26 iconic movie lines that weren't in the script

iconic movie quotes

Many famous movies quotes were improvised on fix.
Paramount Pictures; DreamWorks
  • Some of the most iconic lines from popular movies weren't actually in the original scripts.
  • At that place are improvised lines in classic films like "Casablanca," "The Godfather," and "Jaws."
  • Actors in "Titanic," "Good Volition Hunting," and "Star Wars" were likewise given some creative freedom.
  • Visit Insider'south homepage for more stories.

"I don't wanna go." — "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018)

Tom Kingdom of the netherlands and Robert Downey Jr. in "Avengers: Infinity War."
Curiosity

At the end of "Avengers: Infinity War," Peter Parker (Tom Holland) has a heartbreaking moment with his mentor, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.).

As Peter's body turns to dust, he says "Mr. Stark, I don't experience so good ... I don't wanna to go."

Per Fansided, during a 2019 event at The 2nd City in Chicago, managing director Joe Russo said he knew the scene would be an emotional one, so he wanted to arrive count.

"I was like, until I cried on gear up, I didn't want to exist done with the scene. And we did it a few times and it was very short," he said.

Russo told Holland to stretch the scene out, and that his motivation was "You don't want to go."

Holland confirmed the story in a 2019 interview with GQ.

"... A technique I do if I'1000 trying to weep is I'll say a phrase over and over over again," Kingdom of the netherlands shared. "... In that scene it was 'I don't wanna go,' and I only thought I would say information technology out loud and it works. It's actually practiced in the film."

"Take the cannoli." — "The Godfather" (1972)

Richard S. Castellano delivered this line in "The Godfather."
Paramount Pictures

Co-ordinate to The Hollywood Reporter, in the original script for "The Godfather," Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano) was only supposed to tell Rocco to "Go out the gun" afterward he murdered Paulie.

Instead, Castellano improvised the line and made information technology "Leave the gun, take the cannoli" — based on a suggestion from his wife, actress Ardell Sheridan — in reference to a previous scene where the character was asked to pick up dessert on his way dwelling.

The improver stuck, and it has since become ane of the near quoted lines from the film.

"What an incredible Cinderella story ..." — "Caddyshack" (1980)

Bill Murray in "Caddyshack."
Warner Bros. Pictures

As Carl Spackler in "Caddyshack," Bill Murray improvised the entire "Cinderella Story" monologue.

"All it said in the script is: Carl is outside of the clubhouse practicing his golf swing, cutting the tops off flowers with a grass whip," director Harold Ramis shared in the book "Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story" by Chris Nashawaty, according to Golf magazine.

Murray did the monologue in "one unbroken take."

"I was good back in those days," Murray said. "I could practice something when they turned the photographic camera on. I was wired into what I was talking well-nigh. Improvising nearly golf game was easy for me. And it was fun. It wasn't difficult to come up with stuff. And in that location was a slap-up crowd of people there to entertain."

"Everyone wants to exist united states of america." — "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006)

Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada."
20th Century Fox

At the cease of "The Devil Wears Prada," Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) and Andy (Anne Hathaway) have a centre-to-centre almost the woes of working in the fashion industry.

According to Variety, the iconic line from Streep's monologue, "Anybody wants to be the states," was originally scripted as "Everyone wants to exist me." Only Streep changed the line during the picture show's table read.

Emily Blunt as well did a little improvising in the picture.

Durning a 2015 interview with Howard Stern, Edgeless said that she took the "I'grand hearing this, and I want to hear this" insult from a mother she observed at a store and put information technology into the pic.

"Mein Führer! I can walk!" — "Dr. Strangelove" (1964)

Peter Sellers improvised the line in "Dr. Strangelove."
Sony Pictures

Unable to hide his Nazi tendencies, the titular character (Peter Sellers) of this war comedy rises from his wheelchair at the finish of "Dr. Strangelove" and exclaims "Mein Führer! I can walk!"

The original ending was a petty dissimilar, only filmmaker Stanley Kubrick was open to Sellers' interpretation.

In the book "Calling Dr. Strangelove: The Anatomy and Influence of the Kubrick Masterpiece" by George Case, Kubrick explained his artistic technique.

"Peter said he couldn't promise to do the same thing twice. And he couldn't do annihilation more than two, iii times," he said. "And then the day we did the sequence that concluded with 'Mein Führer, I can walk,' I had six cameras lined upwardly and he came in and ... no one knew what he was going to do, himself included."

"You talkin' to me?" — "Taxi Driver" (1976)

Robert De Niro in "Taxi Driver."
Columbia Pictures

During a 2016 interview with Today for the 40th ceremony of "Taxi Commuter," director Martin Scorsese recalled the day that actor Robert De Niro improvised one of the most iconic movie quotes of all fourth dimension.

