making a child cry in the name of Drama!!

[snookienoo]

I have been asked to take ds for an audition where they would like him to be able to cry.
Now he is a good actor but I can honestly say I have no idea how do I go about it?
We talked about sad things, but he's had no pets or family deaths!! Can anyone give any advice? (other than don't bother!)
He is only 7, so it's a tricky one. Advice very welcome

[paulears]

It's actually a little more tricky than that. Some councils or local authorities can take the stance that under the current children's license, then the establish forms of abuse (commonly the NSPCC ones) that involve physical and emotional abuse need to be treated very carefully. At 7, your problem would be to get them to cry on cue realistically - but getting kids to try to empathise by using sadness or any other stimulus could well be considered a no go area. Fair enough, common sense prevails as they are your kids, but last year my chaperones had a massive handbook and one section I'd never seen before detailed how that when on stage, they must not be able to witness any adults carrying out abuse of any kind. So having a younger child in a scene where, for instance, father strikes mother in front of child - would be a no go area. It's simply not possible for the director to get them to conjure up a sad memory and re-live it to generate tears. It would obviously work - but could be considered to be abuse, by the strict interpretation of the act? Tricky!

[Coco]

I was really interested to learn that there are child protection guidelines regarding this now Paulears, as I've wondered before about what they have done to make a child cry for tv sometimes. There was an advert for the NSPPC i think it was, with a little boy in a cot with tears streaming down his face and I thought how on earth they would have made him do that, as he was far too young to be acting anyway. At the very least I think they must have stuck him on his own in a cot until he cried his eyes out, which surely would be questionable, even to raise money for charity ! I remember reading once that Shirley Temple was told her Daddy had been injured or something to make her sob on cue for a scene.
My dd was asked to cry at an audition, but she was about twelve. They gave her a very disturbing/sad scene to read, and being genetically programmed to be an emotional wreck, she started bawling so much she could hardly finish reading it. When she came out the casting director said 'Shame really she was excellent but I could see right away she way too young looking, we told the agency we wanted 15 and over'!

[snookienoo]

He doesn't see people hurting each other but needs to be upset, surely this is purely acting?
Otherwise how can there be children on TV crying in acting situations?

[gelert]

Aren't they given false teardrops?

[jasmine2]

my dd had to cry for an advert she did ages ago when she was 11.....they put stuff in her eyes to make her cry....very convincing..bless her x

[pg]

Do you know what? This makes me really cross!

Being able to "cry" on cue is nothing to do with being a good actor. This instruction is absolutely concentrating on the wrong thing it seems to me. I think it's just the WRONG instruction and is making you and your son concentrate on the wrong thing.

An actor needs to be able to inhabit the character required and react and act appropriately to the situation, but that need not mean "crying". Most of the time in life, we try NOT to cry (though tears may come in spite of this) and witnessing this is far more moving than someone bawling their eyes out. In fact, the only time I can think that a human being "tries" to cry is when they are being totally false (like a toddler trying to get something they want or an adult trying to manipulate another) and generally we can tell really easily that this IS false. Hence, if you ask an actor to "cry", without allowing them to act/react honestly and truthfully, you are unlikely to get a good performance out of them.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand the preoccupation with producing tears! If all the circumstances are right and the actor is "in the moment", then they will bring the truth of that moment to the acting. It will probably be deeply affecting, if it's sad, but the tears are irrelevant!

The director/casting director/agent - or whoever it is - should be looking for a truthful performance that moves the watcher to tears... it shouldn't have anything to do with whether or not the actor cries!! I would suggest ignoring the instruction (honestly, this is what I would do) and just going for the truth of the situation - if a child does this well, I BET everyone will be more impressed than someone being able to produce moisture at will! Tears may come, if they don't, it can still be deeply affecting. Just say "they want to see you being sad or frightened or lonely - can you imagine what that would be like? Think about a time when you've felt a bit sad or frightened or a bit lonely and get a bit of that feeling in your tummy". He'll know what "sad" is.

Good luck!

Take a look at this early interview with Meryl Streep (in my view, one of the world's finest film actors) - 6 minutes in - "I can't cry unless I'm moved - sometimes it just doesn't happen". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwszlmS3 ... re=related

Grr! "We want him to be able to cry" - how ridiculous! If they need tears, they can wave an onion under his nose.

[Irishdancer]

Ds had to look sad for an advert when he was 6 they put a tear stick under his eyes which made tears come down his face, in the end just used the clip where he was just looking sad. If its just an audition can they just not ask him to look sad if he gets it they will use a tear stick any way, very unfair to ask a young child to cry on demand especially when its just for an audition

[snookienoo]

Thanks I guess we will go and he will be sad, as for crying I don't think he can actually cry at an audition anyway, I wouldn't really expect him too.
Hopefully if they like him they will pick him anyway despite the fact he can't cry on demand
Thanks for all the comments

[francescasmum]

I can't remember lines even when I've practised scripts with dd for months and she knows everyones parts, I forget stage directions instantly and I am useless at remembering lyrics and tunes, even to my favourite songs. I get embarassed and awkward when put on the spot to improvise but I can cry on demand - instant tears, easy peasy and very convincing v (Don't know why or how, I've never use it to my advantage to manipulate people or situations) only discoverd it when 'playing' with dd . Does this mean I'm a natural actress, a star in the making? If only I could get over my shyness I could be Colin Firth's leading lady!

[paulears]

As you get older, and more mature you can teach yourself to cry almost on cue with practice, but whatever technique you use (or get taught) not everyone can do it. What seems clear is that artificial tears are more reliable! The trouble with younger children is that if you attempt to make them cry for real, then there is a danger that you could be considered to have crossed the line.

It's very difficult to make sense of the legal stuff because different links get made, particularly by local authorities - who take the legislation and then sort of attach extra bits to it that they think make sense. So the NSPCC rules are quite clear, and are quite suitable for using here - but the problem is that they don't work too well with acting and TV and theatre, because the rules don't make exceptions for 'pretending' - and can a younger child actually tell when actors are pretending, or are really angry with each other? - so having them on stage or on set when two actors beat each other up as 'mum and dad' - would seem to be allowing them to witness domestic violence - the act doesn't make acting safe.

The rules I was given last year when doing a show with kids had a nice pre-printed rule book and I was expected to comply with everything in it.

[MAXIMUM]

Ds

[MAXIMUM]

Ds had to cry for a commercial when he was 14 months old. I said if he couldn't see me he would burst in to tears. Problem was when the actress (lovely girl size 4 and wearing a tiny t shirt) took him and walked into room where they were filming he threw a complete wobbly, grabbed her t shirt and bra and pulled, flashing her boob to camera and wiggled out of his nappy and weed on her.

[pg]

Brilliant! It's such a glamorous profession...

[sophiesocks]

Love it!!!! Once a film crew came to the house to film a scene for a short my ds was in, just as the director was holding dd she vomited all over him I think some even went in his mouth, they never sent us a copy of the film I think they are trying to forget all about it!!!