Creating Unforgettable Characters

by Linda Seger

  In this picture, the supporting characters are just as memorable as the major ones. Although there are some who are indistinguishable (the guests who are the extras), there are others who round out the story being told, and who expand upon the theme of love and marriage.

  In many cases, supporting characters have taken over the story, becoming more important than the writer originally intended them to be. Sometimes this improves the story. In television, the supporting character sometimes becomes the audience's favorite, as in "Happy Days" and "Family Ties," when the Fonz and Alex came to the forefront.

  James Burrows says, "If you've got a good subsidiary character, you use him till the cows come home. You don't shy away from him. Diane's boyfriend Frasier was originally just a device we brought in the third year to get Diane back into the bar. But he became wonderful, we continued to use him."

  Dale Wasserman agrees. "Sometimes supporting characters are more interesting than major characters because the major characters have the burden of moving the story forward. But the supporting characters don't have that burden, and consequently can be more colorful."

  Sometimes this takeover can be dangerous. The story can become unbalanced if the supporting characters don't know their place. To better understand what that place is, let's look at a process for creating supporting characters. This process includes:

  ■ Deciding what the function of the character needs to be

  ■ Creating a character that contrasts with other characters to fulfill that function

  ■ Filling out that character by adding details

  THE FUNCTION

  To begin, ask yourself: Who is necessary, besides my protagonist, for the telling of this story? Who does my major character need around him or her?

  By clarifying these issues, you will prevent yourself from arbitrarily adding characters to the story, and will begin to understand who is needed and who is not. The objective is to find the balance between the main characters and the supporting characters, and not to confuse the story by overloading it with people.

  A supporting character can serve several functions in a story. These include helping to define the protagonist's role, conveying the theme of the story, and helping to move the story forward.

  The supporting character helps define the role and importance of the protagonist.

  If characters are defined by their role or their job (e.g., mother, corporation president, cashier at the restaurant), you will need to create characters surrounding them that help clarify that role.

  Mothers need children around them to show that they really are mothers. Corporation presidents have vice presidents, secretaries, chauffeurs, and bodyguards. Restaurant cashiers are surrounded by waiters, managers, cooks, busboys, and patrons. How many of these characters you use, and how much you emphasize them, will depend on the needs of the story. But your protagonist's position will not be clear without some of them.

  When "Midnight Caller" was created, it was clear to the writers that Jack Killian would need characters surrounding him in order to do his work. Richard DiLello, creator of the series, explains: "We created three supporting characters. He had to have an engineer—some operator taking calls—and that became Billy Po. Clearly there had to be some mole into the police department to help on the stories that are crime oriented. What could be more natural than his former commanding officer, Lieutenant Zymak? Devon is the producer, the rescuing angel that came along. She had to be someone that was bright and attractive and intelligent, someone that was as strong as he was."

  Notice in this scene how both Devon, the producer, and Po, the engineer, fulfill their functions and support the main character.

  Killian is reviewing his copy. He looks up at Billy Po in the control room. Billy boots up the computer. Jack takes his copy and throws it into the wastebasket.

  DEVON What are you doing?

  KILLIAN I can't read this crap.

  DEVON

  What do you mean you can't read it?

  KILLIAN

  Let me wing it. . . .

  DEVON

  No. I'm sorry. I wrote this for you— KILLIAN

  Do you really think we have time to argue about this now?

  Killian nods at the ON THE AIR sign as it comes to life. Devon takes a deep, resigned breath and leans into the microphone.

  DEVON

  It's the Midnight Hour and this is Devon King on

  KJCM Radio, 98.3 on your FM dial----Tonight,

  on KJCM, we're pleased to announce the birth of the Midnight Caller. A program that puts you in the driver's seat. . . . Jack Killian recently re-entered civilian life. He'll be taking your calls and answering questions about police work and procedures. . . . However, it should be noted that Jack Killian's opinions are not endorsed by the San Francisco Police Department. . . .

  DEVON

  And so, without further ado, we're pleased to introduce you to Jack Killian—

  KILLIAN

  The Nighthawk! Devon throws Jack a look but continues without missing a beat.

  DEVON

  Our host on Midnight Caller.

  (Later) ... The ON THE AIR light goes off. Devon turns to Jack.

  DEVON

  The Nighthawk?

  KILLIAN

  Yeah. You like that?

  DEVON

  Not particularly.

  Supporting characters help convey the theme of the story.

  Most writers have something important and meaningful they want to communicate through their story and characters. The supporting characters are an opportunity to express the theme, without the story becoming talky or pedantic.

  To do this, the writer needs first to think through the theme. It might be about identity, integrity, community, tyranny, fame, love, or some other idea. Once the theme is set, each character can begin to express it.

  Ordinary People is a story about the search for identity and meaning. Judith Guest explains, "Just as Conrad and Calvin are able to be transformed because of the challenges of the tragedy in their life, there are other characters who continue to live a shallow existence. They represent the 'unexamined life.' So every character, to some extent, stands for the two sides of this theme. The psychiatrist Burger, Calvin, Conrad, Jeanine, and Carole all expand the idea of the 'examined life'—the people who live life on a deeper level. Stillman, Ray, and Beth show the people who live life superficially, and who are unwilling (or unable) to be transformed."

