Top 20 MORE Actor Mistakes That Were Kept in the Movie

“Chinatown” (1974)
This classic noir follows Jack Nicholson’s Jake Gittes as he investigates a complex water scheme in 1930s Los Angeles. His journey leads him to Noah Cross, who sits with Jake for a fancy lunch. There are numerous times throughout the conversation that Noah mispronounces Gittes’ name, even after he’s politely corrected. This is a moment of unplanned filmmaking magic. The repeated mispronouncing of Gittes’ name is a great power move that helps establish Noah’s dominance and uncaring attitude. In reality, this was a genuine mistake made by actor John Huston. Director Roman Polanski decided to keep it, apparently loving what it did for Noah’s character.

“Sixteen Candles” (1984)
In this John Hughes classic, comedian Billie Bird plays Dorothy Baker, the grandmother of Molly Ringwald’s Samantha. Dorothy is involved in a comedic scene that sees people climbing in and out of a car while going to a wedding. Dorothy is the last character to supposedly “enter” the car, which makes the goof all the more glaring. Rather than entering the car, Billie Bird crouches behind it and kneels in place as it peels away. It’s a very glaring and obvious mistake, as Bird’s blue costume can easily be seen through the car’s windows. We can’t blame Bird here, as this was likely a framing mistake made by either the director or cinematographer. Either way, it sure is hilarious!

“Baywatch” (2017)
This comedy was a film adaptation of the beloved TV show, so you better believe there was some slow-motion running! The final scene shows a bunch of characters running on the beach, including Zac Efron’s Matt Brody. Matt goes to bump arms with Mitch when he loses his footing and falls to the sand. Slow-motion trips have long been the source of comedic parody, and “Baywatch” continued the tradition. But according to Efron, this fall was completely unscripted. He told USA Today that he genuinely tripped while shooting the run and was somewhat embarrassed, considering the iconic nature of the scene. Luckily, it worked well for comedic effect and was kept in the film.

“The Heat” (2013)
In one of this movie’s funniest scenes, Sarah and Shannon decide to play good cop bad cop during an interrogation. Shortly after Sarah walks into the room, Shannon bursts in, pushes Sarah out of the way, and hurls a phone book straight at the suspect’s face. This was not a camera trick - actor Michael McDonald was actually drilled in the face. He insisted on using a real phone book and reportedly planned to dodge it, but that clearly didn’t work. You can actually see a brief grimace of pain on McDonald’s face before the camera cuts to McCarthy. It certainly looks painful, but worry not, he was completely okay.

“American Graffiti” (1973)
Directed by George Lucas four years before “Star Wars,” “American Graffiti” is a coming-of-age comedy that takes place in early ‘60s California. The laughs begin immediately, with the dorky and unpopular Terry Fields crashing his scooter in a drive-in parking lot. Terry stops the scooter and starts getting off when he suddenly accelerates and crashes into some garbage. This was a genuine accident by actor Charles Martin Smith, and his hilarious “oh crap” reaction was 100% real. Rather than panicking and calling cut, Lucas kept the cameras rolling and let the accident play itself out.

“The Princess Bride” (1987)
One scene in Rob Reiner’s classic comedy sees Count Tyrone Rugen knocking out Westley with a sword. If this injury looks a little too real, that’s because it is. The cast was filming with real swords and Christopher Guest was going easy on Cary Elwes as he didn’t want to hurt him. However, the actors weren’t getting satisfactory footage, so Elwes told Guest to hit him hard. Guest did as agreed and smacked Elwes with a good amount of force. The impact knocked him out cold and he required stitches to close the resulting gash in his head. Elwes literally paid for it in blood, but hey, at least they got good footage!

