The Godfather
Who doesn’t love the line: “leave the gun, take the cannoli”? This classic was actually completely made up by Richard Castellano’s character Peter Clemenza. Who knew?
The Godfather
The Silence Of The Lambs
Anthony Hopkins is well known for his role in The Silence of the Lambs as the cannibalistic Hector Lecter. He played his chilling character so well, that when he was telling Jodie Foster’s character that he enjoys eating a man’s liver with “fava beans and a nice Chianti,” he embellished and added an extra creepy hissing sound.
The Silence Of The Lambs
Full Metal Jacket
R. Lee Ermey plays an unforgettable drill sergeant in Stanley Kubrick’s classic film Full Metal Jacket. What’s surprising is that he wasn’t supposed to be in the movie at all, and he sent Kubrick a video he filmed at home of him shouting at and insulting Marines. He later admitted that nearly half of his lines were improvised.
Full Metal Jacket
Midnight Cowboy
Sometimes mistakes become a vital part of a film. These mistakes can include natural reactions as well. For example, Dustin Hoffman’s real reaction while crossing a street during the filming of Midnight Cowboy has become one of the most recognizable lines in film history: “I’m walkin’ here!” He shouted this out when a taxi driver nearly ran him and Jon Voight over!
Midnight Cowboy
The Third Man
One of the most well known monologues in a film appears in The Third Man. Surprisingly, the entire monologue delivered by Orson Welles was completely unplanned. The speech in question was: “In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed. They produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace. And what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”
The Third Man
This Is Spinal Tap
They say life imitates art, and such is the case with the fictional band Spinal Tap from the film This Is Spinal Tap, which produced real music you can still listen to today. The mockumentary meant to satirize 80s hair bands of the time and poked fun at their rock n’ roll lifestyles. Due to its comedic nature, many of the lines of the film were completely ad libbed by Michael McKean, Harry SHearer, and Christopher Guest.
This Is Spinal Tap
Good Will Hunting
Boston best friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damon didn’t know what a success they had on their hands with Good Will Hunting until it became a smash hit. The film gave us one of Robin Williams’ best moments of improvised comedy after he reads the letter that states “I gotta see about a girl,” and he responds with “Son of a gun. He stole my line.” The line will eternally be remembered.
Good Will Hunting
Pretty Woman
Who can forget the Julia Roberts and Richard Gere classic movie Pretty Woman? The film catapulted their careers and sealed them as household names. In the scene in which Gere’s Edward gives Roberts’ Vivian a box with a necklace, he shuts it suddenly, startling Vivian. This was unplanned and so Roberts’ reaction is real! It was so convincing it was kept in the take.
Pretty Woman
When Harry Met Sally
This rom-com is considered one of the best of the whole genre. One of the film’s more memorable scenes takes place when Billy Crystal tells Meg Ryan that they should speak in silly voices for the rest of the day. As they’re speaking nonsense, he randomly says: “I would be proud to partake in your pecan pie,” and the line actually made Ryan crack up. The reaction was so natural that it was kept in the final film.
When Harry Met Sally
Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory
Gene Wilder was known for his outstanding acting and comedic abilities. A little known fact is that one of the conditions he requested upon accepting the role of Willy Wonka was if he could do the now famous tuck and roll entrance in the movie. Wilder wanted to add it in to add extra mystery behind the character, explaining that “From that time on, no one will know if I’m lying or telling the truth.”
Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory
Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is one of the most iconic and celebrated films of all time, with good reason. A big part of its success was Tom Hanks’ performance, which was highly lauded. One of the most memorable lines in the movie is when he introduces himself to Bubba and says: “My name is Forrest Gump. People call me Forrest Gump.” Hanks completely improvised this line, and later picked up an Oscar for Best Actor for this role.
Forrest Gump
Blazing Saddles
Blazing Saddles is one of the funniest films ever released, owing to many of its hilarious one liners. Wilder’s comedic genius strikes again in the line: “You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons.” He improvised the last part of the line, causing his co-star Cleavon Little to actually laugh out loud.
Blazing Saddles
A Few Good Men
A Few Good Men features an impressive cast that includes Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Tom Cruise, and Kevin Bacon. The most famous line from the film wasn’t in the original script. When Tom Cruise’s character is cross examining Nicholson’s character Colonel Jessup, he replies fervently: “You can’t handle the truth!”
