"He Had Me Ugly Crying Over A Volleyball..." – 28 Times And Actor Cried So Well On Screen That We Were Completely Blown Away

"It made me cry so much I had to eat an entire packet of biscuits."

We all know actors have to be able to shed a tear now and then, but sometimes an actor can give such a harrowing, realistic sob that it genuinely touches us.

HBO Max

Here are 28 times an actor stunned us with their water works:

1. Matt Damon as Will in Good Will Hunting

Miramax Films

"During the 'it’s not your fault' scene with Robin Williams, when he finally lets go of all his pain and trauma, I’m sobbing right along with him because you can feel your own demons leave you for just a minute. One of those good cathartic cries."

—brittanydanielleb

Watch the scene here:

youtube.com

2. Katherine Heigl as Izzie Stevens in Grey's Anatomy

ABC

"When Denny died on Grey's Anatomy. Years later, that scene makes me cry like a baby."

—mermaidish

Watch it here:

youtube.com

3. Karl Urban as Eomer in The Return Of The King

New Line Cinema

"When he finds his sister on the battlefield. Breaks my heart every time!"

—teriebella

"Oh my god — I still remember the first time I watched that scene. My mouth hung open so long my tongue dried, and I just kept replaying it over and over."

—obsessedaragornfan

Here's the harrowing cry:

youtube.com

4. Toni Colette as Annie in Hereditary

A24

"Her screams of absolute anguish are hard to listen to. I always have to skip the scene where she finds out about Charlie because she plays it so convincingly."

—angiew42d9a9178

"The scene where she's just SCREAMING on the floor. I feel like that wasn't acting. It sounded way too real to be acting, and it still hurts to watch."

—teeldubya

5. Natalie Portman as Evey in V For Vendetta

Warner Bros. Pictures

"When some people cry on screen they just shed one tear and their face doesn't seem to change, but Natalie looks like she's *actually* crying!"

—hannahconstantin

Here' the letter scene in V For Vendetta:

youtube.com

6. Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda in Avengers: Infinity War

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

"When Wanda realises she has to kill Vision. Elizabeth Olsen's facial expressions get me every time."

—mab6644

Here's the scene:

youtube.com

7. Anne Hathaway as Lexi in Modern Love

Amazon Prime Video

"When Anne tells her coworker and friend that she suffers from bipolar disorder at dinner. The rawness of her opening up and the look on her face that says 'I can’t handle this alone but I’m worried you’ll reject me' is heartbreaking. I ugly cried over this scene. Especially since I wasn’t expecting it."

—jeanettec439d752da

Watch the scene here:

youtube.com

8. Jason Segel as Marshall in How I Met Your Mother

CBS

"When Lily tells him the news (don't want to give anything away!), he just sobs uncontrollably and it gets me every time (plus he ad-lib-ed that bit and did it in one take)."

—hannahconstantin

You can see the scene here:

youtube.com

9. The kids in Stranger Things (season three episode eight)

Netflix

"When all the kids are saying goodbye together, I swear it wasn't acting."

—maggieshannon1

10. Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Warner Bros. Television Distribution

"When his dad leaves him and he says to Uncle Phil 'How come he don’t want me?!' Heart-wrenching, and completely emptied me. To see him as both a boy losing his dad and a man losing his heart."

—monicak4d35d2c42

Here's the scene:

youtube.com

11. Emma Thompson as Pamela Lyndon Travers in Saving Mr Banks

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

"I always lose it at the end scene when P. L. Travers watches the premier of the movie Mary Poppins and sees her work come to life, especially the part when Mr Banks loses his job at the bank and she remembers how tough it was for her own father. It kills me every time!"

—redkid97

12. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Lionsgate

"I'm always amazed by how emotionally Jennifer Lawrence cries The Hunger Games series as Katniss, especially when she's grieving and cries at Buttercup."

