Screenwriters expend a lot of time and effort to craft perfect scripts.
However, some of the silver screen's most memorable lines were actually ad-libbed by
the actors.
There were many to choose from, but we've gathered a dozen of the best improvised moments
in movie history to share with you.
One of the delights of making a movie with experienced comedians trained in improv is
that you're going to end up with a whole lot of surprises.
And because everyone is accustomed to thinking on their toes, these bits of improvisation
can end up going pretty far out there.
Bridesmaids opened the door for a new breed of raunchy female-oriented romantic comedies
that broke the mold for the genre, and some of its most memorable scenes were improvised.
There was so much ad-libbing that director Paul Feig prepared for it by using two cameras
for many of the one-on-one scenes, so he could capture and cut together both reactions.
Many of Melissa McCarthy's over-the-top moments during the dress fitting scene, as well as
her banter with the air marshal on the plane, were all unscripted.
But the improv winner in Bridesmaids is the horrible and hilarious scene where bride-to-be
Lillian, played by Maya Rudolph, makes an unexpected stop in the middle of the street
after getting food poisoning.
"It's happening, it's happening…It happened."
"What are you doing?"
"It happened."
This unscripted and perfectly timed moment caught the cinematographer by surprise as
much as it did the audience.
Matthew McConaughey has built an impressive filmography over the years, but no matter
how many awards he wins, he'll never escape the simple words he uttered during 1993's
Dazed and Confused.
"All right, all right, all right."
It's become one of the movie's most quoted lines, and McConaughey improvised it on the
spot.
The actor claims to have based the line on an utterance by Doors frontman Jim Morrison
during a live performance of the song "Roadhouse Blues."
As repeated by McConaughey's character, career stoner David Wooderson, the line became a
catchphrase on set.
In fact, it showed up twice in the film.
"All right, all right, all right."
The cast and crew even started using it off-camera, and it's since become one of McConaughey's
signature lines in real life, he even revisited it in his Academy Award speech for Best Actor.
Viggo Mortenson is well known for his method acting skills in films like Eastern Promises
and The Road, during which he insisted on doing his own stunt work and fight scenes.
While he didn't go full method while filming The Lord of the Rings trilogy, he would often
ride his horse and hike alone to the next filming location.
However, there was one scene in The Two Towers where Mortenson channeled actual physical
pain into his performance.
In the first part of the movie, Pip and Merry are held captive by a band of orcs and Aragorn
is desperately trying to save them.
When he thinks they've been killed, he takes his anger out on a nearby helmet.
"ARGHHHH!"
The unscripted moment of Aragorn yelling and falling to his knees wasn't method acting,
it was serious pain.
This was the fifth take of the scene, and Mortensen broke two toes when he kicked the
helmet.
Director Peter Jackson decided to keep the scene in the movie for its raw emotion, since
Mortenson didn't break character and his reaction made complete sense for that moment.
Avengers: Infinity War broke box office records around the world, and it also broke viewers'
hearts with the results of Thanos' infamous finger snap.
Because this was such a big-budget film with so many moving parts at any given time, it's
surprising that there would have been room for any improvisation at all, let alone in
some incredibly poignant and important scenes.
For example, most of the snarky exchange between Star-Lord and Thor was ad-libbed.
The scene where Captain America points out how Thor copied his beard was also improvised
by the two actors.
Even Dave Bautista, as Drax, had an off-the-cuff response to Iron Man…
"Yeah, I'll do you one better.
Who's Gamora?"
"I'll do you one better.
Why is Gamora?"
However, one crushing moment of improv particularly stands out.
In the Russo brothers' script, Spider-Man's final words were just supposed to be "I don't
feel so good" and "I'm sorry."
But actor Tom Holland added some heartrending lines to the scene…
"I don't want to go.
I don't want to go.
Sir, please.
I don't want to go.
I don't want to go."
The rawness and vulnerability of the moment are evident in Holland's performance and in
Robert Downey's emotional reaction to this perfect unplanned bit of dialogue.
Initially, some people questioned director Christopher Nolan's decision to cast Heath
Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight.
"Hiii."
But Ledger's incredible commitment to the role was evident from the first moment he
appeared on screen.
Nolan has credited Ledger with coming up with most of what made this version of the Joker
so compelling, and he is widely rumored to have improvised a couple of the movie's classic
moments.
After the Joker is arrested by Detective Jim Gordon, Gotham's mayor stops by the jail to
take a look at the city's new high-profile prisoner, and promote Gordon to Commissioner.
As the officers in the room break into applause, they're joined by an allegedly improvising
Ledger.
Elsewhere in the film, after he's rigged a hospital to explode, the Joker hits the detonation
button, only to be disappointed when nothing happens.
According to rumor, Ledger's response was another great moment of improvisation.
Roy Scheider had many unforgettable scenes in Jaws, from frantically trying to get beachgoers
out of shark-infested waters to taking aim and blowing up his toothy nemesis.
But, perhaps, the most memorable scene of Jaws is when Scheider is chumming the water
and the enormous great white shark pops up to say hello.
Scheider staggers backwards in shock and utters this classic line…
"You're going to need a bigger boat."
But what most people don't know is that Scheider actually ad-libbed that line numerous times
during different scenes in the film.
