The school did a play by Ibsen that was not to be seen by anyone except the class and teachers. Martha saw it and stopped me in the hall afterward. “You were too much in character,” she said. And I, being a pompous young ass, replied, “Yes, that was what I was trying to do.”

“No,” she said, “you must always do something out of character. Human beings do things out of character. Your best friend does things that you would never dream he or she would do. It’s part of the human condition and makes a character real. To develop a character fully, you must look at the other side of them and find the secrets that are there, contradictory things that are not obvious the first time you read the role. You have to do something out of character.” I remembered that advice all my life.
–Tony Randall on Martha Graham; from Dance Anecdotes