“Grease” (1978)
Behold, a secret of the filmmaking process! Right before the legendary “Beauty School Dropout,” a newly pink-haired Frenchy speaks to the elderly waitress of the diner. She cleans up after Frenchy’s friends and loads up a tray with various goodies. With both hands full, she is forced to use her elbow to turn off the lights. Observant viewers will notice that her elbow is a good two or three inches below the switch, yet the light turns off anyway! It’s glaringly obvious that that switch doesn’t actually do anything and that a stagehand was responsible for the lights. Either that or that waitress is a witch.

“Bring It On” (2000)
Filming sports movies sounds like a difficult and stressful process, as the potential for serious accidents seems very high. The climactic scene in this cheerleading comedy sees the East Compton Clovers performing their choreographed routine at the national championship. About twenty seconds into the routine, two cheerleaders experience a major failure in communication and choreography. If you look on the left side of the screen, you’ll see the two cheerleaders collide, with one accidentally running into the path of the other. It’s quite easy to miss, but it’s one of those things that you’ll never be able to unsee.

“Office Space” (1999)
A defining comedy of the ‘90s, “Office Space” spoke to a generation of employees suffering from the corporate blues. One particularly famous scene sees Michael Bolton talking to his friends Peter and Samir when an error message appears on the printer. Michael stops mid-sentence and smacks the printer in frustration, sending the tray clattering to the floor. It’s a genius scene, and yet none of it was planned. The printer had run out of paper from previous takes, causing it to beep and interrupt actor David Herman. Herman ran with it and spun comedic gold in the process.

“Nightcrawler” (2014)
This eerie thriller stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom, an opportunistic and manipulative freelance photographer. One highly charged scene sees a stressed-out Lou looking at himself in the bathroom mirror. He suddenly screams in frustration and slams the cabinet door closed, shattering the attached mirror. This scream and resulting cabinet-banging were apparently improvised by Gyllenhaal, as both he and the director were trying different approaches to the scene. Unfortunately, the breaking glass cut deep into Gyllenhaal’s hand, and the cut required nearly fifty stitches to close. But Gyllenhaal is a trooper - not only did he keep his cool, but he finished the scene by walking past the camera and out of the bathroom.

“Quantum of Solace” (2008)
This certainly isn’t the greatest Bond film, complete with a messy plot and some glaringly evident goofs. It features one of the most iconic on-screen mishaps, and it comes through the form of a sweeping extra. While Bond sits idle on his motorcycle, a man in the background can be seen sweeping the dock. However, the broom is hovering about half a foot off the ground, and we’re left wondering how that dock is getting cleaned. This was likely a sound issue, as the noise of the swishing broom would have been picked up by the microphones. This sort of stuff happens all the time in movies - they just don’t make it so obvious.

“The Master” (2012)
Did you know it was possible to break a toilet with your feet? Well, Joaquin Phoenix didn’t. His character in “The Master,” Freddie Quell, is thrown in a jail cell and begins acting violently by smashing himself into the bed and destroying the toilet. For this intensely physical scene, Phoenix studied how wild animals behave in captivity and acted with similar aggression. Part of this animalistic behavior included breaking the toilet with a few hard kicks. He didn’t think such a thing could be done, telling The New York Times, “I didn't intend to break the thing. I didn't know that was possible.” Well, it is possible, and he found that out firsthand! Luckily, it was in the service of a great scene.

“Scream” (1996)
Few horror comedies have toed the line quite as expertly as “Scream.” Even in the horrifying climax, with bodies piling up and characters drenched in blood, the movie still makes an effort to keep audiences laughing. In fact, one of the film’s signature bits of comedy comes in the climax, when Billy hits Stu with the landline phone. The phone actually slipped out of Skeet Ulrich’s hand owing to the prop blood and hit Matthew Lillard in the back of the head. He improvised Stu’s iconic reaction and Wes Craven loved it so much that he kept it in the film.

