The Washington times., 1916-06-17
Pauline Frederick Tells Times
Readers How Screen Char
aoters Are Created.
ACTRESS MUST WORK HARD
Requires Closest Study Of Indl-
vlduaI Traits and Their In
depreciation.
BY PAULINE FREDERICK.

When you cit comfortably In the
motion picture theater and pass
Judgment on the fIm before you.
you may turn to your companion
and remark that the Egyptian nt-
mosphere 10 good, that the French
spirit had been we'll represented. or
that the italian atmosphere was re-
markable.
But has Il ever occurred 10 you
that Il took q great deal Of study
and hard work TO bring that "atmcs-
phere" before your
Did Il ever strike you ~ being q
fact that hours Of preparation are
undergone In order to perfect a
scene which may not take more
than one minute In the showing:
I have appeared In Paramount
pictures as "Zaza" ana Bella
Donna" and AZ Audrey" chesc
are all weil-knowp characters. ana
any attempt to enact them without
first carefully studying them might
prove absolutely fatal to one'e In
depreciation Of the roles.
1t .s not q matter OF having the
a5sefSs 5s Sars :ay MSw o S%a ySI az zs.s SHOW
her angerf How would Bella Donna
act whNs, enragedI What would Au-
drey do II she lost her temper7
They would not all show their
emotions In the same manner. Tho
first is q fiery. temperamcptai
hard. calculating English adven-
turess. and the last 10 an unsophisti-
Gated young country girl. Their re-
spective manners OF showing their
anger would differ as widely as docs
daylight from darkness.
Hard Work Repaid.
It was necessary, therefore. before
I could attempt to give these charac-
ters on the screen. to make a most
careful study OF them. I analysed
each Of those women and then sought
some some one l knew who had some Of
You see. there is so much that goes
into character building that the
average person doesn't think Of. The
surroundings. the little things that
nre always happening to the person.
There are people who tell US that
In the smile. in the set of the face,
the poise Of the head. the manner OF
using the hands.
believe this to be true. And con-
sequently II Is necessary to find out
how. such persons will act. The
works hard in every production in
which they appear. But the work
they do is as nothing compared with
duction.
You can't very we'll pick out a
serve her with the idea Of utiii.ins
her characteristics for a leading role
like Bella Donna. for instance.
Your friend would be insulted. 90 II
you look for models you must do II
quietly.
Mostly you you must depend on your
ways dealing with a new individual
and nothing you put into your work
with n previous character will do.
Your Interpretation must be differ
ent.
Apex Of Satisfaction.
But IL Is q delight to do this
work. can think OF no finer
the actor or actress who has been
able to make a living character
from the manuscript description
that has been given in the play
a character that impresses itself
on the audience just as it's inter-
prefer wished II to be impressed.
1t is a wonderful satisfaction.
All the trouble, all the stury, and
all the grinding toll are paid for
in the brief moment the charac-
ter fits over the screen and ac-
complishes what the actor set out
to accomplish.
After all. the feeling of accom-
plishment Is. perhaps, the greatest
satisfaction that comes to a man
or a woman. When I've been ex-
hausted in working out some par
and rejuvenator that can be given
me Is the short word OF approval
that comes from the director of
some member of my company.
I'm AshaviIla and Rcfurn lima "a