Hollywood screenwriters toil over what each character in the story will say no matter if they're working on romantic comedies, dramas, and even kids' movies. The lines are then often debated and rewritten many times before, during, and after a movie is shot. But they are not the ones who decide what ends up in the final cut. Directors do. And if they like an improvised scene better than the scripted one, the writers just have to deal with it. It's part of the process. In fact, you'd probably be surprised to know that some really iconic moments in movie history have been authentic. Here are some of them.
#1 In The Dark Knight (2008), Joker Is Constantly Licking His Lips. This Is Actually Because Of The Prosthetic Scars That Heath Ledger Wore. They Kept Falling Off, So Heath Would Lick His Lips To Keep Them In Place. Gradually, It Became A Part Of The Joker’s Character
Image credits: Russian_Bagel
#2 For The Chestburster Scene In Alien (1979) The Effects Used To Achieve The Scene Were Deliberately Kept Secret From The Actors Who's Reactions Of Surprise And Shock Were Completely Genuine
Image credits: Stonewalled89
#3 In Monty Python's Life Of Brian The Soldier's Reaction During The Famous Biggus Dickus Scene Is Completely Genuine. He Was An Extra Who Had Been Told Simply Not To Laugh And Had No Idea What Was About To Happen
Image credits: swild92
#4 In Django Unchained, Leo Dicaprio Accidentally Cut His Hand Open But Kept Acting. Between Takes, They Cleaned It Up And Replaced The Real Blood With Fake Blood, Which He Smeared All Over Kerry Washington's Face
Leo said that the cast and crew gave him a standing ovation after the scene was finished, and he kept acting in the scene because "it was more interesting to watch Quentin's and Jamie's reaction off-camera than to look at my hand."
Image credits: The Weinstein Company
#5 Stallone Reportedly Told Lundgren To Really Go At Him For The First 15 Seconds. “Just Bomb Away,” He Asked. Well, Lundgren Did. The Resultant Chest Punch, Which You Can See In The Movie, Sent Stallone To The Hospital For Nine Days
Image credits: United Artists
#6 "Now You See Me"
In the movie Now You See Me, Isla Fisher's character performs a magic trick that requires her to be in a tank underwater that she needs to escape from. In the scene, she struggles and starts to drown, unable to get out. While filming the scene, Isla was actually in the tank, and she wasn't pretending to drown — she was actually drowning. Her release chain got stuck on her costume, and she wasn't able to get out quickly. Everyone thought she was just acting really well, however, she was actually panicking, struggling to get out of the tank for nearly three minutes before she was rescued.
Image credits: https://www.lionsgate.com/
#7 When Julia Stiles Read Her Poem At The End Of Ten Things I Hate About You (1999) It Was Done In One Take And She Wasn't Supposed To Start Crying
Image credits: klsi832
#8 In Die Hard (1988), When Filming Gruber’s Death Scene, Rickman Was Told He Would Be Dropped On The Count Of Three. The Director Counted To Two Before Dropping Him, Making His Reaction Genuine
Image credits: Jwgt32
#9 In The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (2005), When Lucy First Enters Narnia, Her Reaction Is Genuine. The Director Purposefully Never Showed Her Actress The Set. He Also Did The Same With Edmund's Actor
Image credits: Tokyono
#10 In Se7en [1996], Fincher Never Told John C. Mcginley That The Corpse Used For 'Sloth' Was Actually A Living Actor In Heavy Makeup. Mcginley's Character's Initial Shock When 'Sloth' Wakes In The Movie Was In Fact Mcginley's Genuine Surprise From The First Take
Image credits: DaveInLondon89
#11 The Lineup Actors, 'The Usual Suspects' - Benicio Del Toro Kept Farting During Filming And The Actors' Laughter Made It Into The Final Cut
Image credits: Gramercy Pictures
#12 Julia Roberts, 'Pretty Woman' - Richard Gere Unexpectedly Snapped The Jewelry Box Shut, And Her Surprise Was Real
Image credits: Buena Vista Pictures
#13 Michael J. Fox In ‘Back To The Future Part III’
In one scene, Marty gets strung up on the famous Hill Valley clock tower. In what was without a doubt something he later regretted, Fox said “Sure” to performing the stunt himself. The plan was for him to use his hand to keep the noose from tightening around his neck and actually strangling him. In practice, he couldn’t get his hand into position and actually blacked out for a minute, until the crew realized what was happening and saved his life.