A Few Good Men
Young Frankenstein
Another Mel Brooks classic is the horror satire Young Frankenstein. Actor Marty Feldman played the role of Igor, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein’s assistant. One of the funniest lines of the film is when he asks, “what hump?”, which happened to be improvised by Feldman. Brooks loved it and kept it in the final cut.
Young Frankenstein
Dumb And Dumber
America’s most beloved idiots Lloyd and Harry graced our screens in the hilarious film Dumb and Dumber. Due to Jim Carey’s previous extensive experience with improv, he pretty much made up the whole road trip scene, as Lloyd is making the most annoying sound in the world. In fact, some 15% of the film is improvised by Carey and Jeff Daniels.
Dumb And Dumber
The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
Viggo Mortensen was launched into fame after playing Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings film franchise. In a scene in which his character believes hobbits Merry and Pippin are killed, he frustratedly kicks a helmet and shouts. The shouting was quite real, as Mortensen actually broke his toe while kicking the helmet!
The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
Arthur Weasley, father of Harry Potter’s best friend Ron Weasley was known for his quirky love of all non-magical items. As Ron’s mother, Molly, chastises Harry and Ron for using enchanted cars that can fly, Arthur makes it seem as though he wishes he were part of the flying car ride as well. The next line, “What exactly is the function of a rubber duck?” was completely improvised, and was a part of a series of 13 takes, all improvised.
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
Ghostbusters
A talented comedic improviser, Rick Moranis contributed his abilities in the classic film Ghostbusters. He played Sigourney Weaver’s chatty neighbor Louis. In the party scene, Moranis completely improvised his speech to the party guests. Director Ivan Reitman said: “Rick just made all of it up as he was doing it.”
Ghostbusters
Caddyshack
Bill Murray is famous for his comedic genius, which was displayed in the hilarious film Caddyshack. His speech about the Cinderella story was completely improvised and has become the most famous scene. All he worked with was the stage direction: “Cart cuts off the tops of flowers with a grass whip,” and the rest is history.
Caddyshack
Knocked Up
Director Judd Apatow’s hilarious film Knocked Up features Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl having to come to terms that they are going to have an unplanned baby together. Actors Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, and Martin Starr also star in the film. Together with Rogen, they improvised a large portion of the film, including the famous bit about Munich.
Knocked Up
Tootsie
Although Bill Murray did not have the titular role in the film Tootsie, he still took the opportunity to stand out during the part scene. He improvised a long monologue after director Sydney Pollack requested him to. The monologue went great, and the film was a hit, earning $172 million total at the box office.
Tootsie
Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver gave us one of the most memorable and quotable lines in the history of films, but we bet you didn’t know that it was completely improvised. Robert De Niro was given the cue of: “Bickle speaks to himself in the mirror,” and came up with the line “You talkin’ to me?” which has become a legendary line since then.
Taxi Driver
Jaws
Steven Spielberg’s classic film Jaws was so successful that it actually spawned the term “blockbuster,” which refers to the long lines that it drew. One of the best quotes from the film happens when Chief Martin Brody, played by Roy Scheider, says to Quint, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Who can forget that line?
Jaws
Ghost
Whoopi Goldberg’s appearance in the film Ghost brought her critical acclaim and recognition. When her character Oda Mae Brown contacts Patrick Swayze’s character Sam’s ghost, he asks her to warn his girlfriend, portrayed by Demi Moore, that his murdered is still alive. She ad libbed the line, “Molly, you in trouble, girl.”
Ghost
Casablanca
This all-time classic features leading lady Ingrid Bergman and the handsome Humphrey Bogart. The most well-known line from Casablanca is “Here’s looking at you, kid,” which was uttered by Bogart’s character. This was Bogart’s own addition, and the story goes that he used to actually say this to Bergman in between takes.
Casablanca
The Usual Suspects
One of the most well known scenes from The Usual Suspects is the police station lineup scene. Here, the actors were allowed to improvise and do as they please for comedic purposes. Benicio Del Toro slurred some words that were undecipherable, and so a cop improvised the line “in English please.”
The Usual Suspects
The Warriors
Cult classic The Warriors gained a large following despite its lackluster commercial performance. Towards the end of the movie, David Patrick Kelly’s character Luther stated the film’s most famous line, “Warriors, come out to play!” The best part is that he completely improvised it, bottle clinking included.
