How you introduce the central character (or characters) in your screenplay goes a long way to orienting the reader, setting the tone of the story, and getting us to go along for the ride.
When that’s missing, we end up feeling like we don’t know who or what we’re meant to focus on. And while we want to know whose story it is, more than that – we want to know as quickly as possible why it’s their story. What IS the story, and what is it all about.
So how do you introduce a character in a way that accomplishes all of that?
Need-to-know introductions
Let your reader know who your protagonist is by showing us what’s important to him – as is relevant to this story. That last part is key.
What does that mean? Give us need-to-know information.
For contrast, you might notice (if you read a lot of scripts) that sometimes writers go for wild, attention-grabbing intros… that have nothing to do with the story. The character’s first scene might be big and action-y, full of gags and punchlines, or quirky and unique, but if it’s not actually relevant to the arcs and themes of the story it’s part of, then it’s not serving the script as well as it should.
A character introduction that shows us what’s important in the character’s life at the moment the story is starting (what I sometimes call their global stakes), or that illuminates the specific issue they’re about to contend with, properly sets us up for the story to come.
It hooks our interest because we can sense that it is relevant, and it primes us to begin to invest in the character. When we care about the character, we care about the outcome of the story… and that means we keep reading.
Some examples?
Introducing THE FIGHTER
In The Fighter, we meet Mickey Ward having dinner with his mom, discussing whether he should get engaged, then learning his brother is in trouble and immediately heading out to find and protect him in any way he can. Mickey’s family is the most important thing to him in relation to this story. It defines the character who’s about to journey through this series of events, which will force him to contend with issues of loyalty, identity, and the double-edged sword of familial obligation.
If it were a different story, about some other pivotal time in Mickey’s life, we’d probably want to meet him in some other context. Some other introduction that illuminated what was relevant about the character in relation to that particular story.
Introducing CRAZY RICH ASIANS
In Crazy Rich Asians we see the antagonist introduced with this method as, in the opening scene, Eleanor stands up for her family when they’re being mistreated, and does so in a way that puts her pride first and lets everyone know exactly how powerful and important her family is. Later, we’ll see that family is central to this character’s motivation throughout the movie.
The same technique is used to introduce the protagonist, too, although it might not seem so at first glance. Our very first introduction to Rachel shows us that she’s a university professor teaching game theory in a creative, engaging way to her students – she’s smart and cool at the same time. The script does a nice job of establishing this aspect of her before then diving into the area that’s most important to her in relation to this story – which is her relationship with her boyfriend, Nick.
If we’d started there, with the romance, Rachel might have seemed one-dimensional and obsessed with love – not a great heroine for modern times. So we start off by understanding how awesome she is, and then introduce the aspect of her life she and we are most concerned about in this series of events.
So remember – tools, not rules, and every screenplay is unique. Figure out what information the audience needs to know in order to have the reaction you want them to have.
Character descriptions
Within that character introduction scene in your screenplay, the character description is the pithy line or two that announces the character to us. There’s a ton to say about writing captivating character descriptions (which we can talk about another day) but for now consider:
Rather than describing just the physical aspects of the character, use the character’s introductory description to plant a flag in your reader’s mind of who that character is, what defines him, what we can expect from him in the coming pages. A sense of the character’s essence and how they’ll function in the story.
For example, here’s the description of the protagonist in Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash:
A cavernous space. No windows. Sound-proofed walls. And in the center, a DRUM SET. Seated at it, in a sweat-marked white T, eyes zeroed on his double-stroke roll, is ANDREW NEYMAN.
He’s 19, slight, honors-student-skinny – except for his arms, which have been built from years and years of drumming.
We get an immediate sense of what’s most important to him (as is relevant to this story!): drumming. And we know he’s dogged in that pursuit.
The introduction opens the door
You get one shot to make a first impression, so make it count. One of the best tricks for introducing a character is by showing us what’s most important to them – but only as relevant to this story.
We’re naturally attracted to passion. Seeing what a character cares about above all else is intriguing. Once we’re interested, then you can work on getting us invested. And when we care about the character, we care about the outcome of the story…which means you have us right where you want us: eagerly reading pages.