The late Laurence Olivier was a self-proclaimed "technical" actor (as opposed to a method actor). He worked from the outside in when discovering how to play the characters he portrayed on stage and on screen. Olivier would find a walk, a speech pattern, various mannerisms, etc. through which the character would reveal itself to him.
While rehearsing a Noel Coward play in which he played a prissy English lord, Olivier was having great difficulty getting a handle on both the character and how to play him. This semi-famous story reached its happy ending when Olivier, passing by an antique store, happened to glance in the window and saw a walking stick for sale.
Olivier went in to the store, picked up the walking stick, and the moment it was in his hand, he knew the character. The walking stick, by the way, was described by Olivier as one of the ugliest, most ostentatious things he'd ever seen, but knew that his character would think it was classy and tasteful.