The Warriors
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now saw the likes of both legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola as well as the famous actor Marlon Brando. The war epic featured Brando playing Colonel Kurtz, although he also shows up at the end of the movie. His dialogue consists of 20 minutes of completely improvised lines, supposedly due to the fact that he didn’t want to memorize his scripted lines.
Apocalypse Now
Blade Runner
Although Blade Runner featured legendary actor Harrison Ford, the reality is Rutger Hauer, who played the role of Roy Batty, truly shined the most in this 1982 film. He improvised many parts of his emotional speech at the end of the movie, which is now commonly known as the “tears of rain” monologue.
Blade Runner
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Ben Stein provided one of the most iconic roles in the film Ferris Beuller’s Day Off. His memorable economics lesson was completely improvised, and he shared: “John Hughes, the director and producer and writer, asked me to ad-lib two scenes. When I finished the scene, everyone on the set was gathered around and started applauding. I thought they were applauding because they’d learned something about economics. I later learned they were applauding because it was so boring.”
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Star Trek
It has been revealed by Star Trek director J.J. Abrams that several lines from the film were not in the original script. The first example is Karl Urban’s line, “All I’ve got left are my bones.” Additionally, the line: “Can I get a towel?” uttered by Simon Pegg was also not in the original script.
Star Trek
They Live
Rowdy Roddy Piper had one of the most quoted lines in the film They Live: “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass…and I’m all out of bubblegum.” When asked about the meaning in an interview, he stated: “Yeah. I couldn’t tell you what it really means either. It was one of those – ‘Roddy, you’ve got bullets on you, you’ve got a shotgun, you’ve got sunglasses, you go into a bank, you’re not gonna rob it, say something…action!’”
They Live
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Legendary actor Sean Connery provided some ad libbed lines in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. His co-star Julian Glover revealed that his “favorite memory is Sean making up that line, ‘She talks in her sleep.’ It was on the spot.” Glover also shared that Connery improv-ed the line: “How did you know she’s a Nazi?” They immediately knew it’d make the final cut.
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Shaun Of The Dead
Zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead is rife with improvised scenes and lines, according to creators Nick Frost and Edgar Wright. Although at first they were unsure about leaving in the improvised scenes, in retrospect they’re glad they did. Frost shared that, “‘Cafe au lait’, all that kind of stuff…Cockocidal maniac,’ I think was improvised.”
Shaun Of The Dead
Zoolander
Ben Stiller stars in the hit comedy Zoolander that offers plenty of laughs and hilarious moments. One of these includes the accidental repetition of a line. David Duchovny mistakenly repeats his line “Why male models?” twice, and ironically, he delivered it perfectly, providing a classic moment in comedy film history.
Zoolander
RoboCop
Sometimes the element of surprise is all that is needed. While filming RoboCop, Kurtwood Smith only discussed the line “Give me my f**in’ phone call!” with director Paul Verhoeven beforehand, and so his co-stars’ reactions are real and genuine to his character’s sudden outburst.
RoboCop
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Sometimes real life situations end up affecting how a film is shot. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford runs into a sword wielding man. In the original script, he is meant to engage in a long fight with the man, but since Ford was feeling under the weather that day, he improvised and shot the man with one bullet. It seemed to fit the scene so it was kept in the final take.
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Dr. Strangelove
Stanley Kubrick blessed the world with the classic film How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, more commonly known as Dr. Strangelove. The film is unique due to the fact that it is made up of a retro-script that is full of improvised bits. Additionally, Dr. Strangelove’s accidental Nazi salute was added by Peter Sellers himself.
Dr. Strangelove
The Empire Strikes Back
The Star Wars franchise is one of the most beloved film series of all time, especially since newer additions have been released recently. One of the greatest lines in the second film of the original trilogy was actually completely improvised. After Princess Leia tells Han Solo that she loves him, he replies: “I know,” instead of the expected “I love you too.”
The Empire Strikes Back
The Shining
One of the most well known lines of the film The Shining is also one of the most quoted lines of all movies. Jack Nicholson famously says, “Here’s Johnny!” as he stares out through a hole in the bathroom door. He improvised the iconic line, and was inspired by the nightly announcement on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson.
The Shining
