How to Cry on Cue
DISCLAIMER: What works for me won’t work for everyone. Also, the point of acting is not to cry on cue perfectly, but to reach a depth of emotion within your scene, etc, etc, more on that later.
1. Stay super hydrated. I know. I hate this one too. But honestly, you need to be really, really hydrated to cry more than a couple of true tears. Stagelights and warm costumes will dehydrate you, as will production lights on most sets, so don’t think that you’re safe anywhere. Water. Lots of it.
2. Tears are not the goal. Authentic vulnerability is the goal, of which tears are a common side effect. If you tell yourself that your goal is to cry, you probably won’t. The goal is to reach a place where the audience is as caught up in your emotions as you are, whether that includes crying or not. Push yourself for vulnerability, not for the detached effect of tears.
3. Master the physical side of emotion. Crying isn’t just “whoops I yelled and now my face is covered in salt water”. What do you do with your body (or what does your body do to you) as you’re leading up to tears?
Things You May Do Include:
- Pulling into yourself
- Making yourself bigger or smaller
- Clenching your muscles
- Raising your shoulders
- Setting your jaw
Things Your Body May Do Include:
- Tight throat
- Difficulty speaking
- Tight chest
- Uneven/fast breathing
- Hyperventilating
- Accelerated heart rate
Chances are, you can fake uneven breathing and clench your shoulders on cue much more quickly and easily than you can produce tears. Start with your lead-ins to crying and learn to use those and the tears will come.
4. Get used to the noises of crying. Silent, dignified tears are not as common as poetic cinema would have us believe. Crying makes noise, and learning to produce and use that noise will come in a lot of handy, especially if you work onstage, where those dignified, silent tears will be invisible to anyone sitting past the third row. Pay attention to yourself the next time you’re actually crying over something, or try looking up clips of people crying for real (I know this is a little morbid. Emotional interviews usually work pretty well) to get an idea of what you’re going for. Don’t be afraid to make noise. Yes, it’s ugly. Give it permission to be.
5. Drill it. This may not sound glamorous, but getting your scene partner/co-star/whatever to just sit down and work a scene or moment to death might work wonders. This one is very hit or miss, but I definitely advise giving it a try if there’s a moment that just escapes you. Dissect it and analyze it and pick it apart and run it and drill it like you would a song that’s vocally challenging. Although some people believe that drilling something leads to it becoming routine, I believe that everyone should give drilling the tough emotional moments a shot before they adopt this point of view. The “raw emotions” just coming through “in the moment” doesn’t happen as often as you’d think.
6. Don’t be afraid to not cry. Sometimes you just can’t. Or it happens some nights of a run and not others. Or only on the last couple of takes of a scene. Don’t beat yourself up for it. Strive for authenticity and vulnerability and don’t waste your energy worrying about producing perfect tears.
And if you’re really, absolutely desperate, don’t blink for as long as you can and the welling will start on its own. ;-)
