DNA Characters & Acting

Phil listens for a long time before he takes control. His calm planning makes the group trust him even when the plan becomes brutal.

Try: economical movement, long pauses, steady eye line and very little change in volume. Let other actors do the moving towards him.

Leah keeps trying to connect with Phil and eventually challenges the group’s direction. Her energy gives the audience a contrast with his silence.

Try: shifting distance, changes of pace and moments where a thought interrupts the flow. When she finally leaves, reduce the physical busyness rather than making the exit melodramatic.

John Tate relies on threat and certainty. The crisis reveals how little control sits underneath that performance.

Try: occupy space aggressively at first, then let interruptions, breathing and broken eye contact expose panic as his authority slips.

Cathy responds to the crisis with excitement and increasingly direct violence. She becomes more important as other leaders disappear or withdraw.

Try: quick physical commitment, comfortable proximity to conflict and a growing willingness to take centre space.

Brian is the person the group can force most easily. His fear makes the cost of the cover-up visible on a human body.

Try: defensive posture, interrupted speech, avoidance of eye contact and a clear physical change when Phil or Cathy closes the distance.

Richard initially seems calmer and more authoritative than John Tate, but he does not take sustained control. By the final section he is the person talking beside a changed, silent Phil.

Try: controlled posture and measured pace early on, then soften the certainty as he becomes another person who talks while Phil withholds a response.

Danny thinks about consequences because he has a clear ambition beyond the group. That gives him a different kind of fear from characters who live entirely in the present.

Try: practical questioning, more direct eye contact and visible frustration when other people’s choices threaten his future.

Lou often follows whoever currently holds power. Fear can explain her compliance more convincingly than treating her as simply passive.

Try: place her near stronger characters, borrow their posture or rhythm, then show small hesitation before agreement.

They repeatedly open sections by reporting what has changed. Their rhythm can make them feel almost like one storytelling unit.

Try: shared pace, overlapping or completing thoughts, matched stage position and occasional breaks in unison when the news becomes harder to process.

Adam’s return is pivotal. Pearson stresses that his confused speech and behaviour need to make the effects of his injury believable.

Try: fractured focus, uncertain movement and disjointed delivery. Avoid turning him into a horror effect; the audience needs to see a vulnerable person the group chooses not to protect.