Image credits: universalpictures
#14 In The Princess Diaries (2001), The Scene Where Mia Trips And Falls In The Bleachers Wasn’t A Part Of The Script. Anne Hathaway Had Accidentally Slipped In A Puddle. Director Garry Marshall Liked It So Much That He Decided To Keep It In The Movie
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#15 The Moment Katniss Sees Peeta's Sunken Face On TV After He's Abducted By The Capital Is Dark What's Even More Heartbreaking Is That Katniss's Reaction Is Actually How Jennifer Lawrence Responded To Seeing The Video For The First Time. The Director Knew J Law Hadn't Seen Josh Hutcherson In A While And If She Was Shocked With The Video They'd Be Able To Capture Her Genuine Fear On Camera Talk About Intense Method Acting
Image credits: TheThings
#16 Et Was Filmed In Chronological Order And None Of The Kids Had Seen The Puppet Before Filming, So Their First Impressions Were Totally Real
Image credits: Universal Pictures
#17 To Prepare For Saving Private Ryan, All The Main Cast Members Were Sent To A Harsh 10-Day Boot Camp, Except For Matt Damon, Who Stayed In America. Matt's Character Was Resented By Everyone, And He Was Purposefully Excluded So That The On-Screen Hostility Would Be As Realistic As Possible
Camp may be the place for bonding, but this boot camp was really tough, and the fact that Matt was at home relaxing definitely created a divide. It was so horrible that after day four, everyone wanted to quit, but Tom Hanks encouraged them to stick it out. Matt said that when he eventually showed up on set there some resentment from the guys, and it translated onto the screen.
Image credits: Paramount Pictures
#18 Viggo Mortensen, 'The Two Towers' - He Broke His Toe While Kicking A Helmet In Frustration, Eliciting A Real Scream Of Anguish
Image credits: warnerbros
#19 The Shining
The meticulousness with which the film was created had a cost: Shelley Duvall’s wellbeing. Kubrick tormented the actress, making her do relentless takes, while verbally abusing her and dismissing her acting talent. This was intentional, as revealed in The Making of The Shining. Stanley Kubrick’s daughter, Vivian Kubrick, described how her father terrorized Duvall in order to make the insecurity of her character viscerally apparent.
Image credits: warnerbros
#20 Cary Elwes Wasn’t Acting When He Got Hit In The Head In Princess Bride
In one scene in Princess Bride, Cary Elwes’ character Westley gets clonked on the head pretty hard by the six-fingered man, played by Christopher Guest. But when it came time to film the scene, the stunt didn’t look realistic enough. So Elwes suggested that Guest knock him as hard as he could using a real metal sword. "Because of the angle, we couldn't sell a fake blow well enough for the camera, so I told him to just hit me hard," Elwes wrote in his book, As You Wish. "And that’s the last thing I remember. I woke up in the hospital."
Image credits: 20th Century Fox
#21 In Joker, Joaquin Phoenix Unexpectedly Shed A Tear During The First Take When His Character Looked In The Mirror, And The Director Kept It In
Director Todd Phillips said that he played the film's score for Joaquin Phoenix because he "wanted the music to affect and infect the set in a way." During the first take as the score was playing, Philipps revealed that "as Joaquin is struggling with Arthur's smile, this little tear appears, and we just had the scene and we moved on."
Image credits: Warner Bros
#22 In Rocky (1976), When He Runs Through The Italian Marketplace, The People's Amused Expressions As They Look On Is Genuine, As They Had No Idea Why A Man Was Running Back And Forth Being Followed By A Van. The Man Who Throws Him The Orange Was Completely Improvised
Image credits: Chief_DaVinci
#23 Jason Segel Didn’t Know His Character’s Father Was Going To Die On “How I Met Your Mother”
Image credits: CBS
#24 In The Graduate (1967) Final Scene, The Director Got The Actors Expression For The Scene By Just Not Telling Them When He Was Going To Cut. There Was Nothing In The Script That Would Imply Their Facial Expressions Changing, He Just Had The Camera Running To Feel Their Energy Naturally Dissipate
Image credits: SilDaz
#25 The Office
It was hard for the actors to say goodbye to Steve Carell. That's why in the scene Pam rushes in the airport to say goodbye to Michael the emotional performance by Jenna Fisher was not a performance at all
Image credits: TheThings
#26 Everyone On Titanic Knew That The Water Was Gonna Be Cold, But They Weren't Prepared For Just How Freezing It Was. The Water Was So Icy That Kate Winslet Couldn't Stop Shaking During The Axe Scene
Image credits: 20th Century Fox
#27 Steve Carell, 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' - He Really Got His Chest Waxed, And Those Screams Of Agony Are Genuine
Image credits: Universal Pictures
#28 Dustin Hoffman, 'Midnight Cowboy' - 'Hey, I'm Walkin' Here!' Was His Reaction To Real New York Traffic
Image credits: United Artists
#29 To Recreate The Revolutionary Spirit, The Cast Of Les Miserables Were Told To Build A Barricade In 10 Minutes. The Cameras Were Rolling And What They Made Ended Up Being Used In The Final Film
The actors didn’t know where the cameras were placed and it looked like complete chaos, but the structure turned out to be quite realistic and just needed a bit of drilling to remain held together
Image credits: Universal Pictures
#30 In Aliens (1986), The Knife Trick Scene Was Originally Going To Be Done By Bishop (Lance Henrickson) Alone. Henrickson Suggested To Director James Cameron To Have Hudson's (Bill Paxton) Hand Put On Top Of His, And Cameron Agreed. Everyone On Set Was Told About The Change Except Bill Paxton
Image credits: stealthynotion
#31 Due To A Miscommunication On The Set Of The Hateful Eight, Kurt Russell Accidentally Smashed A 140-Year-Old Antique Guitar Instead Of The Prop
In the scene, you can see Jennifer Jason Leigh break character and scream and look at the crew because she was in disbelief when the antique guitar – which was supposed to be swapped out with a prop in between takes – got smashed. The old guitar, which was made in 1870, was actually on loan from a museum. Dick Boak, the museum's director, changed their policy because of this mishap and said, "As a result of the incident, the company will no longer loan guitars to movies under any circumstances."
