It's Alright For Leading Men To Cry
Posted by Seth at 9:55 AM on June 17, 2008
A new book of photography called Crying Men contains portraits of some of the most respected and accomplished male movie stars of our era, engaged in the kind of emasculating waterworks we're all taught from a very young age is better suited to those who obsesses about designer shoes and tap their feelings out into a computer. ("Later that day I got to thinking about shows of emotion etc etc...") How did photographer Sam Taylor-Wood elicit these moments of raw vulnerability from his subjects? In some cases, such as in the portrait of Hayden Christiansen above, it was as simple as reading the actor selections from a number of Jumper reviews. Others were not so easy. From the publisher's website:
[S]he shoots them in role, asking each to perform and cry for the camera and demands the actor's investment in the process. These are no passive sitters.
True to the blurb, Daniel Craig showed up determined to be an active sitter, and after a marathon session in which he was made to relive every side-by-side humiliation foisted upon him by the bully-geniuses at CraigNotBond.com, it was in the unlikeliest of mental corners that he finally achieved eye-moistening success: recalling the time his inner 7-year-old was made to do cartwheels up and down the bar of his father's pub, singing "Skip To My Lou, My Darling."
- Crying Men [steidl via Mollygood]

Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Old No.7
Posted 11:13 AM 17/6/08
Remember the good ol' days, when guys would just tug out a nosehair to start the fountains?
There's just no dedication to the subtle art of acting anymore.
Old No.7
emberglance
Posted 10:40 AM 17/6/08
Sam is a laydee btw.
emberglance
CluelessElaineLui
Posted 10:35 AM 17/6/08
And this is "art"? Haven't they been doing this for years in their careers?
CluelessElaineLui
kookla
Posted 10:18 AM 17/6/08
I'm pretty positive she got Hayden Christensen to cry by congratulating him on single handedly killing the Star Wars franchise.
kookla
CatherineTrammell
Posted 11:24 AM 17/6/08
Oh we should set up a polaroid booth outside NBC during the SAG strike!
CatherineTrammell
Little Mintz Sunshine
Posted 11:22 AM 17/6/08
"Yeah, they want to offer you the part but it is contingent on a meeting with the director, Courtney Solomon."
Little Mintz Sunshine
gwendemarco
Posted 12:34 PM 17/6/08
Dance monkey dance. I give you pretty chocolate.
gwendemarco
Tiger_Tanaka
Posted 2:06 PM 17/6/08
Bah, just watch this instead. Much more entertaining.
[www.wholphindvd.com]
Tiger_Tanaka
akleinsmith
Posted 3:12 PM 17/6/08
Wow, Hayden is hot even when he's crying! <3
akleinsmith
Victor Ward
Posted 2:37 AM 18/6/08
First reaction:
Daniel Craig - looks old while crying. Should stick to full frontal bathtub scenes and tiny swimsuits.
Hayden Christensen - looks cute while crying. Lips seem to puff up. And it was good.
Victor Ward
Benovite
Posted 1:58 AM 18/6/08
What a thoroughly depressing concept for a book. I should get it for someone contemplating suicide.
@Old No.7: Wasn't Betty Davis known to have a notch in one of her fingernails so as to pull a nostril hair while she smoked a cigarette, thus eliciting tears?
Benovite