History Main / ActingUnnatural

* ''Series/FullHouse'' did this in "Little Shop of Sweaters": D.J and Stephanie were entering a store at the mall to return a royal blue sweater Stephanie accidentally shoplifted (she thought it was credit, as evidenced by the "Buy Now, Pay Later" sign, not knowing it required a credit card). D.J. tells Stephanie to act casual, to which she begins strutting leisurely while humming. D.J. then tells Stephanie to "just act regular," to which she does, [[OhCrap until the stolen sweater]] [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome sets off the door alarm]].

** Finn indulges in a bit of this in the episode "Storytelling".

* Callum has a gift for this in ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince''. The more determined he is to pretend that everything is all right, the more overtly terrified he looks. In "Bloodthirsty", for example, he attempts to warn Rayla that they have company, in the form of an ''actual'' company of soldiers led by his CoolAunt, by putting just a bit too much emphasis on the words "human troops".

** In "[[Recap/MiraculousLadybugS01E01StormyWeather Stormy Weather]]", Marinette's attempt at walking next to Adrien as if they "just happened to be passing by" is anything but casual.
** In "[[Recap/MiraculousLadybugS01E17Antibug Antibug]]", Marinette does this as she enters a hotel and sneaks into a kitchen to get cookies for Tikki.
** In "[[Recap/MiraculousLadybugS02E16Troublemaker Troublemaker]]", Marinette's idea of laying low involves tiptoeing sneakily while crossing the road.

** In the episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E24EquestriaGames Equestria Games]]", when Spike approaches while the Mane Six are worrying how he took the torch lighting, Rainbow Dash tells everyone to "act casual". She follows this up by slapping on her CoolShades and striking a BadassArmFold.

** Also, Homer and Milhouse do this in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS18E21TwentyFourMinutes 24 Minutes]]":

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS17E22MargeAndHomerTurnACouplePlay Marge And Homer Turn A Couple Play]]", Homer is heading to a ballgame with his family, then proceeds to yell out that he's selling the tickets when a cop walks by.

** Exaggerated in the episode "Life of Crime" [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick are panicking because (they think) they stole a balloon. [=SpongeBob=] advises, "Act normal," and, whether out of nerves or sheer stupidity, both of them start gibbering and acting crazy. They are immediately surrounded by a crowd who mistake them for street performers.
** In the episode "Boating School", when [=SpongeBob=] is asked to act natural, he gets on all fours and starts grazing like a cow.
** In another, he hides from a bully in a toilet. Spongebob tries to "act natural" when someone is stepping into the stall, becoming a [[MediumShiftGag live-action sponge]] floating in the bowl.

** In yet another, both him and Patrick end up tensing up and greeting people in a robotic way, using “natural” as a prefix to all their sentences.

* ''WebVideo/JonTron'' makes fun of the main character of ''[[{{Series/Goosebumps}} My Hairiest Adventure]]'' for using this trope, complete with [[NotSoInnocentWhistle humming]].

* In ''Film/StarTrekIV'' Kirk tells his bridge officers, standing around in the streets of 1980s San Francisco, to "break up, you look like a cadet review." Cue entirely unconvincing attempt by the Starfleet officers to look inconspicuous and casual.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', Mike and Sulley try to help a disguised Boo back to her door on the scare floor without looking suspicious.

->'''Jack Black:''' Oh hey, Animal. What are you doing here?\\

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'': In ''DeCap Attack'', a very loud, [[IllKillYou increasingly violent]] argument involving [[PunnyName Chuck D. Head]] choking [[TheIgor Igor]] quickly changes gears changes upon [[HelloAgainOfficer the return of a Missing Persons official]], the former death grip now [[ItsProbablyNothing a friendly shoulder hold]].

* ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheComic DeCap Attack]]'': A very loud, [[IllKillYou increasingly violent]] argument involving [[PunnyName Chuck D. Head]] choking [[TheIgor Igor]] quickly changes gears changes upon [[HelloAgainOfficer the return of a Missing Persons official]], the former death grip now [[ItsProbablyNothing a friendly shoulder hold]].
* In ''ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}'' #2, Clint and Kate infiltrate a swanky gathering of underworld types, where Clint feels distinctly out of place:

* ''ComicBook/IronFist1975:'' As Danny goes through the gauntlet of deathtraps that is the Rand-Meachum tower block, he suddenly comes across a trio of suits in a corridor just standing around, apparently unconcerned about the noise Danny's been making. He quickly pegs them as being too casual, and immediately they whip out guns.
* ''ComicBook/ALittleSomethingSpecial'': One of the Beagle Boy disguised as one of Donald's nephews (thanks to a spell by Magica) attempts to make Donald buy his disguise by talking "how cute lil' ducks talk".
--> '''Beagle Boy!Dewey:''' ''[with doe eyes and feminine body language]'' [[KiddieKid We sowwy we talk naughty, unca ducky! Oo give-um big hug?]]
--> '''Donald:''' Saaay... did somebody slip these kids some silly-pills down at that party?

* In the ''Podcast/CoolKidsTable'' game ''Bloody Mooney'', when Jess realizes that the unmarked van is following her and JT and tells him to look, he does a sweet dance move to keep it from looking too obvious. [[SubvertedTrope It works]].

* An early level in a Hamburg nightclub in ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'' has Cate being followed by a HARM spy. The tail is immediately suspicious with his fedora and raincoat, and Cate mentions that he's so obsessed with following her blindly that he'd probably wander into traffic just to keep up with her. As expected, he follows her right into the women's restroom and gets himself iced.

** Also, Homer and Milhouse do this in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS18E2124Minutes 24 Minutes]]":

'''Homer:''' ''[imitating a woman]'' Oh hello officer!\\
'''Chief Wiggum:''' ''[while driving by]'' Oh hello, Ma'am! ''[to self]'' What is it about a woman and a dumpster?

** Exaggerated in the episode "Life of Crime." [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick are panicking because (they think) they stole a balloon. [=SpongeBob=] advises, "Just act natural," and, whether out of nerves or sheer stupidity, both of them start gibbering and acting crazy. They are immediately surrounded by a crowd who mistake them for street performers.

'''Homer Simpson:''' The boss! Quick, act natural. ''[puts on business glasses and [[ClipboardOfAuthority pretends to write on a clipboard]]]''

* In ''LightNovel/{{Oresuki}}'', two of the main girls are horrible actors who can't even approach “natural” when acting. Himawari ends up stiffly reciting any lines given to her, often stumbling and forgetting her lines or getting the timing wrong. Cosmos on the other hand, invariably winds up acting like an overdramatic classic samurai drama.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}''. [=McQueen=] wants to surprise Sally with his new look.

'''Animal:''' Acting! ''[three second pause]'' Natural!

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* Animal in ''Film/TheMuppets'' when he is standing outside Jack Black's trailer to lure the actor out, as seen in the page quote.

* On at least two occasions in ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'', Isaac advises Miria that the two of them should act casual to avoid suspicion. Isaac and Miria's idea of "acting casual" inevitably makes about as much sense as anything else they do - which is to say, none.
* ''Manga/{{Haikyuu}}'': In season 2, episode 14, Kageyama attempts to act natural while he's walking on the grounds of Karasuno's rival school Seijoh to spy on their volleyball team (mostly his rival Oikawa). He doesn't do a great job.