The Usual Suspects tells the story of the interrogation of Roger “Verbal” Kint, a small-time con man, who is one of two survivors of a massacre and fire on a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles. Through various flashbacks and narration, Kint shares with the interrogator an elaborate series of events that led him and his criminal companions to the boat, and of a perplexing crime lord—known as Keyser Söze—who controlled them.
This movie has some major twists, so it was important for actors to stick to the script. However, in the line-up scene, actors were given the go-to to act as they wished. This made way for a hilarious scene and improv, during which one character even passed gas. Also in the scene, Benicio Del Toro slurred his words and the cop requested from him, “in English please.”
Good Will Hunting
While Ben Affleck and Matt Damon may have been recognized as the writers of this script, it was the late Robin Williams who created the most memorable line of the film as psychiatrist Sean Maguire. In one of the last scenes, he reads a letter that Damon’s character wrote to him.
One of the lines was “I gotta see about a girl.” He added in “son of a b*tch. He stole my line.” Unsurprisingly, the film received nominations for nine Academy Awards and won two of them; one for Best Supporting Actor for Williams and one for Best Original Screenplay for Affleck and Damon.
Being John Malkovich
Sometimes actors get out of hand and it leads to a pleasant surprise. In the surreal comedy Being John Malkovich, someone threw a can at John Malkovich’s head and shouts “Hey, Malkovich! Think fast!” The scene panned out perfectly because according to director Spike Jonze, the director of the film, this moment wasn't at all in the script and actually happened because some extras got drunk got overboard.
The extras dropped the F-Bomb and also hurt Malkovich’s head pretty bad. But it was all in the name of art, so they were happy with the outcome and kept it in the final cut. The American fantasy comedy-drama was packed with other talented actors including John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and Charlie Sheen.
Goodfellas
This is one of the most popular gangster movies ever with great actors. Amongst the cast are Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Ray Liotta. It was Pesci who stole the show when his character Tommy got extremely defensive after being referred to as a “funny guy.” The improvised line “Do I amuse you?” has since become a classic. The line is based on an actual event that Pesci witnessed.
According to Pesci, improvisation and ad-libbing came out of rehearsals where director Scorsese allowed the actors to do whatever they wanted. He made transcripts of these sessions, took the lines the actors came up with that he liked best, and put them into a revised script that the cast worked from.
The Silence Of The Lambs
Hannibal delivers a monologue to Jodie Foster about eating a human liver with “fava beans and a nice Chianti in this iconic thriller. He adds in his own iconic hissing sound. Hannibal was played by the great Anthony Hopkins for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Hopkins also won three BAFTA Awards, two Emmys, and the Cecil B. DeMille Award. In 1993, he was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to the arts. Finally, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003.