19 Movie Moments From The Last 35 Years That Were Actually Improvised By The Actors On Set

There are obviously some big spoilers ahead!

1. First, in Titanic (1997), Billy Zane came up with the idea for Cal to flip the table while he’s talking to Rose after her night out with Jack. Although some believed he did it spontaneously to scare Kate Winslet, Billy told Vulture that he worked with director James Cameron on the moment and informed everyone it was likely going to happen so Kate wouldn’t be scared.

2. In When Harry Met Sally… (1989), the scene when Jess and Harry try to guess what Sally is drawing during the game of pictionary was entirely unscripted. Director Rob Reiner revealed that he told Meg Ryan to “do whatever you want to do” while drawing “baby talk.”

3. In Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), when Peter #3 comes through the portal for the first time and MJ wants to confirm that he’s actually a Spider-Man, the hilarious moment when Zendaya throws bread at Andrew Garfield was unscripted.

4. In Wicked (2024), Ariana Grande adlibbed a lot of Glinda’s one-liners and funny moments. For instance, she came up with the moment when Glinda tells Elphaba that she couldn’t possibly join her in the Emerald City, but then Glinda convinces herself to join anyway.

5. Also, in Wicked (2024), during the Ozdust Ballroom moment when Glinda joins Elphaba after she’s been dancing alone, it wasn’t scripted that Elphaba shed a tear during that moment, but rather it was Cynthia Erivo’s natural reaction to performing the scene opposite Ariana Grande.

6. In Ghost (1990), Whoopi Goldberg improvised the now-iconic “Molly, you in danger, girl” line during an early table read for the movie. The quip was so memorable in rehearsals that director Jerry Zucker and writer Bruce Joel Rubin added it to the script.

7. In The Holiday (2006), Dustin Hoffman’s cameo inside Blockbuster while Iris and Miles are browsing for movies was unscripted. Director and writer Nancy Meyers explained that Dustin was “eating at a restaurant next door” to where they were filming. Nancy, who is friends with him, convinced him to pop in and film the little cameo as Miles talks about The Graduate.

8. In Elf (2003), when Buddy walks through the streets of NYC for the first time, all of those little moments were created on the spot as Will Ferrell and the camera crew were actually walking through Manhattan. In the Netflix doc, The Holiday Movies That Made Us, the crew explained that the people around Buddy “are not actors,” but just people walking the street, including the man that Buddy mistakes for Santa.

9. In Barbie (2023), when Barbie arrives at Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa House to ask him if she can still be his “long-term distance, low-commitment, casual girlfriend” and Ken yells, “Sublime,” the line was improvised by Ryan Gosling while filming. Margot Robbie said she “wasn’t prepared” for it on the day and started laughing.

10. In Black Panther (2018), Michael B. Jordan improvised the line when Killmonger greets Ramonda with, “Hey, Auntie,” after revealing his true identity. Angela Bassett recalled being “taken aback a little” with the line when she first heard it in the moment.

11. In Little Women (2019), when Laurie and Jo have their conversation on the hill, where Laurie continually interrupts her with, “I love you, Jo,” all of those weren’t in Greta Gerwig’s original script but were added by Timothée Chalamet while filming.

12. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), when Luke says goodbye to Leia, the kiss on the forehead was unscripted and something Mark Hamill instinctually did in the moment while filming. Carrie Fisher died in 2016, and this was ultimately one of the last scenes she and Mark filmed together.

13. In The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Meryl Streep tweaked Miranda’s last line from “Everybody wants to be me” to “Everybody wants to be us” during the first table read for the film.

14. In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2 (2015), the moment when Effie and Haymitch kiss toward the end of the film was unscripted. Elizabeth Banks revealed that she and Woody Harrelson planned the moment behind the scenes and then did it while shooting.

15. In The Princess Diaries (2001), the moment when Mia slips on the bleachers while talking to Lily was unscripted. Anne Hathaway actually slipped and fell while filming the scene.

16. In Eternals (2021), Makkari and Druig’s romance was not originally scripted, but something writer and director Chloé Zhao added after seeing Barry Keoghan and Lauren Ridloff’s natural chemistry. At a press conference for the film, Chloé recalled the first time the duo met, there were “sparks everywhere,” and they started naturally improvising together.

17. In Mission: Impossible — Fallout (2018), Henry Cavill’s now-memorable moment when Walker reloads his arms during a fight alongside Ethan in a bathroom was improvised. On an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Henry admitted, “I had to warm [up my arms] before I threw punches.”

18. In Love Actually (2003), Emma Thompson improvised everything that happened during the scene when Karen cries after not getting the necklace from Harry.

19. And finally, in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Robin Williams improvised so much that there were nearly “two million feet of film” shot for the movie, so much so they could make a second movie with the unused footage. One moment in particular that was totally unscripted was when Mrs. Doubtfire’s meringue mask starts melting, and it drips into Mrs. Sellner’s tea.

We can’t fit everything into one post, so do you have a favorite movie moment that’s improvised? Tell us in the comments below!