I try to research or make up for myself what happened in any character's life. From when he was born until the first page of the script. I fill in the blanks.
I played Lucifer once, which is sort of a difficult character to research. I thought to myself, "We all have the potential to be selfish, to be cruel - at least to think evil thoughts, even if we don't ever act out on them. Even if we don't ever think we behave badly, we probably do more than we realize."
Usually the characters I play are men of few words, who communicate in non-verbal ways.
It's always interesting to play a character that obviously has a secret.
This basic thing I always do: 'What happened between the character's birth, and page one of the script?' Anything that's not in the story, I'll fill in the blanks.
With any character I have played there’s infinite possibilities for how they might behave, depending on who they are talking to or how they react to things.
Adult characters are all the things they've encountered over time. But kids haven't accumulated all the life experience, all the regrets. They tend to be more in the moment, more willing to play, to be joyful.
I think it's my job to like any character I play - to understand and appreciate a character, to look at the world as much as possible from their point of view. I don't look at it just technically: learn the lines, figure out what gestures I want to bring and play, and that's it. I like to learn as much as I can about the person, and see what happens.
I think you have to be flexible above all as an actor; different characters have different demands, actors that you work with are different in their approach, or how you get along or don't get along with them.
I've been naked physically in movies - but it's a whole other thing to be naked emotionally in a way that's not just a distraction or a character.