  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest explores the theme of the relationship of the rebel to authority. Related themes convey repression, tyranny, and empowerment.

  The supporting characters of this play convey the fear, the desire for safety, the repression, and the yearning to be strong. Here are three statements by three different supporting characters that expand these themes.

  Dr. Spivey is part of the repressive rules, but also a pawn to the tyranny of Nurse Ratched.

  DR. SPIVEY: Ther-a-peutic Com-munity. That means that this ward is Society in miniature, and since Society decides who is sane and who isn't, you must measure up. Our goal here is a completely democratic ward, governed by the patients—working to restore you to the Outside. The important thing is to let nothing fester inside you. Talk. Discuss. Confess. If you hear another patient say something of significance, write it down in the Log Book for all to see. Do you know what this procedure is called?

  MCMURPHY: Squealing.

  The patient Harding recognizes his weakness, but is powerless to do anything about it.

  HARDING: The world belongs to the strong, my friend. The rabbit recognizes the strength of the wolf, so he digs holes and hides when the wolf is about. He doesn't challenge the wolf to combat. Mr. McMurphy ... my friend . . . I'm not a chicken, I'm a rabbit. All of us here, rabbits, hippity-hopping through our Walt Disney world! Billy, hop around for Mr. McMurphy here. Cheswick, show him how furry you are. Ah, they're bashful. Isn't that sweet?

  The Columbia River Indian, Chief Bromden, sees the repression cle
arly, but doesn't feel "big enough" to fight it.

  CHIEF BROMDEN: I can't help you, Billy. None of us can. As soon as a man goes to help somebody, he leaves himself wide open. That's what McMurphy can't understand—us wanting to be safe. That's why nobody complains about the fog. As bad as it is, you can slip back into it and feel safe.1

  Each of these characters exemplifies a different part of the theme of repression. Dr. Spivey is the spokesman for authority, who takes part in the limiting of other people's responses by always being ready to report them. Harding and Bromden represent the unwillingness to fight it, and the desire to be safe.

  Supporting characters can be catalyst figures, giving out information that moves the story forward.

  Samuel, in Witness, provides John Book with the information he needs to do his job.

  BOOK

  I'm a police officer. Samuel, I want you to tell me everything you saw when you went in there.

  SAMUEL

  I saw him.

  BOOK

  Who'd you see?

  SAMUEL The man who killed him.

  BOOK

  Okay, Sam. Can you tell me what he looked like? SAMUEL

  He was like him.

  (Samuel points to Carter, John's partner.)

  BOOK

  He was a black man. With black skin?

  SAMUEL

  But not schtumpig.

  BOOK

  Not what?

  RACHEL

  On the farm, a pig born small in the litter is schtumping. A runt.

  SUPPORTING CHARACTERS ADD

  COLOR AND TEXTURE

  The kind of character you create to fulfill a function in a story is not an arbitrary decision. Once you know who you need, the next step is deciding what colors and textures will round out the design of your story. there are a number of different choices you can make.

  Contrasting your characters will give you the strongest strokes.

  This may mean contrasting a supporting character with the protagonist, or contrasting supporting characters with each other. Contrasts between different characters may be physical contrasts, such as light and dark, heavy and slim, fast and slow. They may be contrasts in attitude, such as cynical and optimistic, innocent and sophisticated, hostile and happy-go-lucky, passionate and cold.

  Contrasting characters are particularly important in ensemble shows. Bills Finkel, writer-producer from "L.A. Law," talks of the many contrasts that are built into the characters in that show. Although some of them might be considered main characters rather than supporting characters, Bill says, he wouldn't know how to make a meaningful distinction. Thus their inclusion here.

  "There are contrasts in their attitudes towards their work. Brackman is managerial, he is primarily focused on the financial well-being of the firm, whereas Kuzak is somebody who has more of an ideological bent. He's interested in a more active, moral, political agenda. Becker is intensely materialistic, more of an egoist, more interested in self-aggrandizement than

  everybody else in the firm. Markowitz has a certain melding of a bottom-line mentality owing to being an accountant and a tax lawyer. Kelsey is socially conscious, with feminist instincts.

  "There are contrasts between ethnicity and class. Victor Sisifuentes is a Hispanic from East L.A. He's conflicted by his relative success in the Anglo downtown L.A. legal field. He's a single guy, and handsome. He's socially conscious and basically a progressive-thinking guy. Markowitz is upper-middle-class Jewish, older and married and in the process of beginning a family at the age of forty-something. He's also an exacting, somewhat controlling guy, detail-oriented, almost smothering in his ability to kind of take over a situation and compulsively lay out the choices and alternatives.

  "McKenzie is a senior partner, probably in his sixties, at the stage of his life where different things assume importance. He also has power in the firm because of being a senior partner.

