Movie production is often viewed as a well oiled machine on tight, strict schedules for
everyone included.
It often leads moviegoers to assume everything happens precisely as planned, but that isn’t
always the case.
Improvised scenes usually happen when an actor truly transforms into their character and
reacts to the any given situation as said character.
Unscripted scenes give movies a more honest feel and leave the viewers remembering the
film.
And, more often than not, can spark an emotion from laughter to sadness—and everything
in between.
Check out these 10 hilarious movie moments you didn't know were improvised.
Robin Williams & Matt Damon In Good Will Hunting Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s critically
acclaimed film, Good Will Hunting, had its very own hilarious improv scene.
The sequence features whiz kid Will Hunting (Matt Damon) at one of his many therapy sessions
with therapist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams).
In order to get Hunting to open up emotionally, Maguire recalls a memory about his late wife
and her gassy habits causing Hunting to laugh hysterically.
But what you may not have known is the entire story was made up by Williams mid-scene.
And Damon’s laugh is 100 percent genuine.
Although Williams earned his first and only Academy Award for his role, he still managed
to dial in his well-known improvised acting skills at a critical moment.
Jim Carrey & Jeff Daniels in Dumb and Dumber It’s hard to forget Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels
as the idiotic best buddies Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne in the comedy-cult-classic—Dumb
and Dumber.
And, with a duo like that, is it so hard to believe that the actors didn’t stick to
the assigned dialogue?
There’s a scene where the two knuckleheads pick up a hitchhiker and unleash a ton of
crazy antics on the unsuspecting man.
In the original script by the Farrelly Brother’s, the scene called for Carrey and Daniels to
test the man’s nerves over an argument about jelly beans.
But instead, the two actors horse around endlessly.
This is the notable scene where Carrey asks, “Hey, wanna hear the most annoying sound
in the world?” and proceeds to yell in the man’s ear.
Nick Frost & Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead The 2004 Brit-horror-comedy, Shaun of the
Dead, featured its share of British comedians, comic actors and sitcom stars leaving the
script open for interpretation from the cast.
That being said, there are several different versions of the scene where Nick Frost’s
character Ed attempts to cheer up Shaun (Simon Pegg) by telling stories about the pub regulars.
In the scenes, Ed describes the woman as an ex-pornstar and this was supposedly all made
up on the spot.
And as a result, we even get some genuine laughter from Pegg.
Seth Rogan & Paul Rudd in Knocked Up Judd Apatow’s 2007 rom-com, Knocked Up,
starred Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl as two young adults facing the repercussions
of a drunken-one-night stand and an unintended pregnancy.
The film also featured an improvised scene idea from Apatow’s 2005 hit The 40-Year-Old
Virgin.
The scene involves Rogan’s character Ben Stone taking a ride with Pete (Paul Rudd)
where the two perform some hilarious back and forth banter.
While the scene didn’t make the movie, it was part of the DVD extra as a deleted bonus
scene and the improvised dialogue runs over three minutes.
Paul Rudd & Michael Pena in Ant-Man Marvel’s Ant-Man is arguably one of MCU’s
funniest superhero films and it is largely due to the hilarious cast.
The film stars Paul Rudd, Michael Pena, Judy Greer, Evangeline Lily and many more.
And believe it or not, a majority of the stars scenes were improvised.
Rudd revealed many of his scenes with Greer (who plays his ex) were improv.
While Pena told Variety that about 50 percent of his scenes were improvised as well.
Specifically Pena and Rudd’s scenes would need a re-write as the two would make the
scene their own with the magic of improv.
Bill Murray in Caddyshack One of Caddyshack’s most quoted scenes from
the film is by Bill Murray’s character, groundskeeper Carl Spackler.
In the film, Murray mutters a story to himself about an unknown golfer winning the Masters
and he titles it “The Cinderella Story.”
Unknown to many is that the entire scene was developed by the actor on the spot.
In his 1999 book Cinderella Story: My Life in Golf Murray said, "The Cinderella Story
was a spur-of-the-moment idea.
'Get me some flowers,' I said.
'Four rows of mums.”
Harrison Ford in The Empire Strikes Back Throughout the Star Wars films, Harrison Ford
has played the cocky rogue Han Solo.
In many of the films we see his character as brash, arrogant, conceited and overconfident
but there is one scene where we see some compassion.
In the original scene in The Empire Strikes Back before Han is placed in suspended animation
Leia confesses her love Han and is supposed to reply with “I love you too.”
However, George Lucas told Ford that it doesn’t work and thought he should say what he thought
would be best.
And with that, we get the simple reply of “I know.”
Richard Castellano in The Godfather The Godfather is a dark and gritty crime drama
that follows a fictional New York mafia family.
But one of the actors took it upon himself to add a bit of comedy to the script.
In the scene when Peter Clemenza (Richard Castellano) heads out to have Paulie Gatto
(John Martino) killed, his wife also tells him to remember to pick up cannoli’s.
As a result, the murder takes place during the cannoli run.
After Clemenza’s henchman takes care of Gatto, the mafia man instructs his lackey
to “Leave the gun.
Take the cannoli.”
And just like that, the slight tweak and improvised line of humor created a very memorable moment
in the movie.
Jeremy Renner in Avengers: Age of Ultron The Marvel’s Cinematic Universe really made
an incredible movie with Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Fans were introduced to new characters and it laid the foundation for the Civil War storyline.
Aside from all the action and drama it had some hilarious scenes, in particular with
Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye.
He and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) had a somewhat love-hate relationship and
often had back-to-back banter.
At one scene, Quicksilver speeds away and taunts Hawkeye, leaving the archer to draw
his bow and take aim at the speedster, quietly saying, “Nobody would know… ‘last I
saw him, Ultron was sitting on him!’”
The line was one of the funniest in the film and one that Renner came up with all on his
own.
Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy In 2014 when James Gunn’s Guardians of the
Galaxy released, many fans of the Marvel movies were introduced to a plethora of new heroes.
And while these characters are well known to the comic book world, movie goers left
the theaters a bit confused.
Gunn and Chris Pratt decided to have some fun with the character’s obscurity.
The scene in question is when Peter Quill is first captured and he is disappointed that
no one recognizes the name of Star-Lord.
The scene, surprisingly, was improvised and was a nice way for the audience to empathize
with the character about his unimportance.
Those are our picks for 10 hilarious movie scenes that were totally made up on the spot.
Do you know of any other improvised scenes that we missed?
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