Stepping into character

Teacher, writer, doctor, lawyer, police officer. These are singular career paths for many, but what if you had the chance to pursue them all? What if you could play the parts?

As a professional character actor, Baton Rouge native Lydia Laine knows exactly what that’s like. She just completed two films, now in post-production: Drones, written by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker, and Nine Dead, written by Patrick Wehe Mahoney.

In the late 1990s, the directors of Drones, Amber Benson and Adam Busch, were actors on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and they were so impressed with Laine’s work they wrote her into their new film as an office worker who may be from outer space. In Nine Dead, Laine stars as a police officer opposite Melissa Joan Hart and Daniel Baldwin.

“Transforming into character is an escape from reality,” Laine says. “I take my personal traits and characteristics and interject them into my character. That allows me to breathe life and emotion into my character.”

Laine speaks of the importance of stepping into a character’s shoes and pushing herself to think about what her character is feeling at any given moment. This, she says, establishes a solid foundation for the character. Laine then looks for a character’s hidden motivations and builds on that.

Though she enjoys a variety of roles, she gravitates toward those she can relate to the most.

“I’m a nurturer,” she says. “As a wife and a mother, I do what comes naturally, and that is nurturing people.”

Laine can attest that acting is not an easy career. Success in the industry takes a lot of training and persistence. Laine writes down her goals like a checklist.

“Every goal accomplished is one step closer to the fulfillment of your dream,” says Laine. “A quote I live by is that, ‘If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it.’”