13 Behind-the-Scenes Tidbits From Romantic Films That Won Over Millions of Hearts

We love to watch many romantic movies over and over again because they make us feel good. But even the films we’ve seen dozens of times may still have some details we never really noticed. And some romantic movies have such amazing behind-the-scenes stories that we can’t help but tell you about them.

Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia! is famous for its dance and music sequences. And some moves appeared in the film only thanks to improvisation. For example, in one of the scenes, Meryl Streep was jumping on the bed and did the splits in midair.

The actress was 59 years old, and she says that she didn’t need any stunt doubles for that, she just decided to do it instinctively.

Dirty Dancing

Patrick Swayze was a dancer, so he wasn’t supposed to have any problems with the role of Johnny Castle. But he challenged himself and danced worse than he could on purpose. His character was more of a street dancer, not a professional. Swayze said he liked working on this character and containing his own ego.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The filming of the scene where the characters of Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey were playing in the sink took several hours and was exhausting for Winslet. The actress didn’t feel very well and even fainted. The director wanted to keep going, but Jim Carrey disagreed and confronted him.

The Bodyguard

The crew took a risk when they were filming the kiss between the main characters. In this scene, the camera was circling around the actors.

It was going so fast that at one point, the cameraman fall to the ground as the camera kept rolling. He managed to jump back to his feet and continue filming. This take was used in the final film.

La La Land

In the last scene at the planetarium, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling fall out of the air and perfectly into their seats, then kiss, and the camera zooms in for a close-up before the fade. It would be hard to make such a landing, so the scene was made backward, starting in black, zooming out to the kiss, and the actors were lifted out of their seats.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin

After the very first week of the filming, the studio looked at the materials and didn’t think they were funny. In fact, some felt that Steve Carell’s character was creepy. But those were the scenes without any dialogue — Carell was just riding his bike in them.

But as filming continued, the final result was deemed funny enough to be named the Best Comedy of the Year, and it went on to win several awards.

When Harry Met Sally

In this film, there are several scenes where married couples share the stories of their relationships. Even though they were actors, they told the love stories of real people. The director collected them for the film.

Pretty Woman

Julia Roberts was pranked on the set of Pretty Woman. In one of the scenes, she ducked under the water, and when she reappeared, she saw that she was alone on the set. It turned out that the crew members quickly left the room while she was underwater.

Clueless

In this film, Alicia Silverstone pronounced the word “Haitians” the wrong way. It wasn’t scripted. The actress really didn’t know how to say it correctly.

As soon as the director said cut, the crew rushed to her to explain the mistake, but the director told them to stop, later explaining, “I didn’t want her to know that she had it wrong, I wanted that assurance without her thinking this is funny or a joke — which changes how you say things.”

Sleepless in Seattle

In one of the scenes, Meg Ryan walks out of her brother’s office in Baltimore. After that, we see a cut, and Tom Hanks’ character leaves a different building in Seattle. The same door was used in both scenes. The door was actually delivered from one city to the other for this little detail.

Sixteen Candles

The love interest of the main character was portrayed by Michael Schoeffling. But another famous actor auditioned for the role, Viggo Mortensen. During the audition, Molly Ringwald, who played the role of Samantha, even shared a kiss with Viggo.

Ringwald said she knew her knees were shaking because of Viggo, and she wanted to get the part. But the casting director made a different call.

Enchanted

When Princess Gisele warps from her animated kingdom into the real world, she gets to the surface through the manhole. That wasn’t actually a set, and there was no CGI. The actress actually crawled into one just so that she could be filmed climbing out of it.

Some of the people behind her are paid background extras, but since Times Square is perpetually crowded, others are real New Yorkers.

As Good as It Gets

Jack Nicholson’s character was not supposed to kiss Helen Hunt. But the director just yelled to Nicholson, “Kiss her, man!” The film was not supposed to be a romantic comedy, but after the filming, it became clear that it was one.

What is your favorite romantic movie? Do you know any stories about its filming process?