Line #74 Main/ActingInTheDark


1	->''"Sometimes when you say things out loud, some power leaks out of it."''
2	-->-- '''Creator/DavidLynch'''
3
4	Usually an actor is given the entire script, so that they know where their character starts and how it ends. But various reasons may impact that sense of foresight, where the actor is not told what is actually happening and it forces them to play the character in the moment, rather than with omniscient foresight.
5
6	For example, an actor in a SpyDrama receives scripts only an episode ahead as shooting proceeds. They are playing as a goodie and do not know why other characters are dying. Then another script comes along, and they discover that their own character has been TheMole and EvilAllAlong. The fact that up to that point the actor thought they were playing a good guy — rather than a bad guy pretending to be a good guy — means they don't give off any suspicious vibes while performing: the audience completely trusts them and is shocked when their treachery is revealed.
7
8	In films, this gives people a bit more time to plan out a specific TwistEnding and are able to schedule the big scene at the end of a shoot with a minimal crew to help preserve the secret. In TV shows the weekly grind and sheer content being made means actors can only think a week or two at a time, while writers and producers may have an outline the ability to give the actor a heads up is the exception rather than the rule. This trope is intended for when the lack of information serves (or diffuses) a narrative purpose in the creative process. It covers cases of things their character would know (see above) and cases where their character wouldn't know the later developments (such as their character getting hit by a bus). An extreme version is actors not even realizing the context of their role in the story, believing [[HeroOfAnotherStory they are a minor part of the narrative]] only [[YouAllShareMyStory to be revealed as the main character]].
9
10	This happens often in voice acting, especially in animation and video games, where the actor is only given their exact lines with little to no context. VoicesInOneRoom is an attempt to avoid this, allowing them to actually play off each other.
11
12	It is also sometimes done to prevent a disgruntled or loose-lipped actor or crew member from {{content leak}}ing major spoilers, possibly even [[FoilerFootage giving them a variety of things to say and do]] without knowing how it will be crafted in the final product. It could also come from a MidDevelopmentGenreShift where the footage is repurposed, the end effect is using what was intended as original material more like StockFootage and the KuleshovEffect to craft a different performance.
13
14	While this can obviously be done well, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools it can also be done]] ''[[Administrivia/TropesAreTools badly]]''. There is such a thing as giving the cast too ''few'' hints, resulting in a [[DullSurprise blank performance]] trying to say dialogue with no context to who they are talking to or [[CrypticBackgroundReference what it is about]]. It can also be the result of a TroubledProduction where the script is drastically rewritten while filming.
15
16	Compare EnforcedMethodActing. Not to be confused with WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants, where ''no one'' knows about future plot developments because they haven't been decided yet.
17	----
18	!!Examples:
19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Anime]]
22	* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': Creator/BrycePapenbrook, the English voice actor of Eren Jaeger, admits that he doesn't know the manga's (infamously controversial) ending and prefers to see it through the end.
23	%%* According to several members of the English cast of ''Anime/CodeGeass'', the director ran the booth this way for most of the series. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample; more specific stories would be very interesting.)
24	* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
25	** Creator/SeanSchemmel says he wasn't aware that Goku was even the main character of ''Franchise/DragonBall'' when he began voicing him. Because of Creator/{{Funimation}}'s limited materials for the series, most people working on the show were unaware of what was going to happen next.
26	** Creator/MasakoNozawa reportedly did this to ''herself'': in an effort to [[EnforcedMethodActing make sure her portrayal of Goku was genuine]], she never read the manga as it was running so she couldn’t know what would happen next until it came time to do the voice work.
27	* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Creator/VicMignogna has told fans that he kept himself in the dark about the show's plot on purpose while filming so his reactions as Edward are genuine; for example, his shock at [[spoiler:arriving in our world]] in [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003 the 2003 anime version's]] penultimate episode. He did it again in ''Anime/CodeGeass''.
28	* An in-universe example: It's what the director in the movie ''Anime/PerfectBlue'' does to his actors, making the parallels between the main character and the character she plays in the movie even creepier as both start to suspect they are the killer.
29	* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'':
30	** Creator/GenUrobuchi and Creator/AkiyukiShinbo, respectively the writer and director of the show, did not inform [[spoiler:Creator/EmiriKatou, voice actress of Kyubey, the show's MentorMascot, of her character's [[BlueAndOrangeMorality true]] [[EldritchAbomination nature]]]] and kept character designer Creator/UmeAoki in the dark about the show's dark storyline. Either they wanted to make sure the viewer was fooled, in which case it was this trope, or they really wanted to see [[HeroicBSOD the others' faces]] once they found out, in which case it was just {{trolling\|Creator}}.
31	** Something similar happened with the English dub regarding the WhamEpisode of [[spoiler:Mami getting [[OffWithHisHead mogu-mogu'ed]] in Episode 3]]. What made it especially shocking for [[Creator/CarrieKeranen the actress]] was that she was still scheduled to do her character's lines the next day -- she certainly wasn't expecting to [[spoiler:die so suddenly]].
32	--->"[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKraFH64gCo#t=5m15s Did, did I just...]] [[spoiler:did I just DIE?!]]"
33	* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'': The first director of the English dub knew very little about the show's story, characters, and themes, and the actors were given very little context, which explains their somewhat detached performances in the dub's early episodes. Creator/KunihikoIkuhara was so displeased with it, that he took a more direct role in the dub's production beginning with the movie and episode 14, with Anthony Salerno taking over directing duties, and the dub showed a marked improvement. In addition to this, Creator/RachaelLillis, who voiced Utena, has said that she has never met Sharon Becker, who played her co-lead, Anthy.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Fan Works]]
37	* ''Fanfic/GManMeetsTheMysteryMan'': One author (Hitchcock)'s understanding of ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' is extremely limited (he knows virtually nothing outside of the fact that there's a character named Gordon Freeman who saves the world or something and there's a creepy guy called the G-Man). Meanwhile, the other author ([=PeabodySam=])'s knowledge of ''Film/LostHighway'' consists of only [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZowK0NAvig a single scene]].
