How to cry on cue

Actor Lucy Bell reveals the tips and secrets to turning on the waterworks during an emotional scene.

Crying can be triggered by anything that engages our empathy.

Legend has it that on being asked by a director to cry in a scene, John Barrymore asked, “Out of which eye would you like the tears to come?”

This kind of technical proficiency is impressive but, for most of us, crying is a mystery; we don’t know when or why it will happen.

Although crying is usually a release that follows intense emotion, it can be triggered by anything that engages our empathy.

If I’m working on a scene that ­requires me to cry, I won’t think about crying but will imagine what it’s like to be in the circumstances of the character, connecting as personally as I can, while staying open and vulnerable to what is happening in the scene.

For example, if I’m playing a scene about the death of my axolotl, I won’t begin it thinking “I have to cry” but will play each moment as truthfully as possible.

When the loss of my beloved pet occurs, the emotion will probably flow naturally. Occasionally, on film and TV sets, however, if the character is required to produce tears at a specific moment — possibly in close-up, probably for multiple takes and almost definitely with time pressure — as a last resort the actor might be discreetly offered a tear blower. This is a hollow stick containing menthol that is gently blown into the actor’s eyes by a makeup artist. This usually, but not always, triggers tears.

They actually dry out my eyes but make my nose run like a tap. If empathy, imagination and menthol don’t work for you, cut up an onion.

Lucy Bell, actor in Griffin Theatre Company’s Splinter