5 Movies That Were Obviously Improvised & 5 That Surprised Us
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VOICE OVER: Jennifer Silverman
WRITTEN BY: Joe Shetina
Lights, camera, improvisation! We're diving into the world of movies that were either clearly ad-libbed or surprisingly spontaneous. From comedies to dramas, these films prove that sometimes the best moments are unscripted and completely unexpected. Our countdown includes iconic films like "This Is Spinal Tap", "Anchorman", "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", and surprising entries like "Jaws" and "Blue Valentine" that showcased incredible improvisational skills from their talented casts!
Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the films that let its actors run wild with ad-libs and unscripted antics.
Released at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, director Steven Soderbergh shot this 2020 aboard the real Queen Mary 2, and the close quarters of the ship really added to the end result. Starring Meryl Streep as an author traveling with her friends and nephew, the movie features a cast of great actors making up the words as they go. Its conversational dialogue and shoestring production, which uses only natural light and a small crew, is pretty clear from the get go. This is a movie made up of pauses, imperfect language, and the moments when people can’t figure out exactly what to say.
This 2014 microbudget science fiction horror story has a lot of ambition. Presenting a dinner party assailed by a passing comet which spins a group of friends’ perception of time and space way out of whack, you’d think the script would need to be super precise. Not the case here. In spite of its twisting narrative and cerebral themes of alternate realities, its actors were given a lot of room to play. Writer-director James Ward Byrkit cast an ensemble with experience in improv. He gave them an overall outline of the plot and characters, and let them essentially add all the shading.
This mockumentary about an eccentric heavy metal band is more than just an elaborate sketch stretched out into 82 minutes. Co-creators and stars Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer are joined by a whole team of actors who were clearly cast based on their ability to improvise. Most of the dialogue was made up on the spot. The whole movie has a very realistic feeling. When you pair that documentary style with the kinds of insane things actually being said in the movie, it becomes even clearer just how loose this whole thing is. There are some lines that come completely out of nowhere. They’re so totally authentic that it’s hard to imagine anyone actually would sit down and write them.
The 2024 adaptation of the smash hit Broadway musical has set the box office alight. A big budget musical requires a lot of precision, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be some room to improvise thought. While it’s important to hold space for the work that went into designing these insanely good musical numbers, you might be surprised how free the actors were allowed to be. Director John M. Chu kept the camera rolling for takes that went a little off-script. Many of them were included in the film, and went on to become some of the best moments.
This Christopher Guest comedy takes the mockumentary style that was so successful in “This Is Spinal Tap” and gives it a theatrical twist. Set amid the rehearsal process for a small town musical, “Waiting for Guffman” saw most of its dialogue created by its cast. And when you have a cast like this, it’s hard to argue with the results. In addition to director and star Guest, the cast includes Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, and several others. Guest likened the process to making jazz music. Everyone was given a general direction of the piece and what shifts in the story should happen. The whole movie is full of a spontaneous magic that only great comic talent and very long takes can produce.
Some breakup movies are heartbreaking, but they often come with a kind of Hollywood romance attached to them. That’s not the case with “Blue Valentine.” Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams take us through a very realistic relationship and follow it through to its tragic and gut-wrenching end. Their connection feels genuine and very lifelike. That may be because the writer-director allowed them to improvise much of their dialogue, and the two prepared for these roles by actually living together for months. It’s genuinely shocking how much creative freedom these actors had in this hard-hitting drama. In this movie, it’s not jokes that are improvised. It’s the pain.
Several scenes in Judd Apatow’s raunchy romantic comedy about Steve Carell’s title character feel like the director just never said cut. In fact, that’s exactly how it was made. There are moments when Carell, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and the hysterically funny supporting cast are just riffing for minutes on end. Insults and length descriptions of vulgar acts have never been so funny. One infamous scene sees Carell’s character getting his chest waxed. His profanity-laden cries of pain are his own invention. A lot of the best jokes seem to be ones that were cut together from different takes instead of taken off the page.
In 1999, horror was changed forever by a found footage movie that purported to be a real-life recording of three college students who disappeared while researching the legend of a witch. Its handheld camera, black-and-white photography, and the realism of its performances made it a sleeper hit. But for all its ingenious filmmaking, bare bones thrills, and masterfully crafted tension, the filmmakers behind it only had an outline. The screenplay runs 35 pages. The rest was up to its three principal actors, who improvised their dialogue as they filmed their seemingly endless trek through the woods.
Will Ferrell’s narcissistic news anchor was a fountain of strange insults and even stranger verbal tics. A lot of the movie’s most iconic moments were spontaneous. While filming, director Adam McKay stuck to the script… for a while. Then, once every line of written dialogue had been said, all bets were off. The scene would continue for more takes, with the actors given more freedom to add, subtract, and rewrite as they saw fit. Much of the movie’s most explosive and iconic jokes were born out of this atmosphere. In fact, the set came off more like a bunch of comedians trying to make each other laugh than a traditional set. A lot of that fun is present in the final cut.
Scenes of savage shark attacks and dangerous sea stunts don’t leave much room for spontaneity. However, the actors in Steven Spielberg’s terrifying creature feature found room to play when they weren’t at the mercy of the notoriously finicky shark animatronic. Apparently, the shark constantly breaking down may have been what inspired actors Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw to add their own ideas to the constantly changing screenplay. Sharing meals together during the shoot, the three would come up with some of their own dialogue. That may explain why the most famous line from the movie was not in the script.