38	* ''AudioPlay/SonicDestruction'': The only one who knows what's in the AI-generated script is Penny, and even she doesn't fully grasp what it's going for, leading to everyone being blindsided by all the weirdness the AI makes up.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Film — Animated]]
42	* Per word of Luigi's voice actor Creator/CharlieDay, many plot details for ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'' were kept from the actors as the voices were being recorded, with Day being given just enough of his script to do his voice role.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
46	* ''Film/{{Alien}}'': Only Creator/JohnHurt knew that there would be a chestburster. The rest of the cast was not told -- so their reactions to the scene were genuine, as evidenced by Creator/VeronicaCartwright's (Lambert) "Oh God!"
47	* While on the set of ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', Creator/SigourneyWeaver reportedly steered clear of the props used to depict the Alien Queen, in order not to desensitize herself to it so she could show proper fear when she would meet it in the movie.
48	* ''Film/BenHur1959'': A hilarious and confusing example occurred in the epic. The film features a very deliberate HomoeroticSubtext suggesting that the two main characters, Judah and Messala, were lovers in their youth. Stephen Boyd, who played Messala, was told about this dynamic between the two characters. Creator/CharltonHeston, who played Judah, was not told about the relationship for fear that he would FreakOut. This works with the characters pretty well: Messala comes across as someone trying to rekindle the relationship, while Judah is uncomfortable because he'd prefer to forget it happened and doesn't want to be reminded of it.
49	* In ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'', actors weren't given instructions until the beginning of each day of filming (most of the dialogue was improvised). They also weren't told when they would be "attacked" at night, so those moments were genuine surprises.
50	* ''Film/BlazingSaddles'': Creator/MelBrooks used a musical version of sorts when he got Frankie Laine, who originally sang the ''Series/{{Rawhide}}'' theme, to sing the theme. Brooks wanted Laine to sound like this was a genuine, dramatic cowboy movie, and so completely "forgot" to tell him about the comedic nature of the film, to the point that Laine didn't realize the truth until he actually ''saw the film at his local cinema''. Laine consequently produced such an epic song that it's part of the background music in the "Frontierland" section of Disneyland. According to legend, even Brooks was surprised at how much effort Laine was putting into the song; Brooks considered telling the truth, but ultimately didn't have the heart to reveal that the movie was a spoof comedy.
51	* ''{{Film/Carrie 1976}}'':
52	** An unintentional example. Creator/NancyAllen merely thought that Chris and Billy were just bumbling comic relief when they were filming and had no idea how evil the characters actually were until she saw the finished film.
53	** Betty Buckley didn't realise she was going to be killed off in the prom massacre, as her character survives in the book.
54	* Legend has it that during the filming of ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', after each scene was filmed, Creator/HumphreyBogart and the writers would sit down together and decide what should happen next. Creator/IngridBergman had no idea until the very last scene was filmed whether her character would leave with Victor or stay with Rick. However, as the film was shot out of sequence, several scenes were shot ''after'' Bergman knew how the film would end. In addition, the Hays Code in place at the time essentially made it a foregone conclusion that Ilsa would leave with Victor, since it required good to triumph over evil and marriage to remain sacrosanct (the affair between Rick and Ilsa in Paris was allowed ''only'' because Ilsa believed her husband dead, as she makes ''very clear'' in dialogue). As Creator/RogerEbert put it, any confusion Bergman would have had was "emotional", not "factual".
55	* Creator/LizzyCaplan signed onto ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' knowing nothing about it simply because she was a fan of ''Series/{{Lost}}'', a show that the film's producer Creator/JJAbrams had also produced. She was actually [[https://movieweb.com/exclusive-lizzy-caplan-dishes-on-cloverfield/ relieved]] when she found out she was starring in a {{kaiju}} movie, as the scenes they'd given her to audition with were all from the first twenty minutes at the party, making her think she'd be in a cheesy RomanticComedy. That said, while she enjoyed the experience, the physically demanding nature of the part was such that she [[https://web.archive.org/web/20071213015725/http://www.blackbookmag.com/features/comments/lizzy/ said]] that she'd never take another role without knowing what kind of movie it was and what kind of character she'd be playing (unless it was a superstar director like Creator/WoodyAllen or Creator/WesAnderson).
56	* The actresses for the main cast of ''Film/TheDescent'' were not told about the crawlers. When they finally met one in the movie the first take was of them all running off the set screaming.
57	* ''Film/DrStrangelove'':
58	** Slim Pickens, who famously played the B-52 bomber commander and pilot, was not told that the movie was a comedy during filming, and played his part straight. And he's still hilarious because Slim Pickens is ''just that funny.''
59	** A slight variant with Creator/GeorgeCScott: he was told to [[LargeHam ham it up]] for a "practice take" before the real takes. Guess which takes wound up in the actual movie. Scott was not happy and vowed never to work with Creator/StanleyKubrick again. He did, however, consider it [[ActuallyPrettyFunny cleverly done.]]
60	* None of the cast of ''Film/TheGiantClaw'' knew what the titular monster would look like during filming and as such, [[TookTheBadFilmSeriously played their reactions to it completely seriously]]. Star Jeff Morrow saw the [[SpecialEffectsFailure abysmal results]] for himself during a screening and immediately went home to get drunk.
61	* Inverted for the ''Film/HarryPotter'' movies. Creator/AlanRickman (Snape) was one of the few people in the world who Creator/JKRowling told about the ending ahead of time so that he would know the true motivations behind his character. It has been suggested that Rickman only took the role because of this: rather ironically, he had an aversion to always being cast as the villain, so he needed to know that Snape had major sympathetic qualities for him to accept.
