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How to Cry on Cue

    First, let me tell you that crying on cue is somehow a myth and some actors even find it ridiculous because we don't have press buttons for crying. It is not that simple. There are people who can easily cry and there are people who can't. And if you can, that does not guarantee that you're already a good actor. What will make a performance gain recognition is not the ability to cry but rather the honesty of the emotion. 

(Photo by Aliyah Jamous, unsplash.com)

Don't fuss about how to train your tear glands, put your time into studying the character instead. Focus on the character's goal, his/her needs and wants and memories he/she have based on what is written in the script. And sometimes you may also need to come up with memories that are not mentioned in the script but can support the scenes the character is in. (See a quick script analysis guide.)


So instead of learning how to cry on cue, let's talk about practical approaches that can help you portray your character instead. Once you know your character well, there are many methods you can explore to help you make your character believable whether it is in a happy or sad scene. Let's call it emotion switches, since these are like tools you can use to bring out an emotion your character needs in a given scene.


  1. Trigger words or phrases. 

Come up with words or phrases that you can say in your mind. It should be words that reflect your character's innermost feelings. It helps if it is something your character wants to say to the other character(/s) you are with.

Let's say you're playing a role of someone who is breaking up with his/her partner. You may come up with trigger phrases such as: "Am I not good enough?" or "I never really loved you," depending on what your character's goal is.


  1. Write a letter.

This is a method I learned from the director of the short film "Muli." Me and my co-actor were to play couples and my character becomes ill and passes away. 

During the cold reading a few days prior to shoot, she asked us to be in our character and write letters for each other. There were two sets of letters --the one we sent each other after we just met, and another when we wrote each other our goodbyes before my character died. 

During production, the director made us read a letter before shooting a scene depending on which feeling she wants us to carry. 


  1. Assign a song for the other character.

Theme songs can be easily related to feelings and remind us of significant people in our lives. Since it can influence moods, it can be very useful as an emotion switch too. 

Simply pick a song your character will likely choose for the character he/she is in the scene with. Or you can pick a song that kind of summarizes your character's life story. You can also experiment on singing the song the way your character will sing it. 


Emotion switches are not limited to these. Remember that there are different acting techniques and as you attend workshops, go to auditions and accept acting jobs; you will observe which works best for you. And as you progress, you will likely come up with your very own emotional switches too.

Keep learning and enjoy. 


(Track your progress in acting using this tool.)


#acting #actors #actinglife #actingtips #actingworkshop #ActorsInThePhilippines

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