You know when you’re watching a movie or TV series and there’s a kid crying?

[Guest]

.. (not a baby). Do they make the kid cry or just wait for them to cry and then go QUICK LETS GET THE SCENE DONE?!

Genuinely baffled as to how they do and do it ethically. I get that babies cry all the time but currently watching ER (old school !) and trying to figure it out as the kids are most definitely NOT acting !!

[Emily]

No idea but I know my 4 year old would be able to cry on demand, she’s pretty good at it when she wants something.

[Gill]

Just wanted to say that I am also currently rewatching ER from the very beginning. It's still such a brilliant programme.

[Tamzyn]

My brother was an actor for an NSPCC advert when he was 18months old. (He’s now 22).

They had my mum put him down in a cot and filmed him cry for literally 60 seconds. Scene was done and they went home.

[Lisa]

I find it annoying when they have a recording of a baby crying and use it in a scene when it's blatantly obvious that the baby isn't crying or that the cry is that of a younger baby.

[Lauren]

Depends how old they are, there are quite a few young kids age 5/6 who are able to cry on que and very good at it.

[Donna]

I follow a lady on TikTok who’s job is too make.

Babies cry and laugh on demand whilst filming. Honestly, it’s amazing what she does! Basically, mostly, she cries behind the camera and it makes the baby instantly cry! She also.

Uses certain noise machines and props. Quite clever actually.

[Kelly]

Reminds me of the friends scene when Joey has the hernia and the kid won’t cry, so Chandler shows it to him and he starts bawling.

[Misa]

Sometimes they fake it. Watching a series 11 episode of ER last week and a toddler was ‘bawling’ but could see from the camera angle that the child wasn’t crying, was just a sound effect.

[Anna]

Ethically, I think lines have been blurred historically. I’ve heard that the parents are always on set nower a days and filming is kept to a minimum amount of time between cuddles and feeds.

The scene where Toby is crying in the cot at the beginning of Labrynth always upset my Mum and as I grew up, it upsets me too because that poor baby is extremely distressed and clearly needs comfort.

[Lee]

There are lots of child actors that can cry on cue. When they need a Cryer they send that info to the agents.
Jeanette Mccurdy was one of them.

[Kirsty]

I once saw a video on Facebook, the actor nipped the child’s arm.