After repeated production delays and cost overruns threatened to sink the entire film,
the line "you're going to need a bigger boat" became an in-joke among the cast and crew,
and Scheider began randomly slipping it into different scenes as a gag.
It was so effective here, though, that director Steven Spielberg decided to keep it.
It's hard to believe, but one of the most famous movie lines of all time almost ended
up on the cutting room floor.
In the 1980 film adaptation of Stephen King's novel The Shining, Jack Nicholson had a scene
where his character was hacking through a bathroom door with an axe.
When he made an opening big enough for his face, Nicholson ad-libbed a line that would
have been known to every viewer of American late-night television.
"Heeere's Johnny."
That line was part of the classic opening of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson
for decades.
Unfortunately, one person who didn't get the reference was director Stanley Kubrick.
He had been living in England so long he had no idea what Nicholson was talking about,
so it just seemed like a strange non sequitur.
Fortunately, Nicholson's ad-lib made the final cut and became one of the most quoted lines
out of a very quotable career.
"You can't handle the truth."
"I want you to hold it between your knees."
"Wait 'til they get a load of me."
The Harry Potter movie universe is filled with magical moments and an entire lexicon
of spells based on J.K.
Rowling's best-selling series of books.
The second installment in the movie series, The Chamber of Secrets, follows the intrepid
group of young wizards and witches as they attempt to discover who unleashed a monster
that's terrorizing the students of Hogwarts.
They suspect it has something to do with House Slytherin and its ancestors.
Harry and Ron have Hermione fix up a batch of polyjuice potion so they can go undercover
and investigate.
The potion turns Harry and Ron into Draco Malfoy's henchmen, Goyle and Crabbe, which
means they can find out if Malfoy's family might have something to do with the beast.
When Draco happens to see them, he notices right away that Goyle is suddenly wearing
glasses.
Goyle, Harry in disguise, says they're for reading, to which Draco responds…
"Reading?"
"Mm-hm."
"I didn't know you could read."
Actor Tom Felton had forgotten his line, and improvised a new one on the spot.
Director Chris Columbus loved the cruelty and comedy it brought to the scene, so he
left it in.
Harrison Ford has taken part in plenty of classic movie moments but a couple of his
most iconic ones were actually improvised.
In The Empire Strikes Back, there's a scene that cemented Han Solo in our hearts forever
as the ultimate romantic rogue.
Faced with what seems like his imminent death, Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia finally admits
her love for Han.
His response?
"I know."
But that wasn't in the script.
Han was actually supposed to say, "Just remember that, 'cause I'll be back."
Luckily for fans across the universe, Ford thought he could do better and delivered the
line we all know and love today.
Then there's his perfectly wordless improvisation in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Despite rehearsing the choreography for weeks, Ford did not want to film a lengthy sword
versus whip fight scene.
He came down with food poisoning the night before shooting and simply couldn't go through
with what they'd planned.
He ran an idea past director Steven Spielberg that became one of the most famous scenes
in the Indiana Jones series.
In When Harry Met Sally, Billy Crystal's character is driving from Chicago to New York with his
girlfriend's roommate, played by Meg Ryan.
They definitely don't hit it off at first, but as they keep running into each other through
the years, a friendship begins to develop.
Directed by Rob Reiner and written by Nora Ephron, the film is filled with one-liners
about romance, love, and relationships addressing the eternal question, "Can men and women really
be friends?"
Considering Crystal and Reiner's experience with improv and stand-up comedy, it's no surprise
that a number of lines would be ad-libbed along the way.
In rehearsals, it was actually Crystal who came up with the film's most iconic line…
"I'll have what she's having."
But that's not all.
The entire "pecan pie" discussion when Harry and Sally are walking around the museum was
improvised.
At one point, when Crystal asks Ryan to repeat his words, she briefly breaks character and
looks off camera at the director, then snaps right back into the scene.
"But I would be proud to partake of your pecan pie."
"Oh, no."
"But I would be proud."
It was such a genuine moment that Reiner decided to use the whole take in the final film.
Based on the timeless Roald Dahl book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the similarly titled
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a whimsical and beloved film from 1971 that
has consistently enchanted and even disturbed audience members for decades.
As to be expected from a comedy legend like Gene Wilder, he had some things to say about
his character, the enigmatic Willy Wonka.
In particular, he wanted to introduce the Wonka's unpredictable nature right away, before
he even spoke a word.
Wilder proposed a bait and switch that wasn't in the script.
He would walk with a limp, as if he needed a cane, then spring into action.
It's a memorable sequence that also helps illustrate Willy Wonka's complex personality.
As Wilder put it…
"From that time on, no one will know if I'm lying or telling the truth."
It doesn't seem appropriate to say that This Is Spinal Tap has a great ad-libbed line or
two because most of the film was improvised.
Directed by Rob Reiner and starring Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer
as members of the band Spinal Tap, the brilliant mockumentary has a huge fan following and
spawned some truly classic catchphrases.
"These go to eleven."
While there was an outline for the movie, it was just a starting point for the cast
to follow their comedic instincts.
Whether they were hanging out backstage, performing live on stage, or even just looking for the
stage, the actors of Spinal Tap delivered a masterclass on improvisation and continually
reminded viewers of one very important thing.
"There's such a fine line between stupid and clever."
"Yeah, it's just that little turn about."
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