"In that location was no dialogue, I believe, in the scene, and I call back asking [De Niro], 'Tin can you say something to yourself? In the mirror?'" Scorsese said.

The manager allow De Niro piece of work through the scene on his ain in a locked studio.

"... He kept maxim, 'Y'all talkin' to me?'" Scorsese added. "... He just kept repeating it, kept repeating information technology ... and the [assistant manager] was banging on the door saying, 'Come up on, nosotros got to leave of here.' And I said, 'No, this is practiced, this is skillful. Give me some other minute.'"

"You're gonna need a bigger boat." — "Jaws" (1975)

Roy Scheider in "Jaws."
Universal via YouTube

When constabulary chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) finally gets an upwards-shut expect at the shark in "Jaws," he backs away and tells the Quint (Robert Shaw), "You're gonna need a bigger boat."

Carl Gottlieb, one of the screenwriters, told The Hollywood Reporter that the phrase was something they'd taken to saying on set up in reference to the "stingy producers" who wouldn't give the filmmakers what they wanted.

Scheider tried adding the line into his dialogue a few times throughout filming, and it eventually stuck.

"It was so advisable and so real," Gottlieb said. "And it came at the correct moment, thanks to Verna Field's editing."

"Funny how?" — "Goodfellas" (1990)

Joe Pesci starred in "Goodfellas."
Warner Bros.

The tense moment between Tommy (Joe Pesci) and Henry (Ray Liotta) at the Bamboo Lounge in "Goodfellas" was inspired by Pesci'due south existent life.

During the 25th anniversary commemoration of "Goodfellas" at the Tribeca Film Festival, Ray Liotta shared the story of the origins of the "Funny how? Funny like I'm a clown, I amuse y'all?" line.

According to Liotta, Pesci told a story about the fourth dimension he called someone in the Mafia funny while working as a waiter. Scorsese, who directed the picture, liked the story, and so he had them improvise it in rehearsal before adding information technology to the scene.

"I know." — "Star Wars: Episode 5 – The Empire Strikes Back" (1980)

Harrison Ford in "The Empire Strikes Back."
20th Century Fox/Lucasfilm

In "Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back" when Han Solo (Harrison Ford) is about to be encased in carbonite, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) confesses her beloved for him to which he responds, "I know."

In the original script, Solo was supposed to render the sentiment by maxim "I honey you, likewise," but Ford suggested the now-iconic line to managing director Irvin Kershner.

"I was very interested in that moment and how information technology works. Nosotros never even shot 'I beloved yous, too,'" Ford said in an interview for Starlog magazine.

"Nosotros just went alee. It gave George [Lucas] pause. He had not written the scene with a laugh. Simply that laugh opens you up emotionally. You don't have some other emotional outlet in that scene," Ford said. "The kiss, every bit the Princess and I are pulled dorsum, is visually stiff, and there'll never be a payoff for the scene without a laugh."

"All those moments will be lost in fourth dimension, like tears in rain." — "Blade Runner" (1982)

Rutger Hauer in "Blade Runner."
Warner Bros.

While playing Roy Derailed in "Blade Runner," role player Rutger Hauer was given the opportunity to tweak the lines he felt were "overwritten."

In a 2019 interview with Radio Times, he dissected the famous "tears in rain" speech and shared that he only kept some of the monologue as written.

"I kept two lines, because I thought they were poetic. I thought they belonged to this character, because somewhere in his digital caput he has poesy, and knows what it is. He feels it! And while his batteries are going, he comes up with the ii lines," he said.

Still, Hauer suggested cut virtually of the originally scripted speech and instead wrote the now-famous ending line, "All those moments volition be lost in time, like tears in rain."

"For the end line I was hoping to come up with one line where Roy, because he understands he has very little time, expresses ane bit of the Deoxyribonucleic acid of life that he'southward felt. How much he liked information technology. Only one life," Hauer said.

"Alright, alright, alright!" — "Mazed and Confused" (1993)

Matthew McConaughey improvised what would become his signature line.
Universal

Matthew McConaughey came up with Wooderson'south "Alright, alright, alright" line in "Dazed and Confused" on a day he wasn't fifty-fifty supposed to be shooting.

In an interview with George Stroumboulopoulos, McConaughey said that he was asked to join the scene on the day-of by manager Richard Linklater. And before filming, the role player had been listening to a live album by the band The Doors, in which Jim Morrison tin can be heard repeating "all right" iv times between songs.

"So correct before we're near to go I'1000 like, 'What is Wooderson about?'" McConaughey said. "And I go, 'He's about four things: He's about you, know, his car, he'south nearly gettin' high, he's about rock 'n' roll and pickin' upward chicks.' I go, 'I'thousand in my car, I'thou high as a kite, I'm listenin' to rock 'due north' roll ...' Action ... and there'due south the chick. Alright, alright, alright ... three out of iv."

