19 TV And Movie Lines That Were Totally And Surprisingly Improvised By The Actor
There's nothing like finding out one of your favorite moments in a TV show or movie was improvised, so here are some of the best unscripted lines from Friends, Fight Club, the MCU, and more.
@fallontonight / NBC / Via giphy.com
1.“You fuckin’ hit me with the phone, dick!” —Scream
2.“You hit me in the ear! Ow, Christ, why the ear?” —Fight Club
3."Leslie, I typed your symptoms into the thing up here, and it says here you could have 'network connectivity problems.'" —Parks and Recreation
4.The Snake Juice scene —Parks and Recreation
5."Fe-he-he-he-heeny!" —Boy Meets World
6."I don’t wanna go." —Avengers: Infinity War
Marvel
Tom Holland revealed that the Avengers: Infinity War line came about because of an acting technique he uses.
"If I’m trying to cry is I’ll say a phrase over and over again," he explained. "So, for example, if I was in a scene and I was talking to someone and the undertone of the scene was that I love them, I would say in my head, 'I love you so much, I love you so much, I love you so much, I love you so much.'"
He added: "In that scene, it was 'I don’t wanna go' and I just thought I would say it out loud and it works."
If by "works" he means "makes everyone cry every time they think about it," then yes, it does!
7."I am Iron Man." —Iron Man
Marvel
Holland's fellow Marvel star Robert Downey Jr. wasn't supposed to say this line at the end of the first Iron Man, but it ultimately had a big impact on the future of the MCU.
Producer Kevin Feige told Deadline: "That success [of Iron Man's twist ending] inspired us [at Marvel Studios] to go further in the trusting ourselves to find [a] balance of staying true to the comics and the spirit of the comics but not being afraid to adapt and evolve and to change things."
8.Oz and Willow's animal crackers convo —Buffy
Executive producer Marti Noxon revealed on the Season 4 DVD commentary that everything after Oz's line, "You have the sweetest smile I've ever seen," was ad-libbed by Seth Green and Alyson Hannigan.
9.Robin Williams and Billy Crystal's convo —Friends
10."Here's Johnny!" —The Shining
11."Hot damn!" —Brooklyn Nine-Nine
12."I know." —The Empire Strikes Back
13."How come he don't want me, man?" —The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
14."My dad's dead? I'm not ready for this." —How I Met Your Mother
Speaking of sad dad ad-libs, DVD commentary for How I Met Your Mother revealed that Jason Segel didn't know Marshall's dad was going to die until he and Alyson Hannigan were filming the scene where Lily tells him.
15.That weird hissing sound Hannibal Lecter makes —The Silence of the Lambs
16."I'm keeping it real!" —Clueless
Paramount Pictures
Murray ended up saying this in Clueless while having his head shaved because Donald Faison heard a neighbor's kid say it.
"Some kid in my neighborhood said, 'Just keep it real. Just make sure you keep it real,'" he told Vulture. "And I was like, 'Oh. That’s what the kids are saying now?'"
17."I love lamp." —Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
DreamWorks Pictures
I've lost track of how many times over the years I've heard someone recite this line from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and it's all thanks to Steve Carell, who threw the line in after director Adam McKay told him to add more lines to the scene.
18."But why male models?" —Zoolander
After David Duchovny's character provides a lengthy explanation to this question, Derek blankly repeats it, resulting in one of the funniest moments in the whole movie.
Even better — David Duchovny in turn improvised his own response of, "Are you serious? I just told you that, a moment ago."
19."Sure. Where?" —Friends
What's your favorite improvised line from a TV show or movie? Tell us in the comments!
This post has been updated.
