Like Change In The Daylight

It can be any animal you’d like, real, fictional, mythical, magical, whatever. Just truly embody that animal for five minutes. Think like that animal, move like that animal, experience life like that animal. For example: a mouse’s view of the world would be considerably different than a human’s, given the 5-6 foot height difference. Release all your inhibitions—after all, it’s not like anyone’s watching—an just become that animal.

This exercise will teach you to get over any embarrassments you may have about acting wild. It will also help you to learn how to truly become a character and start up an inner monologue (though, it is a given that an animal’s inner monologue is probably a bit more…simplistic than a human’s would be).

So, chances are that if you are an actor who is just starting out, one of your biggest problems is how to make yourself cry. Don’t worry; you’re not alone. Every actor tries and fails to climb that particular hill at some point in there career. Even some celebrities haven’t figured it out yet. But I personally think that you should learn how to cry as early on as possible. Here’s why:

Crying is all about completely tapping into your emotions. Yeah, you can dry your eyes out or put in eyedrops or something for tears, but tears do not automatically=crying. I’m not saying that things like eyedrops are bad. In fact they are really, really helpful and create real-looking tears. You just need to be able to create the real-looking sobs to match them.

To do this, you need to forget about everything else,(and I mean EVERYTHING) and really believe that you are in your characters position. I know the standard idea is to “think of dead puppies,” but I honestly think that’s a terrible idea. If you’re thinking about dead puppies, you’ll be distracted from the scene at hand and therefor crying will be much harder. Completely accepting the situation and hardships your character is facing is a much easier and more natural way to make the tears come.

I know it sounds kind of abstract to just read about, but the next time you’re doing a monologue or a scene, take a minute beforehand to put yourself in the characters shoes before starting and I promise you will see results. Maybe not the first or secod time you do it, (because acting, like every other art form, is something you need to PRACTICE to be good at) but eventually, probably when you least expect it, you’ll actually feel the sadness and grief that was written in the script. And I promise you, that feeling is absolutely magical. The reason I think that this is something all actors should learn early on is because it can help you tap into all your other emotions as well. It makes your performance realistic. And I know it seems kind of like an obvious thing, “put yourself in the characters shoes,” but you’d be surprised how many people don’t try at it.

My newest headshots are ready and he claims they are gorgeous. Comp cards are soon to follow and then hopefully auditions. I also think I figured out how to make myself cry on cue. More on that a bit later (read a couple of minutes, as I honestly have nothing else to do but study for Spanish and finish Apocolypse Now. Both of which I’ve put off for far too long now).