  "Jonathan Rollins is black and middle-class, which says something about his differentiation from blacks who might have grown up in Compton. Roxanne, the secretary, is desperate for some sort of security and a significant relationship. She's also somebody who makes much less money than the lawyers do, so she's in a different material situation and class than the lawyers she relates to.

  "There is also the single-married contrast. Rollins and Sisifuentes are single; Kelsey and Markowitz are married; Abby and Brackman are divorced. Abby is a single mother, Kelsey and Markowitz are in the process of starting a family.

  "There are contrasts of values, such as social consciousness versus materialism. Kuzak works in the criminal justice system. He and Sisifuentes might represent a guilty rapist, whereas Becker, who's a matrimonial lawyer, wouldn't be the least bit interested in representing someone like that.

  "And there are contrasts in their style. This might include what they wear (Becker is very stylish), what kind of cars they drive (Grace Van Owen drives a vintage BMW), what kind of houses they live in, what kind of furnishings they have in their homes or offices. Sisifuentes has Diego Rivera posters in his office. Becker has cold, modern, dramatic-looking furniture. Kelsey has a southwestern-comfortable rather informal-looking office."

  Minor characters can also be revealed through contrasts. In the film War Games, by Lawrence Lasker and Walter Parkes, there are two minor characters who give information to David, the main character, about how to break into the computer. They could have been dull and bland. Instead, small details in contrast and rhythms are added to create an interesting scene.

  Malvin is described as a "thin, hyper, postadolescent" and Jim is described as "overweight, sloppily dressed with a hint of arrogance in his expression." Malvin's nervousness contrasts with Jim's deliberateness.

  DAVID

  I want you to look at something.

  MALVIN

  What is this? . . . Where did you get this? DAVID

  I was trying to break into Protovision ... I wanted to get the programs for their new games.

  Jim reaches for the printout.

  MALVIN Wait. . . I'm not through.

  Jim snatches it anyway. He scans it, looking askew through his thick smudgy glasses.

  JIM

  Global thermonuclear war . . . This didn't come from Protovision.

  MALVIN

  I know it didn't. . . . Ask him where he got it. DAVID

  I told you.

  MALVIN

  It must be military. Definitely military. Probably classified.

  DAVID

  If it's military, why would they have games like blackjack and checkers?

  JIM

  Maybe because they're games that teach basic strategy.

  Jennifer quizzically watches this odd group.

  MALVIN

  Who's that?

  DAVID

  She's with me.

  MALVIN

  Why is she standing over there . . . she's standing right near the tape drive . . . don't let her touch it. I'm having a lot of trouble with that unit.

  JIM

  If you really want to get in, find out everything you can about the guy who designed the system. . . .

  DAVID

  Come on. How do I even find out who the guy is? [131]

  CREATING UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS Jim ponders the problem. Impatiently, Malvin breaks in.

  MALVIN

  You guys are so dumb. I don't believe it. I betcha I know how to do it, I figured it out.

  DAVID

  Oh yeah, Malvin. How would you do it?

  MALVIN

  First game on the list, dummies. I'd go in through Falken's Maze.

  Although the scene is short, and Malvin and Jim will not appear again, notice how clearly they are differentiated. The scene itself is a simple story scene. It's designed to give a piece of information that enables the story to continue. But the characters provide the interest and make an on-the-nose scene compelling and involving.

  EXERCISE: Think of how you might contrast two lawyers, two policemen, two trapeze
artists, two carpenters, two fraternal twins.

  Occasionally characters are meant to be similar.

  Instead of using contrasting colors and textures, the characters work within the same hue. For example, in Gone With the Wind, Scarlett's suitors are undifferentiated, so that Rhett Butler can contrast with them.

  Villains and bodyguards are often similar, as are dancers in the chorus line, sailors, or office workers—whenever the characters are background and backdrop figures, and you choose not to call attention to them.

  Sometimes one characteristic within a character is broadened, even exaggerated, to the extent that it totally defines the character.

  This is particularly true for comic characters. Wendy, Archie's wife, in A Fish Called Wanda, is introduced as someone who is always experiencing some great frustration. Everything goes wrong for her: she gets a flat tire, her daughter Portia has a zit, there are cracks in her dishware, problems with a bridge game, there's no ice for her drink—life for Wendy doesn't run smoothly. Her life is always in some sort of a muddle.

  An exaggerated characteristic might be physical. In Platoon, Barnes (Tom Berenger) is defined physically by his scar, which denotes a wealth of negative experiences. The makeup of his character connotes hardness, vengefulness, and a distortion or corruption of his soul.

  Sometimes supporting characters are defined by the contrasts and paradoxes within their own personalities.

  This can add a memorable touch that will give extra dimension to the character.

  In the James Bond film The Living Daylights, the villain, a big man played by Joe Don Baker, loved the little-boy activity of playing with toy soldiers. This detail took him out of the usual villain character type.

  In the Police Academy films there's the police captain who loves his goldfish. In Airplane, there's the middle-class woman who knows how to talk jive and the nun who's not afraid to knock some sense into a panicked woman.