‘In the Dark’ Producers Explain Why They Didn’t Cast a Blind Actress in the Lead Role
Tim Baysinger
The CW’s upcoming drama “In the Dark” stars Perry Mattfield as a blind women who is the only witness to her friend’s murder. During the show’s panel at the Television Critics Association press tour Thursday, the show’s creative team was asked whether they considered casting an actual blind woman for the role. “We went about searching for a blind actor immediately, and looked all over,” Nicky Weinstock, an executive producer, said about the casting search, adding they went to 29 different organizations for the blind hoping to find the show’s lead. “We saw many, many auditions, and ultimately we went with Perry because she was the best actor for the role in a really exciting way.” Also Read: CW Boss Says Salim Akil's Legal Issues Have 'Nothing' to Do With 'Black Lightning': Cast and Crew 'Deserve to Work' Weinstock explained that part of the reason they loved Mattfield for the role was her commitment to accurately portraying a blind person. “This is someone who went to the props department and got a cane on her first day of pre-production and went around her apartment for weeks doing cane work,” he said, adding that she spend so much time with Lorri Bernson, the show’s consultant who is actually blind, that “she basically became [her] adopted daughter.” The logline for “Into the Dark” is: A flawed and irreverent blind woman is the only “witness” to the murder of her drug-dealing friend. After the police dismiss her story, she sets out with her dog, Pretzel, to find the killer while also managing her colorful dating life and the job she hates at the guide dog school owned by her overprotective parents. “In the Dark” premieres Thursday, April 4 on The CW. Read original story ‘In the Dark’ Producers Explain Why They Didn’t Cast a Blind Actress in the Lead Role At TheWrap
The CW’s upcoming drama “In the Dark” stars Perry Mattfield as a blind women who is the only witness to her friend’s murder.
During the show’s panel at the Television Critics Association press tour Thursday, the show’s creative team was asked whether they considered casting an actual blind woman for the role.
“We went about searching for a blind actor immediately, and looked all over,” Nicky Weinstock, an executive producer, said about the casting search, adding they went to 29 different organizations for the blind hoping to find the show’s lead. “We saw many, many auditions, and ultimately we went with Perry because she was the best actor for the role in a really exciting way.”
Weinstock explained that part of the reason they loved Mattfield for the role was her commitment to accurately portraying a blind person. “This is someone who went to the props department and got a cane on her first day of pre-production and went around her apartment for weeks doing cane work,” he said, adding that she spend so much time with Lorri Bernson, the show’s consultant who is actually blind, that “she basically became [her] adopted daughter.”
The logline for “Into the Dark” is: A flawed and irreverent blind woman is the only “witness” to the murder of her drug-dealing friend. After the police dismiss her story, she sets out with her dog, Pretzel, to find the killer while also managing her colorful dating life and the job she hates at the guide dog school owned by her overprotective parents.
“In the Dark” premieres Thursday, April 4 on The CW.
