through-line
n.—Gloss: an acting method of imagining a character’s continuous motivational path. «Actresses are constantly constructing new characters, and when they’re not in costume on a set or a stage, they’re typically in jeans or something nondescript. In going from role to role, she said, “It’s easy to lose your personal through-line.”» —“An Eliza Doolittle Onstage as Well as on the Red Carpet” by Cathy Horyn New York Times Oct. 25, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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