10 Iconic Movie Moments You Didn’t Know Were Improvised

Here's looking at you kid.

By Destin Legarie

If there’s ever been a movie you’ve loved, chances are there’s a line that stood out to you above all others. While many of these were in the original script, oftentimes actors will take it upon themselves to add a line line or two. With that in mind here are 10 of our favorite moments of on-the-spot improvisation

1) Blade Runner

The Tears in the Rain speech may seem perfectly planned in Blade Runner, but actor Rutger Hauer actually made it up on the fly. He claims that out of all the dialogue on the page during this scene, he only kept the two lines that made the most sense. As he hoped it would be a great way to sum up Roy Batty’s quest, the actor’s very happy to see that years later, it’s still adored.

Jaws made beach-goers everywhere question going into the ocean when it originally released in 1975. One sentence that the audience latched onto the most was Roy Scheider’s off-the-cuff comment about the size of the vessel the shark hunters were occupying. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” became iconic from that point forward.

3) Taxi Driver

Did you know the iconic mirror scene in Taxi Driver, where Robert De Niro coined the phrase “You lookin’ at me?” was improvised? It turns out, director Martin Scorsese, unsure what he should have De Niro say in this crucial character moment, simply advised that the actor talk to himself. He did so for almost two hours resulting in movie magic.

4) Casablanca

Casablanca is a somber film about a couple parting, culminating in one of the film’s most iconic lines. “Here’s looking at you kid.” Talk about pulling at the heartstrings. It turns out that this line was actually improvised by Humphrey Bogart. His co-star Ingrid Bergman would play cards with other cast members while learning English, and he overheard her use “Here’s looking at you” in her poker talk. The rest, is history.

5) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Sometimes improvisation results from needing to fix an unexpected problem. That’s exactly what took place during Raiders of the Lost Ark moment, when Harrison Ford casually shoots the blade-wielding enemy in the middle of the city. Originally this was supposed to be an epic fight scene, but on the day of the shoot, Ford was recovering from food poisoning. So instead, they improvised. This resulted in one of the movie’s most memorable scenes.

6) The Shining

Johnny Carson may not appreciate the use of his iconic phrase in a movie about a deranged murdered, but Jack Nicholson did a terrific job scaring moviegoers with two simple words. The moment left us terrified and it took 3 days of filming and 60 doors to get right, but the end result is unforgettable.

7) Good Will Hunting

The Robin Williams/Matt Damon combo in Good Will Hunting resulted in plenty of great moments involving wife farts and cry hugging, but let’s talk about that scene near the end. After reading a letter from Daemon’s character, Williams subtly improvised the “Son of a bitch stole my line” quip, putting a perfect pin on the ending of the film. It also perfectly captures the relationship between these two characters, and was dubbed Williams best addition to the movie by Damon himself.

8) The Dark Knight

While many believe the hospital explosion in The Dark Knight to be a mistake, it was actually in the script and expertly handled by actor Heath Ledger. However, the moment where The Joker is apprehended and mockingly-claps to congratulate Jim Gordon’s promotion was not. Nolan encouraged the crew to keep filming, which resulted in just another amazing scene featuring the character.

9) Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy didn’t have a huge budget, meaning the crew would often have to film in locations that were not staged. For example, an actual city street. The famous scene resulting in the “I’m walkin’ here” line was improvised by Dustin Hoffman as he was almost hit by a car during the shoot. He says he was more upset about almost losing the take, but ended up playing it off in-character, resulting in the memorable line.

10) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

To keep his co-stars on their toes, Ralph Fiennes, aka Lord Voldemort, different lines during every take of the final iconic battle scene to get genuine reactions. He would randomly choose something or someone to focus on, with co-star Jason Isaacs AKA Lucius Malfoy, saying “It kept a courtyard of extras and actors on their toes.”

Destin Legarie is a Producer at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter, Twitch, or right here on IGN. Warning. He will ask for Destiny help.

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