So many writers are putting the emphasis on action or circumstances. What they fail to provide audiences with are proper introductions to their characters. The most successful shows-- whether on stage, films, TV shows, take the time to create interesting, riveting personalities.
My late, wonderful friend Karen O’Hara, a sharp-minded script reader for many years, knew the value of winning characters. She always advised writers to imagine many details about their characters. Create a full-blown personality-- but reveal those details in bits and pieces to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Keep them watching and wondering.
In April I saw eight stage plays in London’s West End. Each one was popular with audiences because it starred talented big-name actors. In several cases, however, the reviews were mixed, some even negative. More than half the plays were flat, disappointing.
My favorite Nicola Walker (Unforgotten, Annika) and Stephen Mangan (Episodes, Houdini & Doyle) who played together in The Split, starred in a comedy/drama called Unicorn. They played a long-married dysfunctional couple. She wants to bring a younger woman into their bed to perk up their sex life and spice up their relationship. In two hours, nothing much happened; lots of talk, dull sets, no plot development. And, most of all, not much character development. Would they hook up to become a threesome? I love these two talented actors, but I didn’t care about the people they were playing. I didn’t get to know their characters.
Brian Cox of Succession led the cast of The Score, a drama about composer J.S. Bach. The play was so weak that the woman seated next to me warned me before the curtain went up not to leave at the interval. She heard from friends that the second act made up for the dullness of act one. While it turned out to be an improvement, we never really got into the character of Bach, never felt his weaknesses and fears. But Brian Cox was a powerhouse, a great actor making up in part for a weak play!
Same situations were true for Back Stroke starring Tamsin Greig and Celia Imre, and Elektra starring Brie Larson and Stockard Channing. Strong performances in tepid plays.
Why did so many of us feel sad at the TV finales of The Big Bang Theory and The Connors? Because we feel close to those characters. We know them. We know where they come from, what they expect in their lives, what makes them tick. The same is true for Ted Lasso, where Ted, Rebecca, Roy, Keeley, even Nate, hold our interest, our fascination. The recent announcement of a fourth season was met with emotion by the show’s many enthusiastic viewers.
As for recent films, A Complete Unknown, about icon Bob Dylan, is a good movie. Dylan goes through scenes that reflect real-life happenings. He dates Sylvie Russo. He has a relationship of sorts with Joan Baez. He knows Pete Seeger. He knows Johnny Cash. Bob Dylan is played by one of the strongest, most versatile actors of our generation, Timothee Chalamet. But the script focuses on things that Dylan did, people he knows. The camera should have taken more time to let Chalamet capture Dylan’s inner self. Let him show who he is. The script emphasizes: he went there, he sang which songs, he shocked by going electric. We know, but bring us close, inside, Dylan’s character, his personality.
Character development makes the difference between a weak or even a good entertainment and a really memorable play, film, or TV series.
Audrey Kupferberg is a film and video archivist and retired appraiser. She is lecturer emeritus and the former director of Film Studies at the University at Albany and co-authored several entertainment biographies with her late husband and creative partner, Rob Edelman.
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