62	* ''Film/MaryPoppins'': The child actors who played the Banks children were not told in advance about the tricks that Creator/JulieAndrews would pull off. Their surprise was real when she pulled a hat stand out of her bag, sending the kids under the table it sat on to see where it came from.
63	* In a sense with ''Film/MadameWeb2024''. Creator/DakotaJohnson mentioned that acting against a blue screen and fake explosions that weren't really there meant that she really doesn't know how she did relative to what the filmmakers will do. It was her first movie with extensive blue screen usage.
64	* Creator/MarvelStudios frequently have the actors of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse do this as the franchise is a prime target for {{content leak}}s:
65	** Creator/TomHolland (Spider-Man) has such a poor record of keeping secrets that he is supposedly told as little as necessary, to the point of not even always knowing who he's supposed to be talking to in green-screen scenes. When he was on Graham Norton's show just before ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' came out, he revealed that this was the first time he was even seeing the spider-suit, and he has often joked that the reason why Peter always looks so confused in the same movie is because he himself had no idea what was going on.
66	--->'''Graham:''' Is there anything you can tell us about this film?\
67	'''Tom:''' You might as well be asking me about quantum physics.
68	** ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'': On this one, Holland chose not to read the whole script in order to avoid potentially leaking plot information publicly.
69	** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'':
70	*** Creator/BenedictCumberbatch (Doctor Strange) revealed that none of the cast members were allowed to read the entire script so as to avoid them accidentally releasing spoilers like Holland often does. Holland himself was kept in the dark about who his opponent was during a fight scene.
71	*** Creator/DonCheadle (Col. James Rhodes / War Machine) [[https://io9.gizmodo.com/don-cheadle-didnt-know-the-plot-of-avengers-infinity-w-1823997566 claimed]] that he wasn't aware of what the plot of the film was either.
72	*** Creator/ElizabethOlsen (Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch) claimed that the cast of the Battle for Wakanda scene were only told about the ending on the van ride over to shoot said ending.
73	** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'':
74	*** According to Creator/TheRussoBrothers, Creator/RobertDowneyJr (Tony Stark / Iron Man) was the only actor in the cast who got to read the entire screenplay. They also stated that Creator/ChrisEvans (Steve Rogers / Captain America) might have read it.
75	*** Creator/JeremyRenner (Clint Barton / Hawkeye) hadn't seen the script for ''Infinity War'' when he shot the opening scene of ''Endgame'' and had no idea what was happening. As a result, Clint's reaction to [[spoiler: his family disappearing due to the Snap]] was [[EnforcedMethodActing completely genuine]].
76	*** Creator/MarkRuffalo (Bruce Banner / Hulk) received multiple falsified scripts throughout filming to keep him from leaking anything.
77	*** None of the cast were told what the big group shot at the end of ''Endgame'' was, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk22D_osjQo as it was given the production codename]] "The Wedding". It was only when everyone was gathered, noticed that everyone else was dressed in black, and [[spoiler:Creator/RobertDowneyJr]] wasn't on set, that they realized they were filming [[spoiler:Tony's funeral]].
78	*** [[https://www.buzzfeed.com/eleanorbate/brie-larson-captain-marvel-post-credits-scene According to]] Creator/BrieLarson, the mid-credits [[TheStinger Stinger]] of ''Film/{{Captain Marvel\|2019}}'' was simply her being given a single line to say with no context. Her motivation was Nick Fury was [[spoiler:“very gone”]] (so she wasn’t even told the details of what they were filming for ''Infinity War'', let alone ''Endgame'') and they filmed her shot in front of a green screen without any of the other actors from the scene (so she wasn’t aware she was intended to be speaking to [[spoiler:the Avengers]]). She also mentions some of the filming for ''Endgame'' involved being handed a mostly-redacted set of lines and being told to read them.
79	** This happened inadvertently to Creator/GwynethPaltrow when she was called in to shoot a cameo for ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming''. Apparently no one actually ever told her what she was shooting the scene for, and she just assumed it was for one of the Avengers products. She only found out that she had appeared in a Spider-Man film years later when she appeared on an episode of Creator/JonFavreau's ''The Chef Show'' and they were reminiscing about their experiences in Marvel movies.
80	** ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'': Creator/CobieSmulders (Maria Hill) said that she only found out about [[spoiler:Fury and Hill actually having been impersonated by the Skrulls Talos and Soren [[ImpersonationExclusiveCharacter for the whole movie]]]] a week before the movie was released, and that the post-credits scene revealing such was adapted from a deleted scene with CGI, without her involvement.
81	* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'': None of the actors knew that Hector Barbossa was going to come BackFromTheDead until Creator/GeoffreyRush literally walked into the final scene. They read the script thinking that the person would have been Anamaria (Creator/ZoeSaldana), who had a prominent role in the first film but was conspicuously absent from the sequel.
82	* ''Film/Scream4'':
83	** During initial filming, the actors only read the first 75 pages of the script so that not even they would know the identity of the killer until the time came to shoot TheReveal.
84	** Creator/WesCraven also hid the final pages of [[Film/Scream2 the second movie]]'s script.
85	* Another Kubrick example: he was able to film ''Film/TheShining'' without Danny Lloyd, the young actor playing Danny Torrance, being aware that he was in a horror film. Pretty amazing, considering the ever-darkening tone of the film and some of the horror scenes he is in.
86	* ''Film/{{Serenity}}'': It didn't actually happen in filming, but in the DVD commentary, Creator/JossWhedon jokes about doing this to [[spoiler: Creator/AlanTudyk, whose character [[KilledMidSentence infamously and suddenly dies in the climax]]. ]]
87	-->'''Joss:''' ''("[[spoiler:Wash]]" voice)'' "Hey, Joss, my script doesn't go past page 120..." ''(normal voice)'' "No, that's it, they...[[spoiler: [[BringNewsBack land safely]],]] it's a happy ending."
