Characterisation is how a writer or actor builds a believable character — through their backstory, motivations, voice, and physicality. An actor asks what their character wants in a scene (their objective) and how they try to get it (their tactic). A script provides dialogue and stage directions, but much of characterisation comes from choices an actor makes beyond the literal words: tone, pacing, posture and gesture.
Example
Two actors playing the same nervous character from a script might make very different choices — one might fidget and speak quickly, while another stays very still and speaks slowly with long pauses — both valid interpretations built from the same words but different characterisation choices.
Key terms
Characterisation:
How a believable character is built, through backstory, motivation and behaviour.
Objective:
What a character wants within a scene.
Stage direction:
Instructions in a script describing movement, tone or setting.
Questions
1. Characterisation is:
How a believable character is built
The set design only
The lighting design only
The music used in a play
2. An objective in acting refers to:
What a character wants in a scene
The stage layout
The costume colour
The ticket price
3. Stage directions are:
Instructions describing movement, tone or setting
Only spoken dialogue
The audience's seating plan
A type of costume
4. A character's backstory refers to:
Their history and background before the story begins
Only what happens after the play ends
The play's title
The venue's address
5. A script provides:
Dialogue and stage directions
Only music, no words
Only costume designs
Nothing useful to actors
6. An actor's tactic is:
How they try to achieve their character's objective
The colour of their costume
The play's title
A type of stage direction only
7. Two actors playing the same character can make:
Different, valid characterisation choices
Only identical choices with no variation allowed
No choices at all
Choices that must match word for word
8. Why might understanding a character's objective help an actor perform a scene more convincingly?
It gives their actions and dialogue a clear, motivated purpose
Objectives have no effect on a performance
Actors should never think about what their character wants
Objectives only matter for the audience, not the actor
9. A character's physicality (posture, movement) can reveal:
Aspects of their personality or emotional state
Nothing meaningful about the character
Only their height
Only their costume size
10. Reading the entire script, not just your own character's lines, helps an actor understand:
The broader story and how their character fits into it
Nothing useful at all
Only the ticket price
Only the lighting cues
11. A character's voice (tone, pace, pitch) can be adjusted to reflect:
Their personality, age or social background
Nothing about the character
Only the actor's real voice with no change allowed
The venue's size only
12. When a script doesn't explicitly state a character's backstory, an actor should:
Often create a plausible backstory themselves to inform their choices
Never make any character choices at all
Always perform with no personality
Ignore the character completely
13. A "tactic" changing partway through a scene (e.g. from pleading to demanding) shows:
A character adjusting their approach to achieve their objective
No change in the character at all
A mistake in the script
The actor forgetting their lines
14. Why might an actor experiment with different physical choices (like walking pace) during rehearsal?
To discover which choices best express the character authentically
Physical choices have no impact on a performance
Only vocal choices matter in acting
Experimentation is not part of the rehearsal process
15. Why might an actor's interpretation of a "nervous" character differ significantly from another actor's interpretation of the same role?
Characterisation involves personal creative choices built from the same script
All actors are required to interpret every character identically
Scripts leave no room for any interpretation
Nervousness can only be shown in exactly one specific way
16. Why do actors often research a character's social or historical context (e.g. a character from the 1800s) as part of characterisation?
Context shapes believable behaviour, speech and attitudes appropriate to that character's world
Historical context has no relevance to acting choices
All characters should behave identically regardless of setting
Research is unnecessary for believable characterisation
17. Which best explains why a character's objective can change from scene to scene throughout a story?
Circumstances and story events shift what a character wants at different points
A character's objective must remain frozen and identical throughout an entire story
Objectives are decided once and never influence the rest of the performance
Scene-to-scene changes are always mistakes in the writing
18. Why might a director give an actor a note like "raise the stakes" for their character's objective in a scene?
To intensify how much the character wants something, making the scene more dramatically compelling
Stakes have no effect on how a scene is perceived
Objectives should always stay exactly as written with no adjustment
Directors never give notes about a character's motivation
19. Why is subtext (what a character means but doesn't say directly) an important part of characterisation?
Much of real communication involves unspoken feelings, and portraying this adds depth and realism
Characters should always say exactly what they think with no subtlety
Subtext has no relevance to acting or characterisation
Only the literal script words matter, nothing beneath them
20. Why might table-reads (actors reading through a script together before rehearsal) be a valuable step in characterisation?
They help the cast understand relationships, tone and story before adding physical staging
Table-reads have no value in the rehearsal process
Scripts should never be read aloud before performing
Characterisation decisions should be made with zero collaboration
21. Why might two characters with opposing objectives in the same scene create strong dramatic tension?
Their conflicting goals naturally generate conflict that drives the scene forward
Opposing objectives always make a scene boring
Only one character in a scene is ever allowed to have an objective
Dramatic tension has no connection to character objectives
Answer key (parent copy)
1. How a believable character is built
2. What a character wants in a scene
3. Instructions describing movement, tone or setting
4. Their history and background before the story begins
5. Dialogue and stage directions
6. How they try to achieve their character's objective
7. Different, valid characterisation choices
8. It gives their actions and dialogue a clear, motivated purpose
9. Aspects of their personality or emotional state
10. The broader story and how their character fits into it
11. Their personality, age or social background
12. Often create a plausible backstory themselves to inform their choices
13. A character adjusting their approach to achieve their objective
14. To discover which choices best express the character authentically
15. Characterisation involves personal creative choices built from the same script
16. Context shapes believable behaviour, speech and attitudes appropriate to that character's world
17. Circumstances and story events shift what a character wants at different points
18. To intensify how much the character wants something, making the scene more dramatically compelling
19. Much of real communication involves unspoken feelings, and portraying this adds depth and realism
20. They help the cast understand relationships, tone and story before adding physical staging
21. Their conflicting goals naturally generate conflict that drives the scene forward