What movie were you shocked to learn was largely improvised? Let us know in the comments.
#5: Obvious: “Let Them All Talk” (2020)
Released at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, director Steven Soderbergh shot this 2020 aboard the real Queen Mary 2, and the close quarters of the ship really added to the end result. Starring Meryl Streep as an author traveling with her friends and nephew, the movie features a cast of great actors making up the words as they go. Its conversational dialogue and shoestring production, which uses only natural light and a small crew, is pretty clear from the get go. This is a movie made up of pauses, imperfect language, and the moments when people can’t figure out exactly what to say.
#5: Surprising: “Coherence” (2014)
This 2014 microbudget science fiction horror story has a lot of ambition. Presenting a dinner party assailed by a passing comet which spins a group of friends’ perception of time and space way out of whack, you’d think the script would need to be super precise. Not the case here. In spite of its twisting narrative and cerebral themes of alternate realities, its actors were given a lot of room to play. Writer-director James Ward Byrkit cast an ensemble with experience in improv. He gave them an overall outline of the plot and characters, and let them essentially add all the shading.
#4: Obvious: “This Is Spinal Tap” (1984)
This mockumentary about an eccentric heavy metal band is more than just an elaborate sketch stretched out into 82 minutes. Co-creators and stars Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer are joined by a whole team of actors who were clearly cast based on their ability to improvise. Most of the dialogue was made up on the spot. The whole movie has a very realistic feeling. When you pair that documentary style with the kinds of insane things actually being said in the movie, it becomes even clearer just how loose this whole thing is. There are some lines that come completely out of nowhere. They’re so totally authentic that it’s hard to imagine anyone actually would sit down and write them.
#4: Surprising: “Wicked” (2024)
The 2024 adaptation of the smash hit Broadway musical has set the box office alight. A big budget musical requires a lot of precision, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be some room to improvise thought. While it’s important to hold space for the work that went into designing these insanely good musical numbers, you might be surprised how free the actors were allowed to be. Director John M. Chu kept the camera rolling for takes that went a little off-script. Many of them were included in the film, and went on to become some of the best moments.
#3: Obvious: “Waiting for Guffman” (1996)
This Christopher Guest comedy takes the mockumentary style that was so successful in “This Is Spinal Tap” and gives it a theatrical twist. Set amid the rehearsal process for a small town musical, “Waiting for Guffman” saw most of its dialogue created by its cast. And when you have a cast like this, it’s hard to argue with the results. In addition to director and star Guest, the cast includes Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, and several others. Guest likened the process to making jazz music. Everyone was given a general direction of the piece and what shifts in the story should happen. The whole movie is full of a spontaneous magic that only great comic talent and very long takes can produce.
#3: Surprising: “Blue Valentine” (2010)
Some breakup movies are heartbreaking, but they often come with a kind of Hollywood romance attached to them. That’s not the case with “Blue Valentine.” Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams take us through a very realistic relationship and follow it through to its tragic and gut-wrenching end. Their connection feels genuine and very lifelike. That may be because the writer-director allowed them to improvise much of their dialogue, and the two prepared for these roles by actually living together for months. It’s genuinely shocking how much creative freedom these actors had in this hard-hitting drama. In this movie, it’s not jokes that are improvised. It’s the pain.
#2: Obvious: “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (2005)
Several scenes in Judd Apatow’s raunchy romantic comedy about Steve Carell’s title character feel like the director just never said cut. In fact, that’s exactly how it was made. There are moments when Carell, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and the hysterically funny supporting cast are just riffing for minutes on end. Insults and length descriptions of vulgar acts have never been so funny. One infamous scene sees Carell’s character getting his chest waxed. His profanity-laden cries of pain are his own invention. A lot of the best jokes seem to be ones that were cut together from different takes instead of taken off the page.
#2: Surprising: “The Blair Witch Project” (1999)
In 1999, horror was changed forever by a found footage movie that purported to be a real-life recording of three college students who disappeared while researching the legend of a witch. Its handheld camera, black-and-white photography, and the realism of its performances made it a sleeper hit. But for all its ingenious filmmaking, bare bones thrills, and masterfully crafted tension, the filmmakers behind it only had an outline. The screenplay runs 35 pages. The rest was up to its three principal actors, who improvised their dialogue as they filmed their seemingly endless trek through the woods.
#1: Obvious: “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” (2004)
Will Ferrell’s narcissistic news anchor was a fountain of strange insults and even stranger verbal tics. A lot of the movie’s most iconic moments were spontaneous. While filming, director Adam McKay stuck to the script… for a while. Then, once every line of written dialogue had been said, all bets were off. The scene would continue for more takes, with the actors given more freedom to add, subtract, and rewrite as they saw fit. Much of the movie’s most explosive and iconic jokes were born out of this atmosphere. In fact, the set came off more like a bunch of comedians trying to make each other laugh than a traditional set. A lot of that fun is present in the final cut.
#1: Surprising: “Jaws” (1975)
Scenes of savage shark attacks and dangerous sea stunts don’t leave much room for spontaneity. However, the actors in Steven Spielberg’s terrifying creature feature found room to play when they weren’t at the mercy of the notoriously finicky shark animatronic. Apparently, the shark constantly breaking down may have been what inspired actors Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw to add their own ideas to the constantly changing screenplay. Sharing meals together during the shoot, the three would come up with some of their own dialogue. That may explain why the most famous line from the movie was not in the script.
What movie were you shocked to learn was largely improvised? Let us know in the comments.
