Avoiding stereotypes
Daniel Dae Kim says that when he looks at a character to play, “I don’t necessarily look for his heroic qualities or his negative qualities. I am very aware of playing stereotypes and trying to stay away from those.
“But I think that wanting to play a hero or always wanting to play the positive portrayal can be equally limiting.
“As an actor I look for interesting characters to portray. I look for people who have lots of different shades to them and different colors in their personality because that’s what we are as human beings.”
From post:Daniel Dae Kim Gets Lost by Cindy Yoon of Asia Society.
~ ~ ~
Dark female characters
As I note in my article Women and Violence On Screen, a number of actors have found some of their juiciest and most pleasurable roles in playing the bad guy – not the hero.
And in more and more projects those actors are women.
Using the shadow
Along with many artists and psychologists, Stephen A. Diamond, PhD thinks the so-called negative aspects of our personalities can be a source of creative power:
“By bravely voicing our inner ‘demons’ we transmute them into helpful allies, in the form of newly liberated, life-giving psychic energy, for use in constructive activity.
“During this process, we come to discover the paradox that many artists perceive: That which we had previously run from and rejected turns out to be the redemptive source of vitality, creativity, and authentic spirituality.”
From “Redeeming Our Devils and Demons” – a chapter in the book Meeting the Shadow
Also see more quotes in my interview with Stephen Diamond.
> More Articles on acting.
~~~~~~
Douglas Eby (M.A./Psychology) is author of the The Creative Mind series of sites which provide “Information and inspiration to help creative people thrive.”
ø ø ø ø