As Juliette, Kristin Scott Thomas is first seen in closeup without makeup, her hair lustreless, her expression blank but tense.

NEWYORKER: I've Loved You So Long

His body was limp, his expression blank.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | The Agony of Defeat

"Tabula rasa, " in the Latin expression: blank slate.

CNN: In the new year, be a first responder

However, on television, a blank or flat expression does not look blank.

FORBES: Smile For The Camera -Media Training

Mr Holmes, who was present for the hearing, sat in red prison dress with a blank expression throughout the proceedings, witnesses said.

BBC: Batman suspect James Holmes 'set booby-traps' in flat

He just looked at me with a blank expression.

FORBES: Adviser Soapbox

Instead, he said, Holmes' blank, emotionless expression fits what happens in a psychotic breakdown that severs a person's ability to distinguish reality from fantasy.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

As he begins to backtrack, she jolts upright, stares back in shock, then in mock shock, shifting in subtle increments until she smiles, lets her face go blank again, and leans back into his arms with relaxed panic, a twenty-sided facial expression that should earn Lauren Graham a special Emmy.

NEWYORKER: Warming Trend