Even after Lawther came upon about that loopy twist-ending, he nonetheless needed to be reminded to include that data into his efficiency. The viewers would not perceive why Kenny was so extremely emotional, however Kenny — and Lawther — positively would.
“[Director] James Watkins saved giving me light nudges, reminding me how excessive the stakes had been for Kenny,” the actor recalled. “The viewers could be considering, ‘Oh, come on. You have not completed something that incorrect.’ After which we discover out precisely what he has completed.”
Therein lies the genius of “Shut Up and Dance.” Some inventive selections would possibly really feel extreme earlier than the massive reveal, similar to maintaining the episode’s particulars a secret might need felt irritating for Lawther in the course of the audition course of, however the drama of Kenny’s unveiling makes all of it price it. The viewers and characters needed to really feel like they had been working at the hours of darkness, led by an invisible hand — in Kenny’s case, the blackmail of the hackers, and within the viewers’s case, Kenny’s hid dramatic motive. In “Shut Up and Dance,” the narrative invitations the viewers to do psychological gymnastics proper into the incorrect conclusion. The characters dance, the actors dance — and so, too, do you.