"Molly, you in danger girl." — "Ghost" (1990).

Whoopi Goldberg in "Ghost."
Paramount Pictures

Whoopi Goldberg is a historic comedian, then it's no surprise that she infused some of her own style into one of her most iconic characters: Oda Mae Dark-brown from "Ghost."

Co-ordinate to The Telegraph, in the scene where Oda is relaying letters from Sam (Patrick Swayze) to his widow Molly (Demi Moore), Goldberg tweaked the scripted line and turned it into "Molly, y'all in danger girl."

"I beloved lamp." — "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" (2004)

Paul Rudd and Steve Carell in "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy."
DreamWorks

Put some of the most successful comedians of the early 2000s in a room and they're leap to mess around a little. That's exactly what happened in "Anchorman."

According to Vulture, during a 92nd Street Y talk Steve Carell said that he improvised 1 of his character's most famous lines from the film: "I love lamp."

"[Manager] Adam [McKay] was like, 'We should have more lines for y'all, merely we don't have any on the page.' He literally said 'Just say something,' and hence came 'I ate a big red candle' and 'I love lamp,'" Carell said. "The 'I dear lamp' affair was simply me at the end of a scene staring at a lamp and I said 'I dear lamp' and Will [Ferrell] picked up on it and said, 'Y'all're only saying things you're looking at.'"

"I am Iron Homo." — "Iron Human being" (2008)

Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Homo."
Paramount Pictures/Curiosity

According to producer Kevin Feige, Downey Jr. surprised everyone when he improvised the final line in "Iron Man," and it turned out to be perfect for the character.

"It's a fine line," Feige said. "If yous're changing something for no reason, that'due south one thing, but if yous're changing something considering you want to double-down on the spirit of who the character is? That'south a alter nosotros'll make.

He connected, "Tony Stark not reading off the card and not sticking with the fixed story? Him just blurting out 'I am Iron Man?' That seems very much in keeping with who that character is."

"I'grand the male monarch of the world!" — "Titanic" (1997)

Leonardo DiCaprio in "Titanic."
20th Century Play a joke on/Paramount Pictures

Most improvised lines come up from the actors themselves, but this ane from "Titanic" actually came from director James Cameron during filming.

"It was fabricated up on the spot," Cameron said during an interview on a BBC plan. "I was in a crane handbasket, and we were losing the light. I had tried this and we had tried that, tried this line and that line and it was just coming up snake eyes."

When he fed Leonardo DiCaprio the now-iconic line, the player was non convinced.

His response to the manager over walkie-talkie was "What?!"

To which Cameron responded, "Only f---ing sell information technology."

"Yippee-ki-yay motherf---er!" — "Die Hard" (1988)

Bruce Willis in "Dice Difficult."
20th Century Fox

Sometimes a simple alter tin can brand a big difference.

John McClane'south (Bruce Willis) famous 1-liner from "Die Hard" was written with a different expletive that actor Willis edited on the fly.

"I wrote 'Yippee-ki-yay, a--hole,'" screenwriter Steven E. de Souza one time told The Hollywood Reporter. "But Bruce, on his final take, ad-libbed the 'motherf---er,' much to the amusement of the coiffure. The studio nervously left it in for the first test screening and the reaction made it permanent. But y'all don't e'er know."

Per Mental Floss , Willis told Ryan Seacrest in 2013 that he inverse the line to "crack up the crew," and that he had no idea it would make it into the movie.

"I'm walkin' hither!" — "Midnight Cowboy" (1969)

Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman in "Midnight Cowboy."
United Artists

While filming the famous scene from "Midnight Cowboy," Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman were actually virtually clipped by a real New York City cabbie while crossing the street.

Despite the real-life inconvenience, Hoffman delivered the improvised line "I'one thousand walkin' hither," similar it was all a part of the plan.

According to the HuffPost,  at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2017, the actor shared what was going through his heed at that moment.

"The truth is, this is the way the brain works: What was in my head was, 'We're makin' a movie here!' And and so just as I'm about to say that, I realize, 'Oh, you lot tin't do that,' the brain changes it to, 'I'm walkin' hither!'" Hoffman said. "What was really beingness said, for me, was, 'We're shooting here!'"

"Reading? I didn't know yous could read?" — "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002)

Tom Felton improvised the line in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."
Warner Bros.

In the second "Harry Potter" film Ron (Rupert Grint) and Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) take Polyjuice Potion to plough into Draco Malfoy's (Tom Felton) cronies, Crabbe (Jamie Waylett) and Goyle (Josh Herdman).

