A movie character can become a timeless fan favourite with just a single memorable scene
or line of dialogue.
But even the most well-known movie heroes and villains still have some secrets to tell,
proving they're one of a kind - for better or worse.
Here are Screen Rant's 10 Secret Hidden Details Behind Popular Movie Characters.
Hook
The modern reimagining of Peter Pan made a ton of changes to the classic story, but the
movie's version of Captain Hook was unforgettable.
Dustin Hoffman can take the credit for showing the evil pirate to be seriously insecure,
leaning on his trusty first mate Smee for support.
More support than fans realized, it turns out.
When Hoffman and Bob Hoskins were trying to figure out how to approach the Smee/Hook dynamic,
it finally clicked: the two weren't friends, but lovers.
It wasn't what the director intended, and is never explicitly explored in the movie,
but for the actors on screen, they were playing partners in more ways than one.
Mad Max: Fury Road
You may not know his name, but everyone who saw Mad Max: Fury Road knows Coma The Doof
Warrior, the pale-skinned guitar player leading Immortan Joe's war boys into battle.
His origin isn't explained in the movie, but director George Miller and Australian guitarist
iOTA came up with one anyway.
Apparently, the child music prodigy had to watch his mother killed by bandits in front
of him.
Joe found him sometime after, and recruited him into his army.
Coma wears his mother's face over his own, which means a lack of real close ups is actually
a good thing for the squeamish.
The Joker
In the decades since Batman's arch enemy first appeared, his origin story has remained a
mystery, with most agreeing that a villain like The Joker is scarier without one - even
the more colourful version seen on the 1960s TV show.
Alan Moore's "Killing Joke" made the popular case that The Joker was born from "one bad
day."
That idea didn't fly when Batman star Adam West was asked his thoughts on Joker, claiming
nobody can go that crazy without prolonged abuse.
In his mind, The Joker was abducted as a child and kept prisoner for years by an abusive
clown, resulting in the grinning killer fans know and love.
Jerry Robinson, who co-created Joker was on hand to agree, simply stating that "that would
do it."
If that's the origin for the campy version, who KNOWS what caused the darker takes on
the clown prince of crime.
Snow White
She may have been Disney's very first princess, but the voice of Snow White was harder to
pin down than even her famous costume or songs.
Walt Disney and his casting department heard over 150 young women with none fitting the
bill.
When a casting director was complaining about the lack of talented young singers to their
music teacher consultant, fate took over.
The teacher's 20 year old daughter Adriana overheard the complaints, and started singing
in the background to grab some attention.
It worked, too: once Walt Disney heard her voice, he cast her as Snow White immediately,
guaranteeing that the movie would revolutionize Hollywood, and make Disney a household name.
James Bond
For entire generations, the wealth of actors who've played 007 can't change the fact that
Sean Connery did it first - and did it best.
He's remembered for embodying the sexy charm of the ultimate alpha male, but Connery didn't
quite live up to that standard off screen.
Aside from the rumors that Connery would "tighten up" his pecs by holding bags of ice water
to his chest before shirtless scenes, the thick hair on the actor's chest was sold short
by his scalp.
Connery wore a hairpiece on every single one of his Bond adventures.
We wonder what Bond would have to say about the studio's first choice to play him?
The Notebook
Since movies began, there's been a place for sappy romances.
But The Notebook changed Hollywood love stories forever, pairing the beautiful Rachel McAdams
and Ryan Gosling as two young lovers, skyrocketing them to super stardom virtually overnight.
Gosling's role as the lovesick Noah made him an A-list heart throb, but that wasn't the
director's plan.
According to Gosling, he got the part because he wasn't a leading man, with the director
saying "You're not handsome, you're not cool, you're just a regular guy who looks a bit
nuts."
We'll let his fans decide how accurate that turned out to be.
Saving Private Ryan
Director Steven Spielberg knew that the main Squad of American soldiers in his World War
II epic needed to be convincing, so he sent the core cast on a week-long boot camp so
intense, almost all of them wanted to quit before it was over.
The resulting camaraderie showed it was worth it, but the boot camp served another purpose:
since Matt Damon didn't have to endure the training, he was as much an outsider on set
as Private Ryan was in the movie.
Ryan still won over the soldiers and audiences, but the resentment and insecurity on screen
isn't faked, proving tough love can help create a more sympathetic young soldier.
Back to the Future
Every fan of time travelling teens knows Biff Tannen, the high school bully who made life
a nightmare for both George McFly and his son Marty - in multiple timelines.
But did you know the meathead is actually taking a very real shot at a Hollywood executive?
It started when director Robert Zemeckis and writer Bob Gale pitched their first film,
I Wanna Hold Your Hand, to Universal executive Ned Tanen.
The meeting ended with Tanen screaming at the pair, accusing them of antisemitism, among
other things.
They got the last laugh though, burying a stand-in Tannen in manure - multiple times.
Fast & Furious
The entire cast of the Fast & Furious series has become more famous than anyone could have
guessed, but it didn't happen by accident.
When Michelle Rodriguez was first brought in to bring Letty to life, she had a problem
with her character's journey - specifically, that Letty would wind up cheating on Dom with
Brian, the undercover cop.
It was just another way Fast & Furious took cues from the original Point Break, but Rodriguez
refused, offering to quit if the script wasn't changed.
But she made a good argument, and the love affair between her and Toretto wound up as
the backbone of the entire movie franchise.
The Dark Knight
There's no denying what Christopher Nolan's Batman did for comic book movies everywhere,
but there's one part of Christian Bale's take on the Dark Knight that draws more criticism
and mockery than any other: the Batvoice.
But Bale's Bruce Wayne isn't really the problem, since his raspy growl actually seemed an inspired
choice in the first movie, Batman Begins.
But in The Dark Knight, Nolan decided to add some new effects in post-production to make
the rasp a bit...
stranger.
Fans still have every right to mock the insane Batvoice, but few realize that it wasn't the
starring actor to blame for it.
Those are the awesome secret details behind some of our favorite movie characters, but
which ones do you think we missed?
Name them in the comments, and don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more videos
like this one!