10 TV Endings Actors Didn't Know Were Going To Happen
The Sopranos cast were as blindsided by THAT ending as everybody else.
Considering the fast-moving, high-pressure nature of TV production, it's a reasonable expectation that every last variable is pre-planned down to the finest detail. Time is money, after all.
As such, it makes sense to ensure the principal talent in front of the camera know precisely what's going on and have been given sufficient time to prepare. This is especially true where important climactic scenes are concerned - especially season or series finales.
If an actor is off their A-game because they've been kept out of the loop, then it risks compromising the end result, yet all the same, these 10 TV actors were kept in the dark about how their shows would end.
Granted, this isn't always the showrunner, writer, or director's fault - sometimes things are changed last minute or another actor decides to go adventurously off-script.
All the same, these endings came as quite a surprise to at least one actor involved, either due to a tricky development process or the showrunner's desperate desire to maintain secrecy.
In some cases the end result clearly suffered for their ignorance, while in others it was evidently a necessary act of deception...
10. Chandler's Final Wise Crack - Friends
Friends' unforgettable series finale saw the six central characters leave Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler's (Matthew Perry) apartment for the last time, as they decide to go for one final cup of coffee together.
At that moment, Chandler quips in typically sarcastic fashion, "Where?," sending the show out on one final punchy gut-laugh, as if the group would go anywhere but Central Perk.
It was such a pitch perfect moment on which to end the show that it's easy to believe writers David Crane and Marta Kauffman spent hours and hours agonising over what the series' final word would be.
But as it turns out, the episode's script simply saw the group wordlessly leave the apartment, yet Matthew Perry decided to throw in the improvised line out of nowhere, and everybody involved loved it so much that they decided to keep it.
Perry's castmates had no idea the show was going to end with one final surprise gag, but impressively managed to keep a straight face during shooting.