Does anyone know how I can make myself cry while acting out some scene?

Question

I really want to do this thing where I cry at the end of a sad scene I am acting out in class, but I don't know how to do it. I've tried walking around until my eyes dried up so much that they started watering and I cried, but that took like two minutes of not blinking. Is there any way to make myself cry faster? I don't want to put peppermint oil in my eyes or anything... Does anyone have good ideas? Serious answers, please.

Answer 1

Try biting your lip, pinching yourself, something to inflict a little pain (but not in a way that is noticeable) and/or move your eyes so they are focused up towards the corner(if that makes sense).... This has worked for me (even with out the pain)
Good luck!

Answer 2

I have rejected all of the above answers because they fail to recognize that what makes an actor cry is that he is the character and the character is crying. At least that is so if the actor is doing what an actor is supposed to do and that is react to stimuli as the character. If there is a stimulus in the scene that makes the character cry, the actor who is in character will cry. If the actor does not cry in such circumstances, it is because the actor keeps getting between the character and his response and starts worrying about whether he will cry, about what will people say of him and so on. Another reason this happens is that the actor has analyzed the scene too much and has planned what reaction he will have at each moment of the scene. What should happen is that the actor experiences the stimuli of the scene without a pre-set response and he just lets himself respond fully and honestly to those stimuli as they occor. It takes some practice to get out of the way of your reactions and let them happen, but you can do it. If you have intellectually discovered that the character is crying at a certain point, the dialogue that the playwright has given you will make you cry at that point if you use your speeches as a response to those stimuli thjat are in the scene. Thus, there is no need for pepper or affective memory or pinching yourself. React, and you will cry.

Answer 3

Alright here we go... I'm in acting 101 at my college, but I've had alot of experience in it. And we study out of this book by Uta Hagen (god rest her soul) and to be a true actor- you must truly cry. You cannot just think of a sad song or a puppy and go "Oh! I'll make myself cry now." You need to take an experience that made you upset (but it must be one that you have coped w/ and gotten over already) and remember how it made you feel. It's called EMOTIONAL MEMORY. It's the best way. And, you don't actually have to think of the experience. Just have something- an item, or a smell- that triggers it, so its alot easier to get the tears flowing. Because you have to truly be that character and truly have that emotion, thinking of a sad song really doesn't cut it.

Answer 4

Don't worry about making yourself cry. Enter into the circumstances of the scene. What is the problem that the character is trying to solve?

Answer 5

Have you ever seen the music video for Rascal Flatts' "What Hurts The Most"? that one really makes me cry so try and think of maybe a really sad music video (such as What Hurts The Most or Butterfly Kisses[yes ik i am weird]) To think of those when i have to cry in a scene really helps =]

Answer 6

Yawn a lot before you start the scene that will open your tear ducts and then when you are ready to cry blink one time hard ( make it look like one of those dramatic long hard tight blinks) this works for me and I'm a professional actor.

Answer 7

do this, listen to some sad song at home, and make a story, think of something sad till you cry, with this certain song.
then when on the play, play the the song or music in your head, tears will come out, that is my way of doing it, hope it helps.

Answer 8

i believe the best way to cry is thinking in that exact moment that you have to cry the sadest thng that ever happened to you for me i just remeber the time my gf entertained another suitor it still bring tears to my eyes evee right now or what is the worst thing that could happen to you like um parents dying

Answer 9

think about the worst thing a peson could do. it makes me cry when people abuse children or animals, it makes me cry when i think about homelessness. think about something really sad that happened to you