How Do Actors Learn to Cry on Cue?

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( PERFORMANCE ANXIETY [The Crying Game]( How do actors learn to sob on cue? And can I? Oprah’s acting coach, a soap star, a clown-class graduate, and others explain. Photo: Paramount Pictures Crying has been one of the most popular activities of the past four to eight years; the ability to do it on command has been considered the apex of acting ability for much longer. Consider the 2017 [Decider investigation]( that revealed that 96 percent of Best Actress winners over the past 50 years openly wept during their performances (compared with 60 percent of Best Actor winners, thanks to boring yet pervasive sociological dynamics that have long poisoned the human experience). Or the fact that, for decades, it was considered normal for directors to psychologically torment their actors in the hopes of getting them to break down on-camera — think of Stanley Kubrick torturing Shelley Duvall with impunity during The Shining or Alfred Hitchcock throwing live pigeons at Tippi Hedren on the set of The Birds. Hollywood’s craven obsession with crying is perfectly dramatized in a [scene early on in Damien Chazelle’s 1920s Golden Age period piece, Babylon,]( in which wannabe starlet Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), yanked onto a movie set at the last minute, jump-starts her career by sobbing on request with near-chilling exactitude, pausing effortlessly each time the cameras stop rolling to flash a self-satisfied grin to the roomful of stunned industry pros. [read more]( Devour pop culture with us. [Subscribe now]( to save over 40% on unlimited access to Vulture and everything New York. The Latest TV Recaps • The Traitors: [Duchess of Deception]( • Expats: [2014]( • Masters of the Air: [The Dirty Baker’s Dozen]( • Tokyo Vice: [Nothing Comes Without Cost]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like [Unfortunately, Madame Web Is Bad in a Boring Way Dakota Johnson seems to give up halfway through this latest superhero movie, which drags through the middle and is inept by the end.]( [The 13 Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Weekend Oui, Amélie is calling.]( [Vampire Weekend’s ‘Capricorn,’ Reviewed by a Capricorn Finally, something for us goats.]( [Pictures From a Genocide An astonishing new show of Native American ledger drawings brings a historic crime into focus.]( [The Hugo Awards Scandal Is a Mess Leaked emails show an orchestrated effort to deem nominees “ineligible” over their political leanings.]( [Laura Jane Grace on the Most Painful and Surprising Music of Her Career “There are songs I look back at now and I don’t even know how I sang them.”]( [John Oliver Stepping to Disney Won Late Night This Week Plus, Jon Stewart’s Daily Show homecoming and After Midnight going full Whose Line.]( [Feud’s Russell Tovey on What It Takes to Play a Baddie “He seemed to move like a glacier, this solid mass of shit moving through Truman’s life.”]( [12 Books to Read If You Can’t Move On From Night Country These icy, lonesome tales will scratch the same frostbitten itch as True Detective’s fourth season.]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Today’s Crossword]( 7-Down, Ten Letters: Henry Winkler’s role, in “Barry” Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Everett, Getty A newsletter about the perpetual Hollywood awards race, for subscribers only. [Sign up]( to get it every week. [Get the Newsletter]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe]( | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2024, All rights reserved