“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (1953)
This classic comedy features a number of dazzling musical sequences, including the song “Ain’t There Anyone Here for Love?” It’s sung by ‘50s sex symbol Jane Russell and takes place inside a gymnasium. The choreographed dance ends in a rather unpredictable fashion. Numerous men dive over Russell as she sits by the side of the pool, but the last man clips her back and sends her into the water. It makes for an endearing, if somewhat painful-looking, finish. And it was completely unplanned. The dancer, a man named Ed Fury, accidentally slammed into Russell during his dive. He then attempted to claim choreography credit for the failed stunt and was fired as a result.

“The Princess Diaries” (2001)
Anne Hathaway made her film debut in this 2001 cult classic, playing Princess of Genovia Mia Thermopolis. Mia has a friend named Lilly, and it’s while talking with her that an iconic movie goof occurs. Hathaway is walking up and down some bleachers when she slips off the metal and falls with a hilarious little squeak. Hathaway and Heather Matarazzo remain in character - well, kind of. Hathaway laughs in embarrassment and Matarazzo asks if she’s OK. This was a genuine interaction between the two actresses, but it also works for the moment and the characters. It's this type of professionalism that would lead Hathaway to a future Oscar!

“The Birdcage” (1996)
And speaking of funny falls that were kept in the movie, let’s talk “The Birdcage!” This oft-forgotten comedy stars Robin Williams as Armand Goldman, a gay drag club owner who tries to impress the conservative parents of his son’s fiancée. During a hectic get-together, Armand slips on the kitchen floor and comically falls out of frame. Williams actually slipped, but being the consummate pro that he was, he kept the scene going through his own giggles. Fortunately, the fall works splendidly as a visual gag, and the brief character break from Williams only adds to the manic hilarity.

“1917” (2019)
If there’s one defining image from “1917,” it’s Will Schofield running across an exploding battleground as soldiers pour from a trench. It’s a brilliant cinematic achievement, and it nearly ended in disaster. During the run, actor George MacKay is twice knocked over by extras, but he gets up both times and keeps running. These were genuine accidents, and they resulted in some noticeable errors. The first soldier to hit Schofield lays on the ground and plays dead, and at one point the camera stops and waits for MacKay to catch up. This would have been a nightmare to refilm, so they essentially just ran with it - no pun intended. Luckily, these little errors add to the moment and help aid in the scene’s incredible tension.

“The Hateful Eight” (2015)
If you’re working with a genuine antique worth lots of money, it’s probably best to inform your actor of that fact. Kurt Russell’s John Ruth grabs Daisy’s guitar and smashes it against a pillar. This was an actual guitar dating from the 1870s that was lent to the production by a museum. The guitar was supposed to be replaced by a smashable prop, but for some reason the real guitar was kept in, resulting in its complete destruction. Jennifer Jason Leigh’s shocked reaction is real, and she clearly looks off-camera toward the crew. There’s even an awkward edit when it cuts to the other angle as if filming was stopped to allow everyone to compose themselves.

“North by Northwest” (1959)
Working with loud noises must be very hard, even for the pros. You know a loud noise is coming, and you instinctively want to flinch. But you obviously can’t, as that would ruin the take. This conundrum resulted in a classic goof in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest.” Eve shoots Roger with blanks in a crowded restaurant, and a kid in the background can clearly be seen covering his ears in anticipation of the shot. What makes this even worse is that he is in plain view of the camera and plugs his ears loooong before Eve actually shoots. Hitchcock either didn’t notice this, which is hard to believe, or he just didn’t care. Sometimes good enough is good enough.

“Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” (1977)
In one of the movie’s most iconic sequences, Luke and Han suit up in Stormtrooper outfits to save Princess Leia from captivity on the Death Star. Luke comically mentions that he can’t see out of his helmet, and this moment birthed a popular urban legend. The story goes that Mark Hamill said this to Harrison Ford, not knowing that the cameras were rolling. This is a half-truth. Hamill clarified on Twitter that the line was indeed ad-libbed but that he knew they were shooting at the time. Regardless, George Lucas loved the line, incorporated it into future takes, and eventually put it in the finished film.