Getting The Emotional Response You Want From Your Actors

Last monday, I was filming a scene from a short film I am co-directing and it was an emotionally heavy scene. It was the first scene I had to direct where I needed my actor, Celina, to cry and it was also her first time needing to cry for a scene. Although she had her concerns and I had mine, our focus and collaboration gave me, as the director, the emotional response I was seeking from her, and as the actor, she was able to give not only a heartfelt, heartaching  performance but one that is diverse from her previous acting.

As a director, you need to prepare yourself by discovering and learning what kind of acting method your actor gravitates towards. As an actor, she is looking to me for guidance, reassurance, and reason behind what she is doing. Therefore, I feel that in order to get the emotional response you want from your actor, you must get to know your actor and not only direct them, but give them freedom to choose what works best for them. Before we shot the scene, I sat alone with Celina and asked her if she was more comfortable pulling from personal thoughts and memories to help incorporate into her character, or if going through the physical mechanisms of crying would help get her to a certain point that she can then build upon and apply to the character's situation. It was difficult, for she was comfortable with the previous option but could not bring it to the surface, and with the latter, I had to coach and direct her without acting it out myself which is something a director should not to do.

After working with her for fifteen minutes, we were able to get her to the starting point she needed. What followed, when we started shooting the scene, was a performance that exceeded my expectations. It was natural, heartwrenching, and most importantly realistic. I do believe Celina would have been able to cry without the fifteen minute work session we had. However, I don't think she would have been able to execute it as authentically and as moving as she did thus, getting the emotional response you want from your actors requires getting to know them and giving them options they can choose comfortably from.