"I couldn't cry"

So when reviewing some of my older posts I came across the post entitled "Shite", and basically described how I felt my performance was rubbish because 'I couldn't cry'...

Ok so I've come a long way since then! and I have learned a great little piece of advice that will stay with me forever and I actually remember that is was George Clooney who said it, on his Inside the Actors Studio interview. And the advice was, in my words, not Clooney's, It's not about being able to cry. That isn't what defines a good performance. Because, if you think about it, most people, being self-conscious human beings, try NOT TO CRY.

So if you go back and watch the very sad scene in The Descendants, where George's character is beside is wife's bedside, he is actually trying his hardest, NOT TO CRY, which makes him well up. YOU see?

Crazy right? So That is definitely something I will always try. If I don't feel the emotion to cry in the scene, then I will play it as if i'm trying not to cry which will probably make me cry.

Also a great piece of advice, comes from a great book called "The Actor and The Target" by Declan Donnellan, and it goes something like this 'trying to make yourself feel something is like trying to shit from your ear'..

this is gold where I'm concerned now. whenever I am acting now, and I don't feel something, then I'm going to play what I feel, rather than 'trying to cry' or trying to 'be angry', because I'm sure the text will convey whatever the emotion of my character is, without me trying to over-do it by over acting and trying to force myself to feel something on stage.

Hmm... so I'm definitely not going to worry about 'trying to cry' anymore and I'm sure as hell not gonna try and force myself to feel and emotion on stage, because lets face it, it'll probably just look really fake and horrible anyway!

So are there any golden pieces of advice you guys follow?

Are there any questions you want answered or would like me to research?!

Thanks for reading!

Peach Out! x