Characters in Survival of the Holy Fool

Suli Holum playing Holy Fool. Photo by Tom Carsen
Suli Holum playing Holy Fool. Photo by Tom Carsen

TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHARACTERS

I wanted to write two different types of characters: 1) characters that were steeped in all things physically and emotionally material, for example, addiction, debt, fear, loneliness, resentment, anxiety, power, etc. 2) And then I wanted to write one character who was the opposite of all that. She would be fully rooted in the spiritual world. The Holy Fool is this character.  She was the hardest character to write. There were times I would get so frustrated that I'd cut her from the script but once she was removed I no longer wanted to direct the film.  She is the sole reason why the script took so long to write. It took me years to write her well and figure out where she was coming from. I theoretically knew why but I didn't have the skill as a writer yet. 

Overall, I love this script and it was worth every knock out it gave me.