Sundance drama "Grace is Gone" hangs on the climactic moment when its main character (John Cusack) must tell his two daughters that their mom has been killed in Iraq. To prepare his young actresses for the key scene, writer-director James Strouse told them to think about how much they'd miss their own mothers.

"It worked beautifully. They both started bawling on the first take," he said. "Unfortunately, the camera wasn't in the right place."
After a few other muffed takes, one of the child actresses could no longer summon the required tears. So Strouse took her aside and showed her footage he'd shot earlier of Cusack's character alone, sobbing on a bed.

"I said, 'This is what you dad was feeling the whole time, and this is what he was shielding you from."

Mission accomplished: The tears returned on the next take.

- Brandon Griggs