Part of being an actor is being able to contribute to a character's rhythms. If there's room to explore, you find a happy medium. We almost always get it as written, and then, we throw some improvs in or some alternatives. Elizabeth Meriwether More Quotes by Elizabeth Meriwether More Quotes From Elizabeth Meriwether If I'm writing something and I'm not feeling mischievous, then I know it's not going to be great. Elizabeth Meriwether mischievous feelings writing Dysfunctional co-dependent relationships always appeal to me. I don't know exactly how it started. I start writing sketches of characters and little scene-lets, and then it builds. Elizabeth Meriwether writing littles character The striking thing about New Girl is that under all the comedy, theres something about the emotions and reactions that feels very real - much more real than other sitcoms. Like - maybe everybody is sort of laid bare in different ways. Elizabeth Meriwether girl real way In a show that has so many neurotic, broken beta characters, it's always fun to bring in a character who's really confident in themselves. Elizabeth Meriwether broken fun character What does being a woman today mean? Is there a right way of doing it? Is there a wrong way of doing it? Different kinds of women, female friendships: It's all pretty funny, and worth making fun of. Elizabeth Meriwether fun today mean The funniest things just come from honesty. We have a tendency to see female characters as representative of something larger than what they are, when male characters are just characters. Elizabeth Meriwether males honesty character If women ran Hollywood, The Hollywood Reporter would have a "Men in Entertainment" issue every year, and those jerks would have to write something. Elizabeth Meriwether issues writing men People want to put women in one box, and Im interested in how women can be everything at once. Elizabeth Meriwether boxes want people I was really freaked out when I heard that Cookie Monster was going to be changed to Veggie Monster, but that turned out to be a lie. Elizabeth Meriwether cookies monsters lying I think they should create a holiday for friends-with-benefits relationships. Because I feel like Valentine's Day is, maybe it's a day to stay home and cry. Elizabeth Meriwether valentines-day holiday home I think in a lot of romantic comedies it ends with a kiss, and I feel like in modern day relationships, and maybe just my own experience, it starts with a kiss and then all sort of falls apart and then comes together. Elizabeth Meriwether kissing fall thinking But, yes, I learned everything working in theater. I learned the importance of community - I was constantly going to play readings, stand-up nights, improv. nights. Elizabeth Meriwether reading play night Why do British people make such good TV? It's so annoying. Stop it. Is it because they have free health care? Uggh. Elizabeth Meriwether care tvs people Funny women are honest women. Elizabeth Meriwether honest-woman empowering inspirational I think a lot of the romantic comedies need to catch up with what's actually kind of happening. Elizabeth Meriwether comedy needs thinking I think you have to love the characters that you write. I don't know how you could possibly write a TV show where you didn't love the characters. Elizabeth Meriwether think know you love Every show is unique, some shows have the master plan and have everything figured out and that's just the way they do things. It's like high school. Some people write their papers the second they get their assignments, and some people write it the day after it's due. I am the latter. Elizabeth Meriwether i-am day people school Every day, I learn something new. I think one of the most exciting things for a writer is to work on a TV show. It's like a novel. You have a really long time to develop and learn about the characters, and you can just really keep digging in deeper, every week. Elizabeth Meriwether day you work time I don't think anyone who runs a TV show would ever say to you, 'I have a grasp on running a TV show.' Maybe that's not true. Maybe there are people that do. I don't know. Elizabeth Meriwether true think you people I think so much of writing is an instinct, or a feel for a scene, or a feel for a character. You have to put into words the word 'tone,' which I think is thrown around a lot and can mean a hundred different things, but communicating that to other people is definitely a challenge. Elizabeth Meriwether challenge you character people
