Daily Inspiration Quote by Rene Auberjonois

Acting, at its most honest, is a long con against your own certainty. Rene Auberjonois's line lands because it punctures the fantasy that characters arrive fully labeled, like products with clear instructions. "Always" makes it a rule, not a quirky exception; "awhile" quietly dignifies the awkward middle stretch where nothing quite fits yet. And "find out" frames character as discovery rather than invention: you don't impose a personality so much as uncover it through repetition, failure, and surprise.

Coming from an actor known for shape-shifting - from stage work to indelible screen roles like Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - the quote reads like a craft note smuggled in as philosophy. On DS9, a man literally learning to be humanoid became a metaphor for the job itself: you start with posture, voice, a few choices, then the character begins to push back. The subtext is collaborative and humbling. Directors, writers, scene partners, even costumes and lighting contribute information the actor can't access in isolation. Auberjonois is also hinting at time as an ingredient: characters reveal themselves under pressure, in the accumulation of takes, rehearsals, and rewrites.

There's an extra cultural bite here. Audiences crave instant readability - heroes, villains, "relatable" types - but good performances resist that speed. The line is a gentle rebuke to hot takes about identity, motive, and "what this person is like". People, like characters, aren't a first draft.