does anyone know how to cry? i want to go into acting but they said i can ony enter if i figure out how to cry

Question

the drama club said i can only enter if i learn how to cry by monday next week. I dont know how.

Answer 1

Sounds like a bunch of phoney's. Even actors in Hollywood who can at times cry, don't always do it on demand due to the difficulty. Most cheat using some chemical (the name slips my mind). This drama club sounds like a bunch of young, immature elitists. I suggest you find a group of real actors at a college or local theater to learn from, rather than this group of yahoo's (no pun intended) that you've stumbled on.





-current actor

Answer 2

MAKING YOURSELF CRY

New actors often have this thing about making themselves cry. It's like it is a litmus test for whether or not they are real actors. Real actors, so goes the logic, can make themselves cry on cue, and if you can't pull off that hat trick, you lose. In a recent acting class, I actually got into a heated debate with a very earnest student who believed that feigning crying would be the only acceptable application of indicating (showing the audience how you feel) - which is pretty universally considered an acting error.

Some actors figure they can cut onions on the movie set or put glycerin in their eyes to give the illusion of crying. Directors have been known to play cruel tricks on child actors to get them to cry, telling them their dog just died and such.

Let's clear the air, and the tears, okay?

First, an ability to make yourself shed real tears is decidedly not the earmark of an excellent actor. I have seen plenty of high school actors that can do it. I have worked with professional actors that could do it, and it was not affecting. The mechanical generation of tears is just that and nothing more - a mechanical generation.

Tears are an _expression of sadness and maybe frustration. (Tears of happiness, like the ones you shed at weddings, will be the subject for another newsletter. They are the result of a mixture of happiness and sadnessÅ ) Tears are a uniquely human _expression of emotion. It is said that elephants cry but there has never been any actual documentation of that. As far as I know, only humans do it. The reason is that we have thinking brains and emotions are automatic value responses. Tears require abstract thought.

Emotions are contextual, and sadness does not always result in tears. Take a look at the scene in Charlie Chaplin's movie "Gold Rush" when he realizes that Georgia the Dance Hall Girl has stood him up on New Year's Eve. No tears, but the sadness is almost tangible. There are times in life when sadness goes beyond tears. I remember once having to tell a friend in New York that his father had passed away. He did not react with tears until much later, but he was obviously devastated by the news.

We humans empathize with emotion. Tears in themselves carry little empathetic currency. They are just wet things. The important part is how the character feels, tears or no tears. Sadness expresses itself in the curve of the back, by the slackness in the muscles, by an inward-looking moment. It used to be said that Geraldine Page could do more acting with her back than most actors could with their front, and this was largely a factor of the way she expressed sadness with her body. The same was true with Eleanora Duse.

If you absolutely positively must make yourself cry real tears, you can probably do it. I can do it and have done so in various film projects. The trick is to put yourself on the edge of tears before they say "Action!" and then spill over in the moment. You have to have a private place in your brain to hold context. It is a mental discipline.

But, seriously, I would not make a big deal out of being able to cry. It is not a litmus test of your talent. More important is for you to have compassion and empathy for the human condition and for you to be willing to be a shaman. If tears are appropriate to the moment, then they will be there.

Talk to the acting teacher, I think the those in the drama club just told you have to cry.

Answer 3

Are you emotional? Can you cry at something very sad? Have you ever cried? Okay, so now think of someone very important in your life; someone you need very much, maybe someone you need as much as air. Okay, got that person? Now imagine that that person gets in a terrible accident. They got into a car crash because they were driving way to fast and you were the one that made them angry in the first place. They were so upset and drove so fast they missed the turn and went off the road. The crash was so bad that they died and the last thing you ever said to them had now literally broken their heart. That's not the worst of it, they left behind an entire family and they were supposed to be in a very important upcoming event. So not only did you take them out of the world but you took them out of an entire family's world, all blame is on you and all because of the stupid words you said as they were leaving.
if that doesn't make you sad, I've got more
good luck
but bottom line is think of the saddest thing that could happen, maybe you lose something important; a pet or such
again, good luck

Answer 4

There are several techniques used by professionals to cry 'on demand".
The first trick is Method Acting. Think of the absolutely saddest thing that would normally make you cry. The death of someone you love, for example. Then you picture yourself living out the scenario. For example: you might try to feel yourself holding your mother or father in your arms as they died. Smell mom's perfume as you are holding her and 'look' at her mouth hanging loose, or sense the limpness of your father as you try to clutch him one last time.
You have to practice. The scene in your mind must be so real you believe you have actually lost the person (or pet, for some). You will be burying them in a few moments and this is your last look.
This usually brings on a flood of tears.

As you start to cry, keep that scenario firmly in your head to keep the feeling going. You will soon start to sob and even cry out. The scene should be so real you end up running up to Mom or Dad and squeezing the life out of them in relief.

Another technique that goes WAAAAY back is good old onion juice. Rub some onto your fingers or soak some into a piece of cloth just before you're on, and when it's time to cry make the appropriate sad faces and movements you can, put your hands up to your eyes and let the fumes do their thing.

There are commercial drops that are mild irritants to make your eyes water - and your acting skills do the rest.

Answer 5

Just don't pressure yourself... Make the tears NATURAL!

When being in your character, whether it be a monologue or play, make sure you dont "fake" cry... Make the emotion real. Take the words or the subtext and warp them into fitting your very own past experience. BECOME the character, don't REFLECT it... Think of something sad and bottle it up. Make it rip at you before the emotion bursts. Use metal images. Picture the person/situation right infront of you and interpt it so that you understand it. Then cry. Scream. Get it out. Good luck! I hope my advice helped!

Answer 6

This is horse manure. There are plenty of big name actors who can't cry real tears on cue. It sounds to me like someone in that drama club is, for whatever reason, trying to discourage you or is on some kind of power trip.

If that's their criteria for entrance into the club (not TALENT or potential as it should be) it sounds like they don't have their priorities in order.

Skip this particular drama club and find out if there is a community theatre in your area you can join or some other drama classes somewhere else where they'll TEACH you what you need to know. Not send you off on your own with no guidance to figure it out. You'll be better off doing that.

Answer 7

Ok, here's what I do:
I think of the saddest thing ever, normally that's my grandmother dieing (actual event). Iam devestated without her, and still cry. It can be a death of a family member, or anyone else, because death normally works best, escpecially if it's a true event.
If I'm faking, to make the tears come, I use the muscles under my eye lids, where bags would appear if i was lacking sleep, and I suck/pull them in toward my face as much and as tight as possible. Always works =+(

Answer 8

Did the drama club teacher tell you that or students? I would talk to the teacher about that. They usually don't turn students away because of one thing. Sounds weird to me. I was in drama in school and there were no restrictions like that.

Answer 9

Sounds like this drama club needs to understand what acting is and what it is not. Acting is not crying. Don't waste your time with people who will mislead you.

Answer 10

i usually cry when im laughing a lot. but i can cry. You have to work at it. i can't really tell you how to do it because it's hard to put it into to words. but if you don't know how i doubt that will prevent you from becoming a successful actor.