How To Cry Convincingly on Stage
Knowing a few tricks of the trade will help you cry at the drop of a hat.
Up next in How to Be an Actor (29 videos)
Attention, aspiring actors and actresses! Break into show business with the tips in these Howcast video.
You Will Need
- A sad memory
- Discipline not to blink
- A bright light
- Peppermint oil
- Oil of Olbas
- A tear stick
Steps
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Step 1
Think of something sad
Before relying on any gimmicks, test your acting skills by thinking of something really, really sad. Any tears?
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Step 2
Stop blinking
OK, so you’re no Laurence Olivier or Meryl Streep. Try this--moments before you need to cry, open your eyes just a bit wider than usual and stop blinking. Soon the tears that hydrate your eyes when you blink should start trickling out.
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Step 3
Stare into a bright light
You could irritate your eyes further by staring into a bright light for a few seconds.
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Step 4
Get minty
Here’s a trick you can prepare ahead. Put a little peppermint oil on a finger and, when the time comes to cry, discreetly rub it just below your eye. The fumes will get the tears flowing--just wipe off the oil when you’re done!
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Test a little oil on your skin to make sure you’re not allergic--and avoid getting it into your eyes!
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Step 5
Try Olbas oil
Another tearjerker is oil of Olbas. Pour some on a handkerchief and inhale deeply before you need to bawl. Find it at health food stores.
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Step 6
Stick it
Steal Hollywood’s trick--buy a professional 'tear stick.' It’s a piece of menthol with a hole in the middle; have someone blow it right into your eyeballs when you need a good cry.
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Ilker Yilmaz of Turkey holds a world record for being able to snort milk up his nose and squirt it from a tear duct in his eye.
