offscreen

[awf-skreen, of-]

adjective

1. occurring, existing, or done away from the motion-picture or television screen.

   an offscreen voice.

2. in real life rather than on the motion-picture or television screen.

   the newscaster's offscreen personality.

adverb

1. apart or away from motion-picture or television performances; in actual life.

   Offscreen he's a racing-car enthusiast.

Word History and Origins

Origin of offscreen¹

First recorded in 1930–35; off + screen

Example Sentences

With barely any time offscreen, Byrne has the opportunity to flit between monstrous and tender, turning in what may very well be the year’s finest performance in its most singularly affecting film.

Read more on Salon

But offscreen, Candy was contending with anxiety and he was sensitive to people’s judgments about his size — remarks which often came directly from TV interviewers who thought nothing of asking him point-blank whether Candy was planning to lose weight.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

One thing she says she struggled with was being asked by producers to repeat conversations she'd had with Javen offscreen for the cameras.

Read more on BBC

As Takei shares stories about his family moving to Skid Row after being released from the wartime incarceration camps, getting introduced to radio and comic books as he adjusted to his new life and the aspirational ideals upheld by “Star Trek,” he occasionally glances offscreen to banter with his husband, Brad, who is out of frame but close enough to interject if he chooses.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Yet, offscreen, she was an avid reader with strongly held leftist political views, who chose divorce when her husbands tried to limit her professional ambitions.

Read more on Salon