Building a Character from the Inside Out: The Psychology Behind Great Performances
Most actors never get past surface choices. The pros do the invisible work. This is the blueprint.
👋 Hey, I’m Christine. I’m an award-winning actress, industry consultant, and entertainment insider with decades of experience in global film, TV, and theater. My work has been featured by major networks like HBO, Disney, and Ubisoft, and I’ve built a career helping actors gain visibility, land roles, and position themselves for long-term success.
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You already know how to break down a scene—if you haven’t read my last article, How I Break Down a Scene: Real Tools for Smart Script Analysis, go read it now. That article is packed with the most effective script analysis techniques I’ve learned from years of professional training and stage experience, including my own original technique, The Art of Guarding a Secret.
But script analysis is only the first step. Now you need to bring those tools into the next phase: building a character from the ground up. You’re going to gather everything you’ve already built and discovered in phase one—the descriptive analysis, scene work, and every insight you uncovered. Then, you’ll carry it forward into the second phase: character creation. The work you’ve done forms the foundation for this next stage—every beat, every package, every pull, every hierarchy, every impulse, every discovery continues to serve you as you shape a living, multidimensional character.
When you see a great performance, you’re not just seeing an actor copy a set of tricks. You’re watching months—or years—of work. My own process as an actor and coach is built from years of study, trial and error, and borrowing what works from the very best: Steven Lecky, Ivana Chubbuck, Margie Haber, Michael Chekhov, Stanislavski, Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, John Strasberg, Meisner and even from outside acting, like NLP pioneer Ibrahim Elfiky.
I’m going to show you how I actually do the work, the decisions I make when I build a character, and what I teach actors to do when they get stuck or feel like every choice is too “close to home.”
Actors love new techniques, but most never figure out how to connect the dots. Here, you’ll learn how to take everything you’ve already mined from your script and use it to shape a multidimensional, original character that feels alive in every moment.
The Five P’s—From Analysis to Creation
In my training, Steven Lecky’s “Five P’s” (see reference below) are the bridge between the scene and the character. Package, Pull, Pace, Preoccupy, and Personalize—these phases are the scaffolding for your prep. The first four guide you through text and impulse analysis, which we covered in Phase 1. This article focuses on the fifth — Personalize: interpretation and character creation in Phase 2.
I’ve performed in more than 20 stage plays, hold a theatre degree, and have spent years refining my own approach by blending the best of every teacher and experience. What you’ll find here is not theory, but the exact process I use—and teach—when developing a role. The last article was about what’s in the script, this one is about what’s inside you, and how to translate both onto the stage or screen.
This is the next phase. Use my step-by-step system for building a character—practical, detailed, and rooted in everything I’ve learned and tested.
The Five “P’s” in the Actor’s Preparation
(Adapted from Steven Lecky’s Vox Method)
PACKAGE
Inflection
Levels
Reinvest
Hierarchy
Movement/gesture
PULL
Intention
Hierarchy
PACE
Hierarchy
Pause
Implicit movement
Anticipation
PREOCCUPY
Impulse
Imprint
Movement/gesture
Repetition
PERSONALIZE
Interpretation
Character
A Deep Dive—But Not the Deepest
This article is a very deep dive—about a 40-minute read, but I have to be honest: even this won’t cover everything. Developing a world-class character is a long process, and what you’re about to read is a summary—there are always more layers, more questions, more things to discover as you work through a role. Think of this as the starting line. If you want to do it right, you’ll revisit and expand these steps with every new project.
Why Mindset and Depth Are Everything
Every memorable character—whether subtle or extreme—starts with the actor’s willingness to ask the uncomfortable questions:
How does this character truly think, process, and see the world?
Where does their physical life begin?
What’s unique, even if they seem “just like me”?
Actors who stop at imitation or personal similarities always end up generic. The ones who go deeper—into psychology, unconscious habits, and emotional blueprints—deliver performances nobody forgets.
Here’s what you’ll unlock in this Character-Building Deep Dive 👇
🎭 A 10-step process for turning raw script notes into a full, believable human being.
🔥 How to turn every obstacle into real, playable behavior that reveals truth through action.
💡 Practical tools for shaping your character’s inner and outer life with clarity and truth.
🐅 Creative techniques that add individuality and unexpected depth to your work.
🎙️ A detailed checklist for designing a voice and body that reflect your character’s inner life.
🚀 How to test and refine your discoveries through rehearsal and improvisation.