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How do actors cry on command? The Outlander cast give their tips
The Outlander cast discuss the craft of crying on camera
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Do you ever watch a movie or television show and wonder how the actors cry on command? While there is no exact science behind it, every actor has their own method. For example, if you watch the Starz series Outlander, you might notice that Jamie Fraser cries a lot, even if his actor Sam Heughan tries to deny it.
“I would say he’s very stoic, so I’m not sure he does,” Jamie Fraser actor Sam Heughan says during an Outlander panel at New York Comic Con 2022. “I don’t think he’s a crier as in that I don’t think he openly weeps, but I think he always holds things back. He’s strong. But that’s what’s really fun to play. It’s much more interesting to play someone not wanting to cry, but I don’t ever try and go out of my way to squeeze one out, so to speak.”
“It’s a funny one because sometimes when you read a scene and it says Jamie cries, the stage directions are kind of slightly unhelpful because I always feel like you don’t know what the character is feeling and how the character is going to react. So, it’s not about going for the end product. It’s leaning into the emotion and leaning into the character, and whatever comes out of that will move you hopefully.”
“You don’t try to cry, it happens,” John Grey actor David Berry says. “If you try to cry, it won’t happen. And if it does happen, and you get that single tear, then quietly inside you’re like punching the air.”
“But it’s also difficult because you do the scene so many times, so you also don’t want to peak too early,” Heughan adds.
For more Outlander, watch the complete panel below:
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