8 Dick Moves Filmmakers Used To Improve Actors' Performances

2. "Cry Better Or We'll Shoot Your Dog!"

While filming a scene for the movie Skippy, child actor Jackie Cooper wasn't able to weep convincingly. At least, not convincingly enough for the director, who also happened to be Cooper's uncle. He decided the only way to for his nephew to really nail the emotional impact of the scene was to traumatise him for life. Because that's what family is for. After the first unsuccessful take, he threatened to take Jackie's real-life dog to the pound to have him put down. When that didn't work, he had a security guard actually take the dog (who was on set that day) out of sight and then fire his gun, leaving Jackie to believe his dog had just been executed. Because eight-year-old Jackie was bad at his job. The kid was so hysterical that he began crying "more than was appropriate for the scene," so his uncle softened just a tad, telling him that if toned it down a little for the next take he could go check to see if his dog had survived the gunshot. Which, again, wasn't a real thing. But hey, the eight-year-old actor won an Academy Award for that crying and his uncle assured him it was all just a "harmless little trick."