5 Ways to Research a Character

November 14, 2024 | Rachel Frawley
Photo Credit: DFLC Prints / Shutterstock.com

When preparing for a role, actors will often be advised to do their research. However, very seldom are they given guidance as to how to do so.

“Research” can bring to mind long hours in a college library, or endless scrolling through scholarly articles, but it doesn’t have to be so rigid. 

Research comes in many forms. It can excite and inspire. Plus, it’s great for character study and is essential to creating strong characters. Research helps inform your acting process, allowing you to bring characters to life as you continue to develop a deep understanding of their character traits, body language, internal conflicts and personality traits. Here are a few ways to engage in research that might help you prepare for a role and create well-developed characters from a number of perspectives.


Insights: Tips for Researching a Character

  • Immerse yourself in documentaries and media relevant to your character’s era, culture,and social status to understand the context of their world and inform your portrayal with authentic details.
  • Utilize podcasts, audiobooks and on-site immersion to gain insights into your character’s environment and experiences without being limited by your ability to physically travel or spend time reading.
  • Engage with firsthand accounts through conversations with individuals who have lived through similar times or experiences as your character, or who can provide accurate dialect coaching, to add depth and realism to your performance.

Reasearch Your Character by Watching Documentaries

Especially when researching a character from a different time period or part of the world, documentaries are your friend. If you can’t find any on major streaming services, scroll through YouTube or even university websites. Has someone done a relevant TED talk on this subject? Do a search and find out. If you can’t find the full-length documentary, clips from various documentaries can also be helpful in grounding your character with a central idea. 

Unlike other forms of character study, documentaries are a great way to let scholars and experts do a little bit of your research for you. The great thing about documentaries is that they often give you a lot of information on surrounding circumstances. They may not be specific to your character’s exact life, but you might get an idea of what your character’s world was, or is, like.

Find Media From Your Character’s World

Think about the influence and impact music, movies, books, magazines, etc. have on our culture. They’re part of a cultural personality and shared understanding.

If you’re researching a character from the past, immerse yourself (when possible) in the kind of music and stories they would have been consuming. 

Get specific. What would they have been listening to in their region, their time period, their culture and their socioeconomic standing, at their age? This form of character study is a great way to really connect to the vibe of your character’s life.

Listen to Podcasts and Audiobooks About Your Character’s World

If you find it difficult to sit down and read or watch things, podcasts or even audiobooks are a great alternative in helping you create memorable characters. You can listen to them on your commute or perhaps even at work. Like documentaries, podcasts provide a form of character study where the experts are doing some of the research for you so that you just have to sit back and absorb information, helping you understand these types of characters.

Try Some On-Site Immersion

There’s nothing quite like standing in your character’s footsteps. If you’re able to travel to places your character was brought up, that’s an incredible way to get a feel for their world.

If that’s out of the question, what places near you are similar to places your character may have spent time? Do they work in an office building? Find one you can visit. Are they from another time? Hit up a museum, or find a vintage clothing boutique. 

For your character study, find ways to see things your character would have seen, and touch daily items they would have interacted with to get a sense of the character’s experiences and cultural background. If you’re hard up for resources, start small and be creative.

Talk to Real, Live People. About Your Character’s World

Firsthand accounts can be incredibly valuable. If you’re researching a historical figure or other character from the past, is there anyone left alive who would have lived through those times that can recount a personal experience? Or who may have known someone who did? Talk to your grandparents, or someone else’s grandparents about their personal history to get a basic understanding of the societal norms and real life behavior patterns of their heyday.

If you’re researching a dialect, see if you can talk to someone from that region (or at least find a clip of a local person speaking).

When it comes to character study, these are just a few of about a million different ways you can dive into your character’s world. Our world is more connected than ever, which means we have access to perspectives that may have been out of reach in the past to create believable characters.

Even if your character is living in a reality that is based on fantasy, science-fiction or even the future, there will be relatable themes and elements of their lives that you can approximate to your own.

Getting to know your character can be intimate, exciting and emotional. Find the types of research that spark your imagination and follow those threads as you create compelling characters.

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