Movies & tvJUN 21, 2021

35 Times Actors Gave Unscripted, Authentic Performances

Ilona Baliūnaitė and Rokas Laurinavičius

314

Hollywood screenwriters toil over what each character in the story will say no matter if they're working on romantic comedies, dramas, and even kids' movies. The lines are then often debated and rewritten many times before, during, and after a movie is shot. But they are not the ones who decide what ends up in the final cut. Directors do. And if they like an improvised scene better than the scripted one, the writers just have to deal with it. It's part of the process. In fact, you'd probably be surprised to know that some really iconic moments in movie history have been authentic. Here are some of them.

#1 In Monty Python's Life Of Brian The Soldier's Reaction During The Famous Biggus Dickus Scene Is Completely Genuine. He Was An Extra Who Had Been Told Simply Not To Laugh And Had No Idea What Was About To Happen

In Monty Python's Life Of Brian The Soldier's Reaction During The Famous Biggus Dickus Scene Is Completely Genuine. He Was An Extra Who Had Been Told Simply Not To Laugh And Had No Idea What Was About To Happen

swild92

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278points

#2 In Die Hard (1988), When Filming Gruber’s Death Scene, Rickman Was Told He Would Be Dropped On The Count Of Three. The Director Counted To Two Before Dropping Him, Making His Reaction Genuine

In Die Hard (1988), When Filming Gruber’s Death Scene, Rickman Was Told He Would Be Dropped On The Count Of Three. The Director Counted To Two Before Dropping Him, Making His Reaction Genuine

Jwgt32

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258points

#3 In The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (2005), When Lucy First Enters Narnia, Her Reaction Is Genuine. The Director Purposefully Never Showed His Actress The Set. He Also Did The Same With Edmund's Actor

In The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (2005), When Lucy First Enters Narnia, Her Reaction Is Genuine. The Director Purposefully Never Showed His Actress The Set. He Also Did The Same With Edmund's Actor

Tokyono

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258points

#4 For The Chestburster Scene In Alien (1979) The Effects Used To Achieve The Scene Were Deliberately Kept Secret From The Actors Who's Reactions Of Surprise And Shock Were Completely Genuine

For The Chestburster Scene In Alien (1979) The Effects Used To Achieve The Scene Were Deliberately Kept Secret From The Actors Who's Reactions Of Surprise And Shock Were Completely Genuine

Stonewalled89

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229points

#5 Et Was Filmed In Chronological Order And None Of The Kids Had Seen The Puppet Before Filming, So Their First Impressions Were Totally Real

Universal Pictures

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217points

#6 In Rocky (1976), When He Runs Through The Italian Marketplace, The People's Amused Expressions As They Look On Is Genuine, As They Had No Idea Why A Man Was Running Back And Forth Being Followed By A Van. The Man Who Throws Him The Orange Was Completely Improvised

In Rocky (1976), When He Runs Through The Italian Marketplace, The People's Amused Expressions As They Look On Is Genuine, As They Had No Idea Why A Man Was Running Back And Forth Being Followed By A Van. The Man Who Throws Him The Orange Was Completely Improvised

Chief_DaVinci

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202points

#7 The Lineup Actors, 'The Usual Suspects' - Benicio Del Toro Kept Farting During Filming And The Actors' Laughter Made It Into The Final Cut

Gramercy Pictures

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196points

#8 In The Fugitive [1993], Harrison Ford (Playing The Framed Dr. Kimble) Was Not Provided A Script For The Interrogation Scene. His Answers And Mounting Frustration With The Detectives Were Improvised In Order To Seem More Genuine

In The Fugitive [1993], Harrison Ford (Playing The Framed Dr. Kimble) Was Not Provided A Script For The Interrogation Scene. His Answers And Mounting Frustration With The Detectives Were Improvised In Order To Seem More Genuine

chefr89

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186points

#9 Julia Roberts, 'Pretty Woman' - Richard Gere Unexpectedly Snapped The Jewelry Box Shut, And Her Surprise Was Real

Buena Vista Pictures

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181points

#10 In The Dark Knight (2008), Joker Is Constantly Licking His Lips. This Is Actually Because Of The Prosthetic Scars That Heath Ledger Wore. They Kept Falling Off, So Heath Would Lick His Lips To Keep Them In Place. Gradually, It Became A Part Of The Joker’s Character

