How to Act Out an Emotional Scene

Considering the Scene

Consider the context. Before acting out an emotional scene, take a minute to familiarize yourself with the context of that scene. Understanding what's happening around a scene can help you better understand your character's motivation and emotions. Read the scene in full. If you have the time, read the full script from which the scene is taken. This will give you a sense of what is at stake in this moment. Consider the character you're playing. What is this character feeling during this scene? How does this character's past, present, and future come into play during the scene? What is the context of this moment? If a character is yelling, arguing, or crying, there was obviously some buildup to this point. Try to look for the complex underlying layers of a character in a dramatic scene. For example, a character may be crying at his father's funeral. He is sad, of course, but there may be other factors at play. What was the character's relationship with his father like? What emotions might the character be experiencing? What memories is he recalling in this scene? Don't forget to take into account how your character may be relating to other characters present in the scene. The key to being a great actor is being present and listening—nothing believable between two actors can ever happen unless you're both truly working off of each other.

Think about the character's internal struggle. For best effects in a dramatic scene, think about character over situation. Audiences are familiar with a variety of sad and dramatic scenarios. What makes a drama interesting is a particular character's reaction to that scenario. Consider your character's emotional investment in a given moment. If your character is arguing with someone else, why is that character drawn into this argument? What is going on in the character's head on a deeper level? A good experiment to help can be a free write in which you write from a character's point of view. Try to imagine how that character is feeling in this moment. Pretend you're the character, writing a diary entry after the scene took place. Really dig deep, considering the character's past and present, and try to write how you imagine the character feels. Audiences get bored with drama for the sake of drama. If you can show why this dramatic moment matters, in context of a specific character, this will ground your audience. They may respond more favorably to your performance.

Identify exclamation points. While scanning your scene, take note of exclamation points that appear in the writing. Actors are often unsure how to handle exclamation points. Do they signal that your character should talk louder? Do they signal excitement, anger, fear? The answer depends on the scene's context. You should understand the use of exclamation points, and how you should read them, going into a scene. An exclamation point usually indicates a line should be delivered with slightly more force. However, the added force can stem from a variety of reasons. A character may be overjoyed. However, she may also be frightened or angry. Read the scene in full to get a sense of how to deliver a line with an exclamation point at the end. A line like, "What a beautiful day!" can be read several different ways depending on context. If your character is exhausted after having a long fight with her mother, it likely indicates frustration. You could read the line with a sarcastic tone. If the line is delivered during the main character's wedding day, it may indicate joy. You can deliver the line with an upbeat, excited tone.

Watch for physical action. Actors often get so caught up in portraying the emotion of a scene they forget the physical action in the stage directions. Physical action can often carry a lot of emotional weight in a scene. A character may, for example, touch his or her face when talking, indicating he or she is nervous. Make sure you read the scene for physical action and incorporate that action into your performance. A lot of physicality goes into a scene. What the characters are doing in a scene speaks volumes. Read stage directions carefully and see how your character moves. Maybe your character keeps rearranging furniture nervously while talking, for example. Make sure to incorporate this into your performance. You should also strive to pay attention to your body, even if there are not specific stage directions. In acting, you'll use your entire body to convey emotion. How might a character stand if he's feeling tense? How might a happy person gesticulate? Keep character emotions in mind and try to use your body to reflect what a character is feeling. Be careful to concentrate on the scene alone—don't be distracted by the audience, or the cameras, or the crew. This will allow you to commit fully to the imaginary world of the scene, and to attune your body and mind to what your character would really do in such a situation.

Acting Out the Scene

Let the scene's emotions guide you. When acting, it's important to lose yourself in a scene to an extent. Emotion is very fluid. As you act out a scene, try to let the emotional resonance flow through you naturally. Allow your emotions to be fluid. If you try to constrict or control the emotional arch of the scene, your performance may feel forced. Try to really get inside your character's head and experience what that character is feeling. This will be easier to do if you have, as we discussed earlier, truly made an effort to get to know your character. It is very hard to try to sustain or control emotion. While you should be aware of yourself and your body, you may find yourself suddenly being struck by a line. If you find your voice wavering or getting upset, go with it. Allow yourself to embrace your emotional response in any given scene. Being an improvisational, instinctive, moment to moment, from your gut, out of your head actor is one technique for great acting. Meryl Streep Meryl Streep, Actor There is a little part of you in every character you play. "Acting is not about being someone different. It's finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there."