88	* In the film ''Film/{{Smile\|1975}}'', none of the actresses playing the pageant contestants were told who the winner was until the scene was being shot.
89	* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
90	** In ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', Creator/MarkHamill was pulled aside and told about [[LukeIAmYourFather Darth Vader's revelation]] just before shooting the scene. Creator/GeorgeLucas wanted so badly for it to be a secret that only Vader's voice actor Creator/JamesEarlJones (who initially thought it was a lie), Hamill (who also didn't believe it), and the director and screenwriter knew before the premiere. The scene was even filmed with Vader's suit actor Creator/DavidProwse saying, "No, Obi-Wan killed your father!" Prowse was very upset after the premiere and told director Irvin Kershner his body language would have been completely different if he'd known the truth. Vader's gesturing doesn't fit the personal impact of the overdubbed line, while the stronger stance it was would fit "No, Obi-Wan killed your father" perfectly. As for Hamill, he has since said that, given more prep time, he believes he would have played the scene differently.
91	** In the Sequel movies, the exact nature of Rey's parents were never completely worked out, but was intended to be so abstract it could be anything. ''Film/TheLastJedi'' settled on "nobodies who sold her for drinking money," while ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' changed it to her being the granddaughter of [[BigBad Darth Sidious]] and by the ending, the self-adopted child of Luke and Leia. Afterwards, Creator/DaisyRidley admitted that halfway through filming ''Rise of Skywalker'' they were still acting as though ''The Last Jedi'' stance was the path they were going to go (And, at least one point during the filming, they were going with Rey ''Kenobi''). Creator/JJAbrams, for his part, has implied that Rey being or becoming a Skywalker was always his intended endpoint for the character.
92	* According to Creator/KevinSpacey, none of the actors were told of the ending of ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'' while filming. [[spoiler:Creator/GabrielByrne]] was led to believe that [[spoiler:Keaton]] was Keyser Soze. After he saw the finished product, a reporter asked him who Keyser Soze was. He replied, "All throughout filming and up until tonight, I thought I was."
93	* In ''Film/VeraDrake'' only Creator/ImeldaStaunton knew ahead of time what the real plot of the film was. It wasn't until the actors playing the police knocked on the door of the rehearsal house that the rest of the cast found out [[spoiler:Vera was performing illegal backstreet abortions]].
94	* ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'': Creator/GeneWilder was the only actor allowed to see the "Chocolate Room" before the scene there was filmed, so the children's reactions to seeing it for the first time are genuine.
95	* ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'':
96	** Creator/HarryLennix had absolutely no idea that his character, General Calvin Swanwick, was meant to be the Martian Manhunter until it was revealed by Creator/ZackSnyder via Vero. This is understandable, given that Snyder didn't originally film the planned cameo with Lennix during principal photography, or the planned reshoots prior to his exit from the movie.
97	** Similarly, Creator/DianeLane played the scene with Lois as Martha Kent. Zack Snyder repurposed the scene, with Martha actually being a disguised Martian Manhunter there.
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
101	* ''Series/TwentyFour'' thrives on this one. Notably, [[spoiler:Sarah Clarke]] was not told that [[spoiler:Nina]] would be the Season 1 [[TheMole mole]] until about Episode 12. Likewise, in Season 5, Gregory Itzin didn't know his character was the BigBad until the episode in which it was revealed. [[spoiler:Said character happened to be the President of the United States.]]
102	* In the first season of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', Creator/BrettDalton (playing Ward) [[spoiler:was only told when it was necessary for him to know that Ward was a HYDRA mole]], and the rest of the cast kept in the dark slightly longer. Creator/BillPaxton, on the other hand, was told right from the start that [[spoiler:Garrett was the Clairvoyant]] but none of the other cast was, allowing him the opportunity to play the LargeHam [[spoiler:BigBad pretending to be a good guy]] right from the start with the others in the dark.
103	* ''Series/BabylonFive'' did this with the entire cast. Creator/JMichaelStraczynski had much of the plot set out beforehand, but he wanted the characters to gradually change across the show's run, with the performances reflecting what they were at the time rather than what they would become. Nobody was suddenly revealed to be something else, but rather became it over time.
104	* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': Creator/MichaelMcKean filmed the first four episodes of the show before learning that Chuck was going to be a bad guy all along, so in his first few episodes he acted as though Chuck genuinely believed in Jimmy's efforts to become a lawyer. If anything, this made the eventual twist more effective.
105	* ''Series/BreakingBad'': During filming of season 4, Creator/BryanCranston did not get the script for "[[Recap/BreakingBadS4E13FaceOff Face Off]]" until the preceding episodes had all been shot. He did not know that [[spoiler:Walt's argument to Jesse about Gus' responsibility for Brock's poisoning]] had been based on a lie -- and so Walt's performance in the penultimate episode was more convincing than usual.
106	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
107	** In season five, Creator/ClareKramer and Charlie Weber didn't know about the link between Glory and Ben until the episode it was revealed.
108	** Creator/JamesMarsters only read the scripts for his own scenes, as he was a fan of the show and didn't want to have the rest of the episode spoiled for him.
109	** Creator/SarahMichelleGellar was the only cast member who knew about Dawn.
110	** Creator/MichelleTrachtenberg says Dawn was thrust into the role without knowing much about her personality; she describes her initial meeting with Creator/JossWhedon as "Alright, welcome to the cast, you're a teenager, you're a Key, have fun".
111	* On ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'', the actress Cheryl Hines is usually unaware of what the character Creator/LarryDavid has gotten himself into during an episode.
112	* In the first season finale of ''Series/DarkMatter2015'', one of the team [[spoiler:turns out to be [[TheMole a mole]] for the Galactic Authority]]. The cast was not told who this was -- even in the script stage (which solely referred to [[spoiler:The Mole]]) until being informed by the showrunner just before they shot the scene. The video of them finding out can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNNhgffe8k here.]]
