On March 1, YouTube star David Dobrik released an official commercial for his photo-taking mobile app, Dispo — a project where he took his acting chops to the next level by actually making himself cry.
Dobrik’s Dispo advertisement shocked fans not just because of his app’s success, but mostly because of his incredible prosthetics, with the influencer decked out in pounds of makeup to transform himself into an old man.
The premise of the commercial centers around the entire point of the Dispo application, which acts as a sort of virtual disposable camera that doesn’t allow users to look at the photos they take, which don’t develop for them to see until some time later.
The commercial shows an aged Dobrik looking at a collection of photographs seemingly taken with a disposable camera, showing off all the good times he shared with his friends in his youth — which, understandably, brings a tear to his eye.
The YouTuber opened up about this soul-baring experience in an episode of his VIEWS podcast a short while later, where he was asked about how exactly he caused himself to cry while being put on the spot in front of an entire production crew.
Surprisingly, Dobrik referenced an interview with Emma Watson, who claimed that she imagined a sad scenario and put herself in that fictional situation to elicit tears.
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“It was so simple, but that’s all it was,” he explained. “I was just thinking of Emma Watson the entire time, and I was like, that’s how I’m gonna do this, is exactly how she told them in this interview.”
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As for what fictional, sad situation Dobrik chose? The star revealed that he imagined one of his best friends (and VIEWS co-host), Jason Nash, passing away, as well as being genuinely sad that he hasn’t been able to hang out with his friend group due to current health restrictions.
“In the commercial, I’m going through pictures of our friends,” he continued. “I haven’t filmed in a while, and I f**king miss it. There’s two people who really made me cry: Jason, because I thought of him passing away. I’m being serious. I thought of him dying.”
Dobrik’s Dispo app is available on the Apple Store for those interested in trying out the experience for themselves — although there’s no guarantees it’ll make you cry.