It is often said that the moments audience members connect with characters are the moments that we get to see the chinks in their armour. These are the moments that we get to see behind the mask and see who they truly are. These are the moments when audience members have the opportunity to feel seen and understood. We can see these moments of value in our acting in which we get to reveal truth about the human condition. But how do we apply this practice to our work? It’s simple – and yet, one of the most powerful things we can achieve. Here is how to build a complex character and give your characters depth.

What is the character’s mask?

In life, we all wear a mask, consciously and unconsciously. These are made up of how we see ourselves and how we want others to see us. They are made up of the ways we identify ourselves and how we present ourselves to others.

A great place to start when exploring your character’s mask is by asking yourself what social roles your character is fulfilling. Also, ask yourself what traits they value that are associated with this role. This will help you to build a complex character and give your characters depth.

Here are some examples:

• University professor.
• Housewife
• Soldier
• Artist
• Mother
• Protester
• Queen
• Rebel
• Comedian
• Romantic

Think about why they have chosen to fill that social role. What does it say about how they see themselves? What does it say about how they want to be seen by others? Also, what do they value?

Also think about how they express or fulfill this social role? What behaviours do they engage in to uphold it? How do they dress or style their hair? How do they make sure to stay within the safety of this label or social category, consciously or subconsciously?

Why have they gravitated towards this social role?

Our social roles are ways of keeping ourselves safe in society. They dictate the way we are identified, how we function and how we relate to others.

Ask yourself what is at stake for this person if they let go of their social role? Perhaps the housewife feels at risk of appearing heartless or selfish. Perhaps the soldier feels at risk of appearing weak or vulnerable. And perhaps the comedian is afraid of having no control over being ridiculed and laughed at. Perhaps the rebel feels at risk of being controlled by others.

There are a number of reasons we fulfill certain roles in life, and they all have to do with our values and what frightens us. Discovering these can help us to build a complex character and give your characters depth.

It can also be useful to consider what caused us to have these values and fears in the first place. Was the comedian ridiculed as a child by their parents or peers? Was the housewife told that women are only loved when they’re sensitive and caring? Did the professor’s parents only praise them when they got top grades?

In real life, there are a number of factors in our circumstances that go into making us fulfill certain societal roles. These can be communicated to us through the society we live in, or through our direct experiences with the people we know. It can be worth thinking about all of these and how they lead us in the direction we go in.

Consider the humanity underneath the role

The truth is, we are all humans of limitless potential – and so is your character. While we are all shaped into fulfilling a particular role, there are universal experiences that can apply to us no matter what role we are playing.

Some of these include:

• Joy
• Creativity
• Fear
• Grief
• Loneliness
• Confusion

We are human beings with the theoretical potential to be and feel anything under the sun. So, in order to build a complex character and give your characters depth, we must communicate how, no matter how hard we attempt to fulfill our social role, we are never able to fully suppress the limitless human underneath it.

Think about the traits your character may deem inappropriate to their social role. What of their human nature are they trying to squash? What haven’t they come to terms with yet?

For instance, perhaps the woman who is busy playing the happy and content housewife is trying to hide from her loneliness and her anger. Perhaps the professor is trying not to face their confusion and the concept that we can’t have control over everything in our lives. Perhaps the soldier is covering up their fear of being hurt by someone else – physically or emotionally.

How do we apply this to a role?

When building a complex character and giving your characters depth, we need to be able to communicate conflict. That doesn’t just apply to their objectives and obstacles, but also to their social roles and secret inner lives too.

Of course, we also need to be clear with our choices, and trying to communicate too much at once can muddy our interpretation. So, how do we show these chinks in the armour?

We choose specific moments in the script to show the characters true self.

Perhaps it is in a single line. Perhaps it’s in a look. Or, perhaps it’s an entire scene. It may also be different depending on your character, the story, and even how much time you have. If you have a monologue, it may be a single line or a look. If you’re in a play you may have a scene in which your character’s true self gets revealed. In fact, the entire play may explore this very conflict, and you may have multiple moments in multiple scenes.

In the end, as the artist, it is your choice on how best to reveal your characters humanity within the social role they play.

Two Terrific Examples

Here we have two great examples of actors who have show their character’s humanity within two different scenes.

Penny Lane in Almost Famous

Penny Lane plays the role of a suave, romantic, and confident girl throughout the film. You get the sense that she’s always two steps ahead of everyone else, and that nothing ever gets under her skin. However, in this scene, Kate Hudson shows a glimmer of hurt, heartbreak and loneliness before immediately attempting to fall back into her social role. It really shows how much can be communicated in 30 seconds – and all without speaking a single word!

(Link to video)

Fleabag in Fleabag

Throughout the entire series of Fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridges character presents herself as witty, self-assured, and rebellious. We get the sense that she can find the humour in everything. However, here we are treated to an entire scene in which the character’s walls are broken down and we get to see how she really feels underneath the mask she wears to protect herself.

(Link to video)

Conclusion

As actors, we have a glorious opportunity, and that is to tell the truth. We have the opportunity to tell the truth. We can strip back the layers of pretense we all encounter in our everyday lives and offer something that we rarely get to see. It is in our honesty as human beings that we are able to offer the audience something meaningful. So, next time you have the opportunity to perform, don’t let it go to waste. So build a complex character and give your characters depth. Allow them to be vulnerable. Allow yourself to be seen as vulnerable. It is there that magic and great acting lies.

If you want to learn more about methods of building a character, go and check out my post on How To Create A Character.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you back here again soon for some more acting tips!