Black Mirror Kept The Stars Of Shut Up And Dance As Confused As Their Characters

Even after Lawther found out about that crazy twist-ending, he still had to be reminded to incorporate that knowledge into his performance. The audience wouldn’t understand why Kenny was so highly emotional, but Kenny — and Lawther — definitely would.

“[Director] James Watkins kept giving me gentle nudges, reminding me how high the stakes were for Kenny,” the actor recalled. “The audience might be thinking, ‘Oh, come on. You haven’t done anything that wrong.’ And then we find out exactly what he has done.”

Therein lies the genius of “Shut Up and Dance.” Some creative choices might feel excessive before the big reveal, just like keeping the episode’s details a secret might have felt frustrating for Lawther during the audition process, but the drama of Kenny’s unveiling makes it all worth it. The audience and characters had to feel like they were operating in the dark, led by an invisible hand — in Kenny’s case, the blackmail of the hackers, and in the audience’s case, Kenny’s concealed dramatic motive. In “Shut Up and Dance,” the narrative invites the audience to do mental gymnastics right into the wrong conclusion. The characters dance, the actors dance — and so, too, do you.