Who's the Main Character?

Hey! I’m back with another Oldie but Goodie! And in fact– I’m just going to keep sneaking them in until Julie tells me to stop. I can’t help myself. There’s just too much good stuff in the archives. And I love to be reminded of these helpful bits of writing guidance. Sometimes they pop up at exactly the right time and are just what you need to see your script in a new way or get out of a rut.

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Today I read a script titled after the main character. But as I read the script, I realized he wasn’t the main character at all. So why is the script named after him? And worse – who was the main character? I couldn’t quite tell.

In this month’s Vanity Fair, Francis Ford Coppola, in discussing YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH, said that Leonardo Di Caprio once said to him (and I paraphrase) that in order to consider a script “I have to be the guy the movie’s about.” That sentiment is something that any A-list actor would share with The King of the World.

So as you read the pages of your script ask yourself – is your main character the focal point of the script? Does he or she get most of the page time? Is this a part an actor would love to play? Is it edgy, funny, imaginative and utterly original? Is this character, in other words, a juicy role?

Some stories obviously have dual main characters – romcom is a prime example of that. A romantic comedy is the story of two characters who intersect and change one another. And this concept is not just limited to romcom – MIDNIGHT RUN, with Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin, loosely falls into the “buddy movie” category; it focuses on both main characters and generates its entertainment value from the dynamic between them.

You may very well have a story with dual main characters, and that will still fall within acceptable dramatic parameters. But if that’s the case, think twice about the title – don’t let one character hog it and appear to be the main character and then be overshadowed by secondary characters.

A clear sense of who and what your movie is about is pivotal when getting a read by an agent, producer or exec. If a reader can’t quite grasp who your main character is, chances are you don’t either. At the end of the day, every movie is character-driven. So who’s your main character?