Image credits: The Weinstein Company
#32 At The End Of Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), When A Certain Character Returns From The Dead, The Cast Shows Genuine Surprise. The Character's Return Had Been Kept A Secret By The Writers- They Even Went Uncredited
Image credits: Tokyono
#33 The Actors Hired For The Blair Witch Project Were Given A 35-Page Script And Were Told To Improvise. They Were Taken Into The Woods, And As You Can Imagine, The Results Were Terrifying
Image credits: Artisan Entertainment
#34 In Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971), When The Kids First See The Chocolate Room, Their Reactions Are Genuine. Director Mel Stuart Took Great Care To Ensure That None Of The Child Actors Saw The Gigantic Set As It Was Being Built
Image credits: Russian_Bagel
#35 In The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), When A Corpse Is Revealed Under The Dining Table, The Actors Were Genuinely Shocked. None Of Them Knew That The Body Was There – With One Exception, Tim Curry, Because He Was The One Who Had To Whip The Tablecloth Off
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#36 In Boyz N The Hood (1991), The Actors' Reactions To The Gunfire Are Authentic. Ice Cube Confirmed Director John Singleton Never Told Any Of The Actors That Real Gunfire Would Be Used For This Scene
Image credits: NativeCabanaKing
#37 Will Ferrell's Reactions During The Jack-In-The-Box Scene Were Genuine. The Director Surprised Him Every Time By Triggering The Toys With A Remote Control
Image credits: Ghostss412
#38 Brad Pitt Actually Got Punched In The Ear During Fight Club
Edward Norton explained he really hit Brad Pitt in the ear during one of the scenes. “It’s the first punch in the movie and I hit him in the ear,” said Norton. “[Director’David) Fincher came up to me and said, ‘Hit him, connect with him somewhere.’ I didn’t know what to do and I hit him in the ear.” And Brad Pitt was just as surprised.
Image credits: 20th Century Studios
#39 In The Fugitive [1993], Harrison Ford (Playing The Framed Dr. Kimble) Was Not Provided A Script For The Interrogation Scene. His Answers And Mounting Frustration With The Detectives Were Improvised In Order To Seem More Genuine
Image credits: chefr89
#40 Steve Carell’s Surprise Kiss On “The Office” Wasn’t In The Script
On the season three episode of the NBC show, “Gay Witch Hunt,” Oscar Martinez’s shocked response to Michael Scott kissing him on the lips is totally authentic. “… He wasn’t supposed to kiss me, we were just supposed to hug,” actor Oscar Nuñez told AV Club in 2008. “And that particular take he came in really close, and I’m like, ‘Where is he going with this?’ And then I’m just thinking, ‘Oh God, nobody laugh so we can use it.’ And they didn’t, and it worked perfectly. It was a lot of fun.”
Image credits: NBC
#41 Diane Kruger, 'Inglourious Basterds' - Quentin Tarantino Actually Choked Her During Her Final Scene To Get An Accurate Reaction
Image credits: The Weinstein Company
#42 Matthew Mcconaughey, 'The Wolf Of Wall Street' - The Chest-Beating Ritual Is His Own
Image credits: Paramount Pictures
#43 Riverdale
In one scene Kevin kisses Archie, it was totally unscripted and leaves a shock on everyone elses faces
Image credits: TheThings
#44 Tricky, Zorg's Henchman In The Fifth Element, Was Genuinely Scared By The Warehouse Explosion Because Luce Besson And Gary Oldman Didn't Mention To Him How Big The Explosion Really Will Be During The Shoot. The Heat Of Said Explosion Also Melted Part Of Gary Oldmans Costume
Image credits: T4ke
#45 During The Filming Of The Exorcist, Director William Friedkin Fired A Gun On Set As A Way To Get Authentic Scared Reactions From Some Of The Actors
This sounds like a major HR issue, but Friedkin said he only ever fired blanks because he found it difficult asking actors to portray certain emotions without them looking corny or unbelievable. According to Friedkin, he got the idea after reading an article about George Stevens and didn't think it was that big of a deal.
