Crying on screen

[LivingTheDream]

Hi all

This is more a post to put my dd's mind at rest more than anything else. Dd has always been able to connect with her characters- she is able to portray their emotions realistically on stage, including when crying is necessary. However, the more 'subtle' crying one tends to see on screen, where just a few tears are falling down the actor's face without them having been particularly worked up beforehand, is something that she is worried about for the future. Are these 'real' tears as it were or the result of some sort of glycerine/menthol concoction?

Thanks!

[ruby95]

Whenever I have had to cry before on a project they have used glycerine, sometimes without even asking me if I could cry first. I think it works really well and looks really realistic as long as the emotion is still there in your expression.

However I think if you spend a lot of time really getting in touch with your character then it is easier to produce fake tears than you might think. I always thought that I couldn't fake cry as I had tried and failed many times and I often don't even cry when I am actually upset but I recently went to an audition where I had to read some quite emotional sides, it was a recall and so with the two auditions combined I had spent a lot of time working on the character, and in the audition as I was reading the scene I just started crying. I wasn't trying to cry as the scene didn't even require it, but a few tears just started rolling down my cheeks.

So, to summarize, based on my (limited) experiences I would say she will probably be fine just relying on glycerine but as your DD has always been able to connect to characters maybe if she is ever asked to fake cry, she may find it easier than she thinks.

[pg]

Look out. Pg is on one of her pet hobby horses...

Most of the time in life we do our best not to cry because it gets in the way of communication. Sometimes tears come in spite of this (and of course sometimes they are therapeutic and cathartic). In terms of acting I think that some actors (and a few directors) get hung up on producing tears. Being able to cry (produce tears) on cue doesn't have a lot to do with truthful acting in my opinion and therefore it isn't often essential to a scene. As long as the actor is reacting truthfully to what the character is going through then the audience will understand the emotion - whether the tears are there or not. It is usually far more moving to see someone trying NOT to cry - and this is what will often happen in an emotional scene. On screen, it may be necessary to match up shots or the director may want to see tears, in which case there are tricks which can be used, but I really don't think it's something worth worrying about. What is worth practising is being able to ignore all the gubbins around you on a shoot and truly being in the character's "bubble" so that you can react spontaneously and truthfully (and being able to do this take after take).

If someone says "we need someone who can cry on demand" I would question their experience or the nature of the production. I'd question it in my head, I mean. It's the audience you want in tears - not necessarily the actors! If you do get this kind of instruction, I'd recommend interpeting it as: "we need someone who can react truthfully in an emotional scene". If you can do this, I bet they won't care whether the tears are there or not.

[francescasmum]

As usual we bow to the Guru pg's knowledge. I can cry on cue and produce tears on request but I an a lousy actor! As pg says in real life most people try as hard as they can not to cry in a sad/upsetting situation so it would probably look quite false if the actor did produce tears, especially with the amount of takes they usually have in each scene. Who can make their tears appear on exactly the right word (apart form me - which everyone tells me is freaky) over and over again. But even I can't control where or how fast they travel once I've produced them, how would that work for retakes unless they are 'placed'!

[LivingTheDream]

Thank you very much to ruby95 for sharing your experience, and to pg and francescasmum for sharing your knowledge. It has definitely put dd's mind at rest and we are both very grateful to you all- you have been extremely helpful

[islandofsodor]

Interesting reply of and one I agree with

Dd recently said she shed a few quiet tears during the first run through of a scene where her character dies. However she has to try really hard not to actually cry because the little girl she is playing believes wholeheartedly she will be better off in heaven & is trying to comfort those around her.

I am not looking forward to watching that scene myself. Dd says she has to make the audience cry.