Incorporate humor. Humor can be a great way to shake up an emotional scene. As so many actors and actresses play up the drama, you can stand out in a scene by playing up the humor. Even in dark moments, there may be slightly humorous lines embedded in a scene. Try to focus energy on moments of levity rather than glossing over them. Your audience will appreciate a laugh between the tears and respond well to an actor who can deliver funny lines with ease.

Play the opposite. When playing an emotion, try to shake up the scene by playing that emotion in a non-obvious way. That is, play the opposite. This may make your character's emotions feel more intense for an audience. If your character is angry, you may be inclined to yell or raise your voice. However, what about stone cold anger? You can instead convey anger through silence or quiet words. If your character is sad, maybe portray him in a manic light. Your character is trying to mask his sadness by appearing resilient and cheerful. When it comes to an antagonistic character, avoid playing the character as openly malevolent. Instead, play the character as polite, friendly even. Oftentimes, villains that appear cheery can be even scarier to audiences than outright angry villains. This may not work every time. You may want to do some trial and error in rehearsal to see if playing the opposite works. It's a technique worth trying, however, if you're acting out a dramatic scene.

Stick to one overarching emotion. A scene should be somewhat self-contained. When acting out an emotional scene, do not try to change your character's emotional reaction too much in the course of that scene. Try to stick to one, overarching emotion and concentrate on that for the entirety of the scene. If your character is sad, play him as sad. If he's happy, play him as happy. You can change your tone, and the manner in which your character is playing an emotion. However, you should try to center yourself on one key emotion.

Keep your voice in control. When acting out a dramatic scene, you may be inclined to overact. Oftentimes, you lose control of your voice and end up shouting or talking too loudly. Try to be aware of the volume of your voice and keep your tone even and in control. Even if your character is supposed to be angry, shouting too loudly can be a bad idea. You'll have a hard time controlling the tone of your voice, and how you're delivering the lines, if you're screaming on stage. Keep your voice somewhat quiet and even. Paying attention to physicality can help. If you feel your voice is inadequate when it comes to conveying drama, you may unconsciously raise your voice. However, tune into the physical when you feel you're not delivering in a scene. Do something with your body to convey feelings of anger, sadness, and frustration. This will help you feel like you're portraying your emotions effectively, lessening your need to overexert your voice.

Focus on your character's needs. In an emotional scene, focus on what your character needs in that moment. Why is this moment important to your character? Focus less on the scene's significance to the overall story arch and more on its significance to your character. If a character is arguing with someone else, do not focus on arguing against the other character. Instead, think of it as your character arguing for that particular relationship. Your character wants his relationship with this person to play out in a certain way. That's the fulcrum of the emotion in this scene. Getting to know your character can really help here. If you perform a scene and feel so-so about your job, spend more time reviewing the work and getting inside your character's head. This can give you more insight into your character's needs, allowing you to channel them while acting.

Crying on Cue

Use reverse psychology. Crying on cue can be a challenge for many actors, but a lot of emotional scenes require crying. If you're struggling to find a way to bring tears to your character's eyes, try using reverse psychology. Thinking as your character, think to yourself, "I'm not going to cry. No matter what, I won't let them see me cry." In real life, you've probably had an experience when you've tried to holdback tears. Channeling the desire not to cry, despite needing to, can help trigger tears on stage.

Think of past sad experiences. You can also consider moments that made you cry in the past. If you know you have to cry during a scene, spend some time thinking of sad moments before stepping onto the stage. It may help to do a free write on the topic of sad moments, jotting down the saddest moments you can recall. This will give you a stockpile of sad memories you can use in the event you need to cry on cue. You do not have to focus solely on your own personal experiences. It may be too stressful to channel personal experiences. Instead, try to think of a moment from a book, movie, or TV show that made you cry.

Go through the physical motions of crying. Crying is very much a physical reaction. If you go through the physical motions involved in crying, this may trigger actual tears. Consider what you do when you cry in real life. Maybe you start to breathe heavily, sniffle, and make small sobbing sounds. Start to engage in these actions. You may find that, in response, your body produces tears.

Use stage lights to trigger tears. If you're really in a bind to make yourself cry, you can look at the stage lights. Bright stage lights may irritate the eyes, resulting in tears. Many professional actors use this trick if they're struggling to cry in a particular scene.