—bibianasedrezofficial

Here's the scene:

youtube.com

13. Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector in Moonknight

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

"When he broke down, it made me cry so much I had to eat an entire packet of biscuits."

—poodleflange

Here's the scene:

youtube.com

14. Tom Hanks as Chuck in Cast Away

20th Century Fox

"He had me ugly crying over a volleyball..."

—christines4fb3be872

Watch the scene here:

youtube.com

15. Florence Pugh as Dani in Midsommar

A24

"This performance has to take the award for me – that screaming sob at the beginning of the film when she finds out what happened to her family absolutely gutted me the first time I heard it. It was the thing that scared me and stuck with me the most out of the whole film (and that certainly is a film that stays with you!)"

—allopoppet94

16. America Ferrera as Carmen in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Warner Bros. Pictures

"I’ve always loved the scene where she’s at her dining room table crying on the phone to her father (Bradley Whitford) about how he abandoned her. It’s so relatable and her performance is amazing and gut-wrenching."

—Sunny2423

Watch the scene here:

youtube.com

17. Michael Perkins as Kofi Evans in Hardball

Paramount Pictures

"When he realises what's happened to G-Baby, his first instinct is to still protect him even though there was no hope. His voice cracks as he keeps repeating, 'It'll be okay.' Ugh, heartbreaking."

—doofenshmirtzevilinc

Here's the scene:

youtube.com

18. Logan Lerman as Charlie in The Perks of Being A Wallflower

Summit Entertainment

"That was the hardest one to ever hit me."

—thebonelady

19. Victoria Pedretti as Nell Crain in The Haunting of Hill House

Netflix

"You feel her sleep paralysis and how scared she is as she’s crying."

—abbyismydog

20. Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock in The Reichenbach Fall

BBC1

"Right before the jump always gets me. It’s the snot running down his face that makes it so real."

—raec4

Here's the scene:

youtube.com

21. Chris Hemsworth as Tyler in Extraction

Netflix

"When talking about the little boy to Ovi. Ovi asks 'Because you couldn't watch?' and Hemsworth delivered the most heartbreaking 'Yup' I have ever heard. It was subtle and beautiful. That entire scene between those two was amazing, IMHO."

—pennicholette88

22. Martin Freeman as Watson in Sherlock

BBC1

"Watson crying in Sherlock. He literally sounded like a wounded animal."

—anam132008

23. Holly Marie Combs as Piper from Charmed

The CW

"Her crying has made all of her fans cry. Season 4 of Charmed when dealing with Prue's death? 'How could you go and die and leave me here all alone? Please come back!'"

—jennies4783ed5b8

Watch the scene here:

youtube.com

24. Yu-na Jeon, Minha Kim, and Youn Yuh-jung as Sunja in Pachinko

Apple TV+

"Particularly when young Sunja cried after losing her father, teenage/adult Sunja broke down from the grief of leaving her loved ones and home behind, and when Sunja reunited with Bokhee after so many years. It has been a while since I have been so moved by a show overall and by the individual performances."

—bundtcake12

25. Lesley Manville and Timothy Spall as Penny and Phil Bassett in All or Nothing

United Artists

"When they are both crying together – It's probably the best I’ve seen."

—joehoover3

26. Mandy Moore as Rebecca Pearson in This is Us

Netflix

"When she sees Jack – that scene RUINED me."

—lordsmojo

Here's that scene:

youtube.com

27. Rena Owen as Beth in Once Were Warriors

Fine Line Features

"When she finds her daughter in the backyard. Her acting was so powerful in that scene totally broke me. You felt every inch of her character's pain."

—floatingorca50

28. Emma Thompson as Elinor in Sense and Sensibility

Sony Pictures Releasing

"The whole movie she’s restrained and when she finally lets go she sobs and gasps it’s so cathartic and well acted. Then she reigns it in almost immediately to comfort her little sister."

—horsekream

What are the crying performances that really stuck with you? Let us know in the comments below!