8 interesting facts about In the Dark

Ever since its premiere in 2019, crime drama fans have been loving In the Dark on The CW. The series stars Perry Mattfeld as Murphy Mason, an irreverent blind woman who drowns her sorrows in alcohol.

One day, Murphy is out for a walk with her guide dog, Pretzel, when she stumbles upon the corpse of her friend Tyson. When the body disappears before the police arrive, Murphy takes it upon herself to find her friend’s killer. As she works to solve the murder, she struggles to maintain her colorful dating life and the job she hates at Guiding Hope, a school for training guide dogs run by her parents.

Here are eight interesting In the Dark facts.

1. Perry Mattfeld is not actually visually impaired.

Although the show’s main character Murphy Mason is blind, the actress who plays her, Perry Mattfeld, is not.

2. The show’s creators initially searched for a blind actress to play Murphy.

As reported by Express, the show’s creators attended 29 different organizations for the blind in order to find a blind actress to play the lead role but were unsuccessful. Here is what In the Dark’s executive producer Nicky Weinstock had to say about the casting experience:

"We went about searching for a blind actor immediately, and looked all over. 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."

3. In the Dark has a visually impaired consultant.

Lorri Bernson is In the Dark‘s visually impaired consultant. Bernson is a media and community liaison for Guide Dogs of America.

4. Murphy’s dog Pretzel is not a real guide dog.

Murphy’s guide dog, Pretzel, is played by a canine named Levi. Levi is not actually a guide dog, and the show’s visually impaired consultant Lorri Bernson explained at the Television Critics Association that there is a reason behind that choice.

Apparently, if a guide dog is told to repeat something, the dog would understand the repetition as a mistake. Considering that there are multiple takes of each scene, being on set would have confused a real guide dog. Here’s what Bernson had to say on the subject:

5. Perry Mattfeld did weeks of research to accurately portray Murphy.

According to In the Dark’s executive producer Nicky Weinstock, Mattfeld went to the props department and got a cane on the first day of pre-production. The actress did weeks of cane work, as well as research, to more accurately portray someone with impaired vision.

6. The series is filmed in Canada.

In the Dark is filmed in Toronto and Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.

7. In the Dark helps to sponsor litters of puppies to be trained as guide dogs.

In the Dark originates from The CW’s social good program, which is partnered with Guide Dogs of America. Together, an organization which sponsors litters of puppies to be trained as guide dogs.

8. The set was designed very specifically.

In the Dark’s production designer Naz Goshtasbpour kept Murphy’s visual impairment in mind as he worked to design the set. She explained:

"Keeping in mind that the main character was blind and I had to consider a lot of things and think about the fact that as a blind person, who doesn’t really care about what she does, or how her life turns out or what people think of her, I had to think about how her bedroom look like. I wouldn’t say [filming] was difficult, I would say it was a huge learning curve because you have to think about how the world is perceived if you are visually impaired and the things you have to consider."

You can watch the first two seasons of In the Dark on Netflix now.