ultimately comes down to the relationship between the reader, the writer, and the characters, questioning whether a character addresses moral being in an important way. For more, see the Characters page.
Is there a quote connecting politics and creative work?
Yes, one quote states a belief that "one's politics and the character of his particular work are inseparable," reflecting a radical viewpoint. Browse the Personality page for more on how personal outlook shapes expression.
Is there a quote about comedy writing and characters?
Yes, one quote describes finding it liberating that in dialogue comedy, the characters and what they say aren't the writer themselves - just fleeting thoughts and observations rather than stated truths. For more on how characters take shape, see the Character Development page.
Is there a scientific quote about "character" here?
Yes, interestingly - one quote uses "duality of character" to describe how matter and radiation sometimes behave like waves and sometimes like particles, applying the word in a scientific rather than literary sense. For more on how character is portrayed, check out the Characterization page.

Unusually, one entry borrows the word from physics, describing the dual wave-and-particle character of matter and radiation. Continue with Characters quotes or Character Development quotes.