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
#46 In Scream (1996) Drew Barrymore And Neve Campbell Did Not Meet Roger Jackson, The Actor Who Played The Voice. Whenever They Are Talking On The Phone To The Killer, They Are Actually Talking To Him. Craven Thought That It Would Be Better To Bring Out The Shock Reactions When They Heard His Voice
Image credits: O_Shack
#47 Matt Damon, 'Good Will Hunting' - The Fart Story Was Improvised, And Damon's Laughter Was A Real Reaction
Image credits: Miramax Films
#48 Jay Baruchel, 'Knocked Up' - His Roller Coaster Freakout Was Genuine
Image credits: Universal Pictures
#49 One Of The Many Jump Scares In Season One Of Haunting Of Hill House Wasn't Entirely Scripted And Terrified Actress Kate Siegel And Elizabeth Reeser. The Director Instructed Victoria Pedretti To Pop Out Earlier In This Scene Than Expected To Get Their Real Reaction
Image credits: TheThings
#50 The Famous Tagline From “Jaws” Wasn’t Actually In The Original Script
When the terrifying, gargantuan shark first appears, Roy Scheider’s character memorably responds with, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor ad-libbed the famous line, which was based on something the production team said to each other on set in reference to their “stingy producers.” Screenwriter Carl Gottlieb told the publication that the actor actually tried to put the line into the film in a few different spots. “It was so appropriate and so real,” he said. “And it came at the right moment, thanks to Verna Field’s editing.”
Image credits: Universal
#51 In The Scene Where The Bandits Finally Capture Culkin’s Kevin, They Hang Him Up On A Coat Hook, And Pesci Threatens To Bite His Fingers Off. He Then Proceeds To Bite Them – For Real! Culkin Still Bears The Scars From That Scene Today
Image credits: 20th Century Studios
#52 It (2017)
To ensure that the cast of kids gave realistic expressions of horror as they first discover Pennywise (Bill Skarsgaard), the horrible clown monster, the directors made sure they had no idea what he looked like, and kept Skarsgaard separated from them. The kids didn’t see images of the clown until they filmed the projector scene. Finn Wolfhard and his fellow actors watched the screen and the clown appear for the first time. Their growing horror and final shock was as real as the audience’s.
Image credits: warnerbros
#53 For The Dodgeball Scene Of Billy Madison (1995), Adam Was Really Hitting The Kids As Hard As He Could, Because "Hurting Kids Is Funny". The Director Cut Right Before They Started Crying. Some Of The Parents Got Upset With Him
Image credits: klsi832
#54 The Times Square Crowd In ‘Birdman’
One scene has the slowly-losing-his-mind protagonist finding himself smack dab in the middle of Times Square wearing only his undergarments. If you thought there were way too many people there for all of them to be extras, well – you were right! Those are real people who happened to be there at the time, hence their freaking out at seeing a movie star in his tighty whiteys.
Image credits: newregency
#55 The Exorcist
The Exorcist was a shockingly twisted thriller/horror film, with some of the earliest forms of jump-scares. And in order to make sure the actor portraying Father Karras (Jason Miller) got a proper look of revolted horror, the director told him the pea-soup vomit spat up by Linda Blair would strike him in the chest. (And yes, it was really Anderson’s pea soup, mixed with a bit of oatmeal.) Instead they directed the barf-nozzle right into his eyes, giving a nasty pea-soup surprise to the actor. At least he looks convincingly freaked out (and annoyed) at the demon possessing Regan (Blair).
Image credits: warnerbros
#56 In Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, Live Birds Were Tied To Tippi Hedren And Also Thrown At Her While Filming The Iconic Attic Scene
Hedren was originally told that the birds would be fake, but there were mechanical issues, so real birds had to be swapped in. Upon visiting the set and seeing the filming circumstances, Cary Grant said to Hedren: "You’re the bravest woman I’ve ever seen."
Image credits: universalpictures
#57 "Kes"
The bleakness of the film is underlined in a scene where a group of schoolboys (including Bradley) are caned by a teacher. Their reactions of startled pain are very real, as Loach has promised they’d cut right before they’d be struck… but instead he kept the cameras rolling as the child actors were, in reality, hit by the cane
Image credits: unitedartists
#58 In The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) Director Tobe Hooper Kept Gunnar Hansen's (The Actor Who Plays Leatherface) Costume And Mask A Secret From The Cast. Allen Danziger's Scream When He First Sees The Brutal Killer Is Real & Genuine
Image credits: PhilisophicalTaco
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