113	* In season six of ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', only Creator/EdwardJamesOlmos knew that [[spoiler:his character Professor Gellar was DeadAllAlong and a delusion of his "student" Travis]]. Even the directors were kept in the dark, leading to a few instances where Olmos had to gently nudge them away from filming a scene in a way that the reveal wouldn't make sense.
114	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
115	** Creator/TomBaker held himself to this. He only read and learned his lines in his scripts, because he viewed his role as to react to events in the way the Doctor would (and, with his [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} usual thought processes]], felt that knowing anything about what other characters were doing in the story was "invasive"). You'd be hard-pressed to say this made his acting any more naturalistic, as would be the usual intention for this technique — but it certainly helped Tom Baker stay in character. It also led to him interrupting and stepping on the lines of the guest cast due to a genuine unawareness of when he was supposed to say his line, although since the Fourth Doctor is a scene-stealing AttentionWhore InsufferableGenius it usually works.
116	** Creator/ColinBaker was not told whether the events of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E2Mindwarp Mindwarp]]", which are presented as evidence in Season 23's overarching courtroom trial, really happened or were tampered into incriminating lies... and neither were any other crew member, as the only person who knew, script editor Creator/EricSaward, ragequit the show following HostilityOnTheSet with producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner by the time production began. Having no idea how the StoryArc will proceed, Baker chose to perform the story as if it were false.
117	** Creator/AlexKingston was the ''only'' person aside from Creator/StevenMoffat that knew the extent of River Song's arc and the events which occurred in it before the readthroughs. In her debut story [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary "Silence in the Library"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E9ForestOfTheDead "Forest of the Dead"]], Creator/DavidTennant had no idea what was going on and was forced to come up with own ideas as to who the Doctor believed River Song to be. He famously said he acted under the assumption that the Doctor believed River was an older, [[GenderBender gender-bent]] regeneration of his because even though that made no sense, it was the most logical thing he could think of. Similarly, Creator/MattSmith (The Eleventh Doctor), Creator/KarenGillan (Amy), and Creator/ArthurDarvill (Rory) were completely unaware and were given the heads-up only when filming was about to happen for the scene in which River's identity was revealed in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar "A Good Man Goes to War"]].
118	** Creator/PeterCapaldi had no idea he was going to meet [[spoiler: the First Doctor, [[TheOtherDarrin revived]] by Creator/DavidBradley]], in the cliffhanger of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls "The Doctor Falls"]].
119	* ''Series/EastEnders'' had a special live episode in 2010 where Stacey Slater was revealed to be Archie Mitchell's murderer. None of the rest of the cast knew and Stacey's actress Lacey Turner was only told half an hour before broadcast. There's footage of the rest of the cast watching TheReveal live and reacting with shock.
120	* The writer of ''Series/{{Forbrydelsen}}'' [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants wrote as he went]], so that neither he nor the actors knew who the killer was going to be until the final episodes.
121	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Prior to the Season 6 production, Creator/KitHarington had to lie to the cast [[spoiler:about Jon Snow's fate in the Season 5 finale]] just to make them believe he was leaving the show. Creator/LiamCunningham was very skeptical about it while Creator/SophieTurner seemed to be the only cast member who believed it that she wrote a very emotional farewell letter to him. When the cast received the Season 6 scripts, everyone now knew that Kit was not really leaving the show and Kit teased Sophie for that farewell letter. Though Kit did tell one person, a police officer who caught him speeding and asked him point blank if he could either get a speeding ticket or [[spoiler:confirm if he was still alive on the show]]. You can watch the story [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn8ptplqQ38 here]]
122	* On ''Series/TheGoodPlace'', only Creator/TedDanson and Creator/KristenBell knew about the first season's revelation while the season was being filmed so it would not affect the performances of the other actors. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi-J5QyF4hU Their reaction was filmed,]] and it's clear they're in late-season outfits.
123	* Parodied in the ''Radio/HancocksHalfHour'' TV episode "The Bowmans", where Hancock is a radio actor and is shocked when he gets a script that kills off his character. (He gets his own back in the end.)
124	* ''Series/HarpersIsland'': The actors were not told who the murderer was, with the murderer's portrayer himself being kept in the dark until about halfway through. Co-executive producer Karim Zreik, had the job of informing the actors in this death-laden 2009 MiniSeries just when their time was up. The actors gave him the nickname Karim the Assassin.
125	** Specifically, the actor who turned out to be the murderer [[spoiler:(Henry, played by Christopher Gorham)]] wasn't told until eight episodes into a 13-episode season.
126	* ''Series/{{House}}'': During the Season 4 "reality show" where House was whittling down the candidates as the episodes went on, those who would not make the final cut were not told until the week of filming for that episode began.
127	* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''
128	** The episode "Bad News" was scripted to end with Lily telling Marshall she was pregnant. However, producers prepped Creator/AlysonHannigan right before shooting [[spoiler:that Marshall's father had died]], while Creator/JasonSegel didn't know anything. His reaction is genuine.
129	** The FinaleSeason has the Mother join the cast, always on the sidelines and interacting with everyone ''but'' Ted in the present story. But to keep the hype around the character even the actress doesn't know her name.
130	** Cristin Millioti had no idea [[spoiler:her character was actually DeadAllAlong]]. She burst into tears when she found out.
131	* ''Series/{{Justified}}'': During most of Season 1, the audience was wondering if redneck racist Boyd Crowder had really Found the Lord and become a (fairly nutty) backwoods preacher, or was just scamming everyone. It turns out Creator/WaltonGoggins, who played Boyd, didn't know either. In this case, the writers/producers did this to force him to play it ambiguously.
