"The trick is to try and justify every word on the page and make sure my character is the man who would say that"
About this Quote
The second clause is the sharper blade: “make sure my character is the man who would say that.” It shifts the burden from writer to actor, from text to psyche. Kingsley isn’t asking, “How do I say this line well?” but “What kind of life produces a person for whom this line is inevitable?” That’s subtext as architecture. It implies backstory without exposition: education, class, shame, pride, fear. Even silence becomes chosen, not incidental.
Context matters because Kingsley’s career is built on transformation - Gandhi, Don Logan in Sexy Beast, Mandarin misdirection in Iron Man 3. He’s known for voices and physicality, yes, but this quote argues that the real disguise is linguistic: the cadence and vocabulary that betray who you are. It’s also a quiet rebuke to over-written scripts and improvisational vagueness alike. The “trick” isn’t shortcutting truth; it’s making the audience forget there was ever a script at all.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Kingsley, Ben. (n.d.). The trick is to try and justify every word on the page and make sure my character is the man who would say that. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-trick-is-to-try-and-justify-every-word-on-the-144534/
Chicago Style
Kingsley, Ben. "The trick is to try and justify every word on the page and make sure my character is the man who would say that." FixQuotes. Accessed February 3, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-trick-is-to-try-and-justify-every-word-on-the-144534/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The trick is to try and justify every word on the page and make sure my character is the man who would say that." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-trick-is-to-try-and-justify-every-word-on-the-144534/. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