When they meet upwards with Draco, he asks Goyle why he is wearing glasses, and Goyle (really Harry) responds by saying he was reading.

To this, Draco responds, "Reading? I didn't know y'all could read."

While answering fan questions during a Facebook Live, Felton said that his response was improvised past manager Chris Columbus during shooting and that it's one of his favorite Draco lines.

"Here's looking at y'all, kid" — "Casablanca" (1942)

Humphrey Bogart in "Casablanca."
Warner Bros.

"Here'south looking at y'all, kid" was something that actor Humphrey Bogart improvised on the fly.

According to the BBC, the actor advertising-libbed the phrase during ane of the flashback scenes, and the writers liked it then much they had Bogart say information technology more than one time in the flick.

"I'thou totally buggin' myself." — "Clueless" (1995)

Paul Rudd in "Clueless."
Paramount Pictures

"Buggin'" was a popular phrase in "Clueless," but not every usage of information technology in the 1990s motion picture was planned.

Donald Faison (who played Murray), told Vulture that Paul Rudd (who played Josh) improvised the line "I'm totally buggin' myself."

"When yous see united states of america laughing at the finish, we're literally laughing for real because nobody expected him to say that. And how he said it," Faison said.

"I call back sometimes I would say, 'I'm bugging.' Not buggin', bugging — 'I'm bugging myself.'" Rudd recalled. "And then we kept trying to practice different versions of it. So we all couldn't end laughing for a lilliputian too long."

"Not you, I don't fifty-fifty know you." — "The Princess Diaries" (2001)

The line was added during the filming of "The Princess Diaries."
Disney

The belatedly director Garry Marshall was known for running very collaborative sets, and "The Princess Diaries" was no exception.

Heather Matarazzo (who played Lilly) told Cosmopolitan in 2016 that one line people e'er quote back to her from the film is, "Not you, I don't even know you" — which the graphic symbol says during a scene where she's running down the street trying to catch upwards to Mia (Hathaway) and Michael (Robert Schwartzman).

According to the interview, the line was advertisement-libbed at the proposition of producer Debra Martin Chase.

"Debra Martin Chase, who was one of the producers, was like, 'Say something like, Not you, I don't fifty-fifty know y'all.' That was the kind of set, where it was just collaboration, and just wanting to make the best film possible, and a lot of laughs and a lot of honey," Matarazzo recalled.

"Ane dark it was and then loud it woke the dog up." — "Good Will Hunting" (1997)

Robin Williams in "Expert Will Hunting."
Miramax Films

In "Good Will Hunting," Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) tells a story about how his married woman farts loudly in her sleep during i of the film's therapy scenes.

According to VT, Williams totally made the story up, and the laugh from costar Matt Damon was completely 18-carat.

The camera reportedly fifty-fifty shakes up and down for a moment in the scene because the operator was also laughing uncontrollably.

"Have fun storming the castle!" — "The Princess Bride" (1987)

Carol Kane and Billy Crystal in "The Princess Bride."
20th Century Trick

According to Atlas Obscura, in his book "Every bit You lot Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride," actor Cary Elwes (who played Westley) wrote that his costar Billy Crystal (who played Miracle Max) was given a script, but he immediately started improvising his lines.

During an interview with EW, Crystal confirmed that some of his most memorable lines with his on-screen married woman, Ballad Kane, weren't written.

"We ad-libbed a lot of stuff: "Accept fun storming the castle." "Don't go pond for an hour — a good hour."

He connected, "At that place was a lot of actually funny stuff that never made information technology into the movie."

"You can't picket Meg Ryan for ii hours and non be thinking about some other girl." — "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" (2003)

Kate Hudson advertisement-libbed the line.
Paramount

Director Donald Petrie told BBC in 2003 that he encouraged Kate Hudson to improvise a few of her scenes to catch Matthew McConaughey off guard.

"There tin can exist bang-up chemistry, just if information technology happens at the water cooler when the cameras aren't rolling, you lot've got nothing," he said. "... I'd go over to Kate and say, 'OK, in this adjacent have, don't tell Matthew, merely exercise this.'"

One of those improvised lines was "You can't scout 1000000 Ryan for two hours and non be thinking about another girl," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"And you are so good at it. Look at you!" — "Julie and Julia" (2009)

Stanley Tucci improvised the line in the scene with Meryl Streep.
Columbia Pictures

During a recent chat between Stanley Tucci and Ina Garten hosted by Cherry Bombe, the actor revealed that he improvised 1 of his lines when he played Paul in "Julie and Julia."

During the scene where Julia Kid is request her husband Paul what she would do in Paris, he asks, "What is information technology that you really similar to practice?" — to which she replied, "Swallow."

Tucci said he came up with his next line, "And you are so practiced at it. Look at you!" on the spot.

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