An excerpt from my script review for Boltneck which will be available 03/03/2020:
Boltneck was a masterpiece!
Did you ever wonder what Boltneck was exactly? Wonder no more!
3.) Quality of Characters
More than a decade ago the boss and I had season tickets to the Canucks.
During intermission (because hockey can’t call it “halftime” right, being that there’s three periods), the stadium camera would highlight certain people in the crowd.
One game, into frame came one Alanis Morissette, who received polite applause.
As the shot zoomed out, into frame came a handsome man sitting next to her, to which the stadium, men and women alike, showed genuine enthusiasm, much to the chagrin of Ms. Morissette as evidenced by her face.
I’m not entirely sure the cameraman knew the lad was also famous.
That was of course a younger Ryan Reynolds.
This was a few years after Van Wilder, yet well before Deadpool, but audiences even then could see this guy was going to be near and dear to our hearts.
This charisma was even evident in some of his scenes in this “masterpiece”.
Why do I bring this up?
(Aside from the fact that I saw Ryan Reynolds on a jumbotron in Vancouver?)
Recently a member was discussing a class she took on writing characters actors want to play.
Was Ryan Reynolds created for Deadpool, or Deadpool for Ryan Reynolds?
It’s difficult to say, but this is an example of what you should be shooting for should you go that route, a character that perfectly fits the actor like a tight v-neck, $100 designer t-shirt.
Listen, most folks will say it’s bad to limit yourself in this manner, and I might even agree unless this particular technique helps you write better characters.
For instance, there’s always one role for Walton Goggins in all of my scripts.
First, because he’s America’s Gr8est Actor, second it tends to make for a character with stronger traits and better dialogue.
This stronger character then requires and inspires better characters to interact with, lending to a general improvement of the conflict in my story.
So if this technique works with your writing, by all means use it.
(Screenwriting rules are more like guidelines anyway.)
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