Welcome to the second installment of Write All Nite’s “Pulling a [Name]” series. 

The first detailed Pulling a Nora, a catch-all phrase for every play that ends with a female protagonist walking out the door of her domestic prison — after Nora in A Doll’s House.

Today, we coin Pulling a Janet.

As in, Janet Leigh. 

Psycho was originally advertised as a starring vehicle for Leigh, which is why audiences were floored when she dies a mere 30 minutes into the movie. 

And yet, in the 65 years since Psycho, very few pieces of art have pulled Hitch’s marketing misdirection.  

A rare example came out recently. Everything’s Going to Be Great sells itself as a Bryan Cranston movie…except for the fact that he dies midway through (the only advanced clue: he’s third of five in the billing order).

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Now let’s coin the reverse: when an un-credited actor makes a surprise appearance. 

Or, Pulling a Bruce — after Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction.

My favorite example from theater: the titular The Woman in Black. 

Angry Alan riffs on this phenomenon by leading audiences to believe it’s a one-person play starring John Krasinski…until it’s not. 

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Angry Alan is one of three plays — along with Lunar Eclipse and Lowcountry — that premiered in New York recently which feature male characters incapable of crying…until they’re not.