132	* ''Series/LawAndOrder'': The relationship between EADA Jack [=McCoy=] and his assistant, Claire Kincaid, is strongly implied to be a romantic one, but this was never ''explicitly'' revealed until after Creator/JillHennessy, who played Kincaid, left the show. Reports vary on whether the actors were told about the relationship at the time. Some sources say that Creator/SamWaterston, who played [=McCoy=], was explicitly told but Hennessy was not. Hennessy herself allegedly says both she and Waterston were kept in the dark initially, but she put two and two together and finally asked the writers about their relationship. After they confirmed it, they then decided to clue Waterston in as well. (Toward the end of Hennessy's run the hints started to get pretty blatant: in one episode Kincaid is asked point-blank if she is sleeping with [=McCoy=], and she doesn't answer.)
133	* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Creator/CharlieVickers believed for the first two episodes that he is going to play a CanonForeigner character. Only after filming the third episode he learned [[spoiler:he is playing Sauron]].
134	* ''Series/{{Lost}}''.
135	** Creator/MatthewFox has stated that he was the only actor on the show who knew how the series would end before the production of the final season.
136	** [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/michael-emerson,27850/ In an interview]], Creator/MichaelEmerson confirms that the cast was acting in the dark. One assumes that getting answers like "I can't discuss that" happened early and often on the ''Lost'' set. Emerson's role in particular [[AscendedExtra grew from a random guest role]], who had only an initial three-episode contract, to a BreakoutVillain once his performance was approved by the producers.
137	** Creator/TerryOQuinn was not informed that he was [[spoiler:no longer playing Locke]] in Season 5 because he was meant to act consistently with what was known until TheReveal.
138	* This is part of the premise of the BBC Three comedy ''Murder in Successville'', and its Netflix adaptation ''Murderville''. Each episode features a celebrity guest, starring [[AsHimself as themselves]], working alongside the police to solve the MysteryOfTheWeek. However, the celebrity isn't given a script, and therefore has no idea what's about to happen at any given time. This also means they don't know who the murderer is, and have to actually try and work it out as the episode progresses.
139	* ''Series/{{MASH}}'' did this with the departure of Henry Blake. The whole episode was filmed with the entire cast being under the impression that Blake was going home to America. After they filmed Blake's departure, [[http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/mash.asp the cast was given a changed script]] for the [[DownerEnding last scene]]: Radar delivers the news that Blake's plane was shot down with no survivors.
140	* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
141	** Creator/EionBailey had auditioned for August knowing only what was in the script for his first episode (one scene as he arrives into town). According to him, the writers tried to hide his character's true identity from him for as long as they could.
142	** Christy Laing had no idea that [[spoiler:Marian was actually Zelena in disguise]] until she read it in the script for the episode "Heart of Gold."
143	** Creator/ColinODonoghue didn't know that [[spoiler:Hook was a second Dark One]] until two weeks before TheReveal was filmed. Justified since his character didn't know this either.
144	** Otherwise averted with two other big revelations. David Anders only signed on when he was told [[spoiler:his character would turn out to be Dr. Frankenstein]], despite the revelation not happening until early Season 2. Likewise, Creator/MeghanOry was told [[spoiler:Red Riding Hood ''herself'' was the wolf]] in advance.
145	* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': Creator/AmandaAbbington has said she was unaware of Mary's backstory before receiving the script for the episode [[Recap/SherlockS03E03HisLastVow "His Last Vow"]]. Had she known ahead of time, she would have played the role differently in her previous episodes.
146	* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': [[spoiler: Creator/AlexanderSiddig]] didn't know that his character was actually a Changeling impersonator for several episodes until the episode where it was revealed.
147	* ''Franchise/StarWars''.
148	** ''Series/TheMandalorian'' cast members were told that in the Season 2 finale, Din Djarin delivers Grogu to Plo Koon, completing his mission to reunite the Child with the Jedi. The episode actually has Djarin deliver Grogu to [[spoiler:Luke Skywalker]], but Lucasfilm didn't want it to leak out; they filmed the scene with a "Jedi Stunt Double" and replaced his face and voice in post-production.
149	** ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'' Season 1 scripts bore such labels as "301", "302", and "303". This prompted at least one of the actors, co-star Creator/MingNaWen, and several rumor-mongers to assume ''The Mandalorian'' Season 3 had already begun filming. Another ''Boba Fett'' cast member, Creator/JenniferBeals, also didn't know exactly which ''Star Wars'' project they were filming.
150	* The writers on ''Series/TedLasso'' didn't tell Billy Harris that his character, Colin, was going to come out as gay because they figured he would play closeted better if he genuinely wasn't aware. However this was unsuccessful as Harris figured it out from Colin's offhand mention of Grindr, a popular gay dating app.
151	* ''Series/TwinPeaks''.
152	** Creator/DavidLynch had planned out the identity of the killer of Laura Palmer long before the big reveal, but he didn't tell the actor until the time came to actually shoot said reveal.
153	** Also, Lynch went to significant lengths to avoid revealing to other actors in the second season that [[spoiler:Mr. Tojamura was actually the supposedly deceased Catherine Martell, to the point of having the actress arrive at the set already wearing the prosthetics and make-up used for the in-universe impersonation]].
154	* ''Series/{{Westworld}}'':
155	** Creator/JeffreyWright was one of the few actors who knew early on that Bernard [[spoiler:is a host]], and even he was only told after the pilot was filmed, to allow him to put some subtle quirks in his body language.
156	** Defied by Creator/AnthonyHopkins, who specifically demanded to be given the full picture of his character as a condition after he was initially sent scripts with a lot of blacked out lines.
157	** Even most of the cast don't even know what's going on with the show or what scene they are shooting as they were shot out of order. For example, Creator/EvanRachelWood recalled on her Instragram that when she and Creator/EdHarris are shooting a scene together for Season 2, they both look confused and Harris looked at crew and said, "Why the fuck am I riding with Dolores!?" In a later interview, Harris found out about some of the stuff later on saying he would appreciate it if he knows about it at the time of the filming.
