The script included a lengthy sword fight between Indiana Jones and one of the bad guys, but Ford was suffering from dysentery and could only film in 10 minute increments, so he changed the scene at the last minute and just shot the goon, cutting out what would have taken two to three days to film.
The original screenplay set Arnold Schwarzenegger's character to be blown up at the end, but instead the actor said, "I need a vacation" and the rest is history.
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The final iconic and cult-favorite tears-in-rain monologue—"All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain"—was largely improvised by actor Rutger Hauer!
Much of the spontaneous clowning in the lobster-cooking scene was truly spontaneous, as was the scene where Alvy sneezes away a fortune's worth of cocaine at a party with Annie.
After recording the same scene numerous times, the director gave Malcolm McDowell the freedom to do what he liked, so he danced and sang, all improvised.
While filming the movie in the streets of New York, a taxi reportedly jumped a light and almost hit Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, which is where the spontaneous and memorable line, "Hey, I'm walking here!" came from.
Few people know the origins of the scene-stealing cat in the film which wasn't in the script, and many say that Francis Ford Coppola put the creature on Marlon Brando's lap just before they started filming.
Robert De Niro was only given the instruction to speak to himself in the mirror, but his improvisation became one of Hollywood's most iconic moments.
In an interview, director Garry Marshall revealed that Richard Gere's snap of the necklace box wasn't planned, which made Julia Roberts's surprise and laughter completely genuine.
Margot Robbie took her chance while filming a scene with Brad Pitt for Damien Chazelle's 'Babylon' by suggesting a kiss that "wasn't in the script." The actress told E! News that she improvised the scene with the help of the director. "I thought, 'When else am I gonna get the chance to kiss Brad Pitt? I'm just gonna go for it.'"
Robbie stars as budding actress Nellie LaRoy and Pitt plays actor Jack Conrad, in the film, set in 1920s Hollywood. "I said, 'Damien, I think Nellie would just go up and kiss Jack.' And Damien was like, 'Well, she could—wait, hold on. You just wanna kiss Brad Pitt,' " Robbie recalled. "And I was like, 'Oh, so sue me. This opportunity might never come up again.' And he was like, 'It does work for the character,' and I was like, 'I think so.'" Even more conveniently, after one take the director was sold on the idea. "He was like, 'No, do it again. That really works.' I was like, 'Oh, great,' " said Robbie.
The terrifying scene in which Jack Nicholson breaks down a door with an ax is known for the improvised line, "Heeere's Johnny!" which Nicholson admits to borrowing from 'The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.'
A good script is supposed to have incredible moments and carefully crafted lines, but sometimes it takes an actor deep in character to fill the space between the lines with realistic, memorable moments that were born solely from the momentum of the scene. Sure, improvisation doesn't always work out, and many unscripted scenes have been cut from the final product, but when it does work, it has proven to be legendary.
Take a look at these famous scenes that were improvised by actors.
Iconic movie moments that were improvised
When going off script turned out to be legendary
MOVIES Famous scenes
A good script is supposed to have incredible moments and carefully crafted lines, but sometimes it takes an actor deep in character to fill the space between the lines with realistic, memorable moments that were born solely from the momentum of the scene. Sure, improvisation doesn't always work out, and many unscripted scenes have been cut from the final product, but when it does work, it has proven to be legendary.
Take a look at these famous scenes that were improvised by actors.