In The Dark Knight (2008), Joker Is Constantly Licking His Lips. This Is Actually Because Of The Prosthetic Scars That Heath Ledger Wore. They Kept Falling Off, So Heath Would Lick His Lips To Keep Them In Place. Gradually, It Became A Part Of The Joker’s Character

Russian_Bagel

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174points

#11 When Julia Stiles Read Her Poem At The End Of Ten Things I Hate About You (1999) It Was Done In One Take And She Wasn't Supposed To Start Crying

klsi832

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174points

#12 In Django Unchained, Leo Dicaprio Accidentally Cut His Hand Open But Kept Acting. Between Takes, They Cleaned It Up And Replaced The Real Blood With Fake Blood, Which He Smeared All Over Kerry Washington's Face

In Django Unchained, Leo Dicaprio Accidentally Cut His Hand Open But Kept Acting. Between Takes, They Cleaned It Up And Replaced The Real Blood With Fake Blood, Which He Smeared All Over Kerry Washington's Face

Leo said that the cast and crew gave him a standing ovation after the scene was finished, and he kept acting in the scene because "it was more interesting to watch Quentin's and Jamie's reaction off-camera than to look at my hand."

The Weinstein Company

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171points

#13 Will Ferrell's Reactions During The Jack-In-The-Box Scene Were Genuine. The Director Surprised Him Every Time By Triggering The Toys With A Remote Control

Will Ferrell's Reactions During The Jack-In-The-Box Scene Were Genuine. The Director Surprised Him Every Time By Triggering The Toys With A Remote Control

Ghostss412

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170points

#14 Steve Carell, 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' - He Really Got His Chest Waxed, And Those Screams Of Agony Are Genuine

Universal Pictures

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170points

#15 Dustin Hoffman, 'Midnight Cowboy' - 'Hey, I'm Walkin' Here!' Was His Reaction To Real New York Traffic

United Artists

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168points

#16 "Now You See Me"

In the movie Now You See Me, Isla Fisher's character performs a magic trick that requires her to be in a tank underwater that she needs to escape from. In the scene, she struggles and starts to drown, unable to get out. While filming the scene, Isla was actually in the tank, and she wasn't pretending to drown — she was actually drowning. Her release chain got stuck on her costume, and she wasn't able to get out quickly. Everyone thought she was just acting really well, however, she was actually panicking, struggling to get out of the tank for nearly three minutes before she was rescued.

https://www.lionsgate.com/

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165points

#17 Viggo Mortensen, 'The Two Towers' - He Broke His Toe While Kicking A Helmet In Frustration, Eliciting A Real Scream Of Anguish

warnerbros

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159points

#18 Cary Elwes Wasn’t Acting When He Got Hit In The Head In Princess Bride

In one scene in Princess Bride, Cary Elwes’ character Westley gets clonked on the head pretty hard by the six-fingered man, played by Christopher Guest.

But when it came time to film the scene, the stunt didn’t look realistic enough. So Elwes suggested that Guest knock him as hard as he could using a real metal sword.

"Because of the angle, we couldn't sell a fake blow well enough for the camera, so I told him to just hit me hard," Elwes wrote in his book, As You Wish.

"And that’s the last thing I remember. I woke up in the hospital."

20th Century Fox

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154points

#19 Stallone Reportedly Told Lundgren To Really Go At Him For The First 15 Seconds. “Just Bomb Away,” He Asked. Well, Lundgren Did. The Resultant Chest Punch, Which You Can See In The Movie, Sent Stallone To The Hospital For Nine Days

United Artists

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149points

#20 To Prepare For Saving Private Ryan, All The Main Cast Members Were Sent To A Harsh 10-Day Boot Camp, Except For Matt Damon, Who Stayed In America. Matt's Character Was Resented By Everyone, And He Was Purposefully Excluded So That The On-Screen Hostility Would Be As Realistic As Possible

To Prepare For Saving Private Ryan, All The Main Cast Members Were Sent To A Harsh 10-Day Boot Camp, Except For Matt Damon, Who Stayed In America. Matt's Character Was Resented By Everyone, And He Was Purposefully Excluded So That The On-Screen Hostility Would Be As Realistic As Possible

Camp may be the place for bonding, but this boot camp was really tough, and the fact that Matt was at home relaxing definitely created a divide. It was so horrible that after day four, everyone wanted to quit, but Tom Hanks encouraged them to stick it out. Matt said that when he eventually showed up on set there some resentment from the guys, and it translated onto the screen.

Paramount Pictures

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141points

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