158	** Very few people, including Evan Rachel Wood, know about the Season 3 twist regarding Dolores [[spoiler:bringing four copies of herself to infiltrate the outside world. Creator/TessaThompson, Creator/TommyFlannigan, and Creator/HiroyukiSanada, who played the copies were only told about it when they were about to shoot their scenes]].
159	[[/folder]]
160
161	[[folder:Podcasts]]
162	* Invoked in Episodes 46-47 of ''Podcast/FilmReroll''. DM Paulo Quiros set up a campaign based on the obscure indie movie Summerspell, which none of the players had seen. They were told to not watch or read up on any part of it so that they could actually keep secrets from each other. However, the real twist is that [[spoiler:the film Summerspell never existed, and that they are actually playing a Franchise/FridayThe13th campaign. Paulo did this to recreate the DramaticIrony found in almost every SlasherMovie, where the characters have no idea that there's a killer in the area until they've already started to die.]]
163	[[/folder]]
164
165	[[folder:Theatre]]
166	* In ''Theatre/{{Doubt}}'', the only people who know whether Father Flynn is guilty of the molestation charges that form the crux of the plot are the actors who played him in the original stage and film versions, since they were told so by author John Patrick Shanley himself. At least [[Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman one of the actors]] took the secret to his grave.
167	[[/folder]]
168
169	[[folder:Video Games]]
170	* Ryan Drummond said this along with poor voice direction was a big factor in why the English dub for ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' was so poor. The actors all recorded their lines separately, and their scripts only had their respective characters' lines, and absolutely zero story context was written in or given to them, even if they were talking to another character. Not helping was that voice director Creator/LaniMinella's direction only amounted to "sound excited" or "sound angry".
171	* ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'': The Unknown [[spoiler:AKA a time-displaced young Xehanort]] has [[ColdHam absolutely zero personal investment in the plot of which he is part]]. [[Creator/BenDiskin His English voice actor]] was given his lines completely out of context to ensure that he had as little investment as his character did.
172	* Enforced in the English dub of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' according to Skye Bennett, the voice of Pyra, who claims the actors weren’t given either voice direction ''or'' the proper context for the scenes. This is a significant part of the issues fans have with regards to the game's questionable VA work, alongside that they weren't able to do retakes if they felt they delivered a line poorly.
173	* ''VideoGame/XCOMChimeraSquad'': Creator/EricaLindbeck, the voice of [[SnakePeople Torque]], has stated she wasn't told she was recording lines for a snake alien.
174	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'': Creator/ChrisHackney, the English voice of Dimitri, didn't know who the Flame Emperor was until he voiced lines for TheReveal.
175	* ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'': Derek Phillips, the voice of Mr. Jefferson, had no idea that [[spoiler: his character was the villain]] until he received the script for Episode 4.
176	* The English dubs of ''VideoGame/MegaMan8'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'' were recorded in the same session. Ruth Marie Jarman (formerly Ruth Shiraishi at the time) [[https://www.rockman-corner.com/2021/03/an-interview-with-ruth-marie-jarman.html was not informed of this]] and subsequently performed [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic the original Mega Man]] and VideoGame/MegaManX - two wholly separate characters, the former a KidHero - with the same voice under the belief that she was recording only for ''Mega Man 8'', infamously resulting in X not sounding like an adult male.
177	* An amusing example from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV''. In an interview during the [[https://youtu.be/fn8tgN2BKQo?t=2134 launch celebration event]], Creator/CaseyMongillo stated that they were under the assumption that their role would be fairly small due to the short amount of time that was booked for recording their lines. It wasn't until they were in the recording booth that they were told much to their shock that they were voicing the protagonist of the game.
178	* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'':
179	** Creator/XanderMobus, the announcer of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', has admitted that he often has no idea who's in the roster of both games, base or DLC, because he records for multiple red herrings and random character names to hide the real rosters and prevent leaks.
180	** Whenever a DLC character is introduced into the roster, that means VideoGame/{{Kirby}} gets a new Copy Ability for his moveset, and thus new voice clips. His voice actor, Creator/MakikoOhmoto, isn't told exactly who the DLC fighters are to prevent leaks during recording; however, while recording for [[VideoGame/FatalFury Terry Bogard]], she quickly realized he was in the game because she played ''Fatal Fury'' before and recognized the lines she had to say.
181	* When WebVideo/{{Alpharad}} was hired to voice TheFerryman in ''VideoGame/RiverCityGirls2'', the game's voice director Creator/CristinaValenzuela said she didn't have a picture of the character on hand, and simply described him as "a man on a ferry who gives boat rides". He asked her if he could record his lines in an upbeat "[=YouTuber=] voice" (as he initially pictured him as looking like a carnie), and she said yes. [[https://twitter.com/Alpharad/status/1625935211044421632 It was only when the game came out]] [[https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lfCpuUSY5XE that he learned what the character actually looked like]], much to his surprise.
182	[[/folder]]
183
184	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
185	* Creator/Ryukishi07, creator of ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', told Creator/SayakaOhara, who played the villainous Beatrice, of her full identity and motives, but did not inform Creator/DaisukeOno (Battler) or Creator/RieKugimiya (Shannon). [[spoiler:According to him, there was no need to tell Kugimiya because [[SplitPersonality the Shannon personality]] was not the culprit.]]
186	* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'': According to this [[https://youtu.be/mdgtU5ekujc interview]] with Creator/DorothyEliasFahn, she was not aware that [[spoiler:Tsumugi, whom she voiced in the English dub, was the Mastermind]] until she was given the script for it.
187	[[/folder]]
188
189	[[folder:Web Animation]]
190	* While recording for the ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' episode "Yang Xiao Long vs. Tifa Lockhart", neither Yang's voice actress nor Tifa's knew who was going to win the fight. They only saw the result when the episode aired.
