When we see screen actors, it’s easy to think they get their roles by looking the part. But people who are good at their craft are also good at making it look easy. We don’t notice the behind the scenes effort it takes to bring characters to life.

That’s what makes the recent biographies of Val Kilmer and Matthew McConaughey fascinating. Both actors describe developing a deep understanding and empathy with their characters so they can bring them to life.

Matthew McConaughey, in his memoir Greenlights, recounts how when he first read the script for Dazed and Confused, he said “I know this guy.” That was his response to other characters he read — he found some way to relate and recognize people he knew in them. In fact, several of his iconic moments on camera came from off-screen inspiration as he got into character.

Val Kilmer’s recent documentary features footage of him studying and getting into character for roles he wanted. He spend over a year studying Jim Morrison’s moves on and off stage for his starring role in The Doors. By contrast, one of his great disappointments came from playing Batman, where the suit inhibited his ability to do much more than stand where he was told.

As a student at Juliard, Kilmer told a professor he couldn’t relate to the experience of his character. The professor quickly admonished him that the creative could always find a way to identify with the feelings of his character so that he could bring them to life. He needed to dig deep rather than dismiss them.

How do we apply this to our study of All of King David’s Men?

Our natural response to hearing the stories of King David’s Men is to either judge them or consider them fantastical heroes whose achievements are out of reach. But what if we found ourselves in their stories — their struggles, their virtues, and their flaws? What if we said, “I know that guy” and came to a new understanding of the people around us? What if we saw ourselves in the mirror and course corrected when we have gone astray?

The characters in the Bible give us the gift of wisdom and experience, if we lean in to listen to them speak.