191	* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Blake Belladonna's voice actress, Arryn Zech, was completely unaware of Blake's heritage as the daughter of the former leader of the White Fang and current chieftain of Menagerie, before reading the script for Volume 4.
192	[[/folder]]
193
194	[[folder:Webcomics]]
195	* Seemingly done to Lewis in ''Webcomic/FullFrontalNerdity''. He and Nelson get the bright idea to make a movie about their wacky hijinks in Frank's house. One scene involves Lewis rolling a natural one and blowing the die away with a handgun. Shame nobody told him the gun was a ''real pistol'' firing ''real'' gas-main-puncturing ammunition!
196	-->'''Lewis: [[Franchise/BattlestarGalactica FRAK!]] [[Series/{{Farscape}} FRELL! DREN!]]'''\
197	'''Frank: Live bullets?!'''\
198	'''Nelson:''' It was easier than rigging a die to explode. It also guaranteed a more natural reaction. I didn't think it'd push Lewis into sci-fi-swear mode, though.
199	* Happens InUniverse in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': When Agatha Heterodyne is posing as an actress in a traveling show, a local governor requests a command performance of "The Socket Wench of Prague" -- implied to be a ''filthy'' bawdy play. Agatha's more worldly castmates have her learn the dialogue without any context, which leads to a hilariously realistic performance since she has no idea what's coming.
200	[[/folder]]
201
202	[[folder:Web Original]]
203	* During the finale event of the Silo arc in ''Roleplay/{{AJCO}}'', A_J's player invoked this upon Pythos, Frances' player, by [[spoiler:spontaneously walking out after Egg, whom she had just expelled into a deadly radioactive landscape above]]. Pythos had no idea this would happen, and as a result, Frances' frenzied reaction was entirely unscripted and from the heart. A_J's player also told Pythos that she and [[spoiler:Egg's player]] would be playing brand new characters as a result, leading Pythos to ''really'' believe that [[spoiler:both characters died]].
204	* Wes "funnywes" Wiggins, who voiced a [=DoorDash=] Driver that got eaten by Buu in Creator/TeamFourStar's ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' Buu Bits (made for WebVideo/TotallyNotMark's Buu Saga Review), [[https://twitter.com/funnywes/status/1703202639306015140 stated on her Twitter account]] that she was given her lines alone without any context as to where they would end up.
205	[[/folder]]
206
207	[[folder:Western Animation]]
208	* In the classic WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} short ''How To Ride A Horse'', the narration was done by a Disney storyman named John [=McLeish=]. [=McLeish=] was given a script for an "educational film" to narrate, with the narration for the short cleverly hidden among it. He was kept in the dark because he personally didn't like the character of Goofy, and they realized that [[TheComicallySerious the narration would be much funnier if it was played completely straight.]] [=McLeish=] was understandably pissed when he saw the cartoon for the first time and realized what he was actually narrating, but eventually came around and narrated many more Goofy "How-To" shorts when he admitted that the straitlaced narration was what made the cartoon work.
209	* On ''WesternAnimation/MarvelsSpiderMan'', Creator/ScottMenville had no idea that he was auditioning for ComicBook/DoctorOctopus until official articles came out. He was only given a vague, inaccurate description of his character (a 19-year-old high school teacher named Professor Harrison) and nothing else.
210	* Most of the cast of ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' were asked to read for various characters when they auditioned, and had no idea what role the characters they were ultimately assigned would play in the series. Creator/TawnyNewsome and Creator/JackQuaid, the two lead actors, didn't actually learn they were playing the main characters until they noticed ''during the first table read'' that they'd been placed at the center of the table and had a ''lot'' of lines.
211	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'':
212	** While recording for one of the final episodes, the last two pages of the script to [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS4E08JediNight "Jedi Night"]] were not given to the voice actors. Creator/DaveFiloni then broke the news of what was going to happen ([[spoiler:Kanan was going to die in a HeroicSacrifice]]), so their reactions to the ending scene are genuine. Zig-zagged in that [[spoiler:Creator/FreddiePrinzeJr, Kanan]]'s voice actor, was already told what would happen to his character, but didn't know ''when''. Behind-the-scenes footage shows that he was on the verge of ''crying'' when he received the news.
213	** In a non-spoiler scenario, Creator/VanessaMarshall had no idea she was voicing Hera for the series. When auditioning, she did so for a different project.
214	** Because the DistantFinale only involved one character narrating, very few crew members knew what happened in it, and thus the ultimate fate of the characters. Namely, Vanessa Marshall only found out that [[spoiler:Hera was pregnant the last few episodes]] when she watched the episodes herself.
215	* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': The revelation that [[spoiler:Rose Quartz [[TwoAliasesOneCharacter was actually]] Pink Diamond]] was planned very far in advance by the writers. Despite this, the voice actors for the two characters who knew this all along ([[spoiler:Deedee Magno-Hall and Susan Egan, who voice Pearl and Rose respectively]]) were only told just before recording [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E18ASinglePaleRose the episode]] that revealed it.
216	* Regarding ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', Creator/WillFriedle revealed in an interview with IGN and the commentary for the epilogue TV movie ''[[Recap/TransformersPrimeTVMBeastHuntersPredaconsRising Predacons Rising]]'' that during the auditions for Bumblebee (who did not regain his ability to speak until the series finale), the crew was claiming the character they'd be voicing was Bluestreak.
217	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T51rh2Kh62k In an interview]], Creator/ChristianLanz mentioned that he recorded 6-7 episodes before he found out about the fate of his character Xever, namely that [[spoiler: he would mutate into Fishface]] . He only found out a year later when doing ADR for the fight scenes.
218	* ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'': Gorgeous Gal from "A Fine Feathered Frenzy" was voiced by Gladys Holland; she was chosen to perform the voice as she was good at foreign accents. Gladys admitted she knew nothing about the character being a heavyset dowager; she did watch the finished short though and found it hilarious.
219	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ActingInTheDark