7 Actors Who Chose to Change the Script and Made Their Movie Iconic

“Wow, that was an incredible scene,” we’ve said at least once while enjoying a movie. But sometimes, the credit doesn’t solely go to the screenwriter or director. In fact, some of the best moments on screen resulted from the actors improvising or changing the script altogether. From iconic movie lines to unforgettable character moments, here are 7 times when actors went off-script and made the final result even better.

1. Kirsten Dunst — Spider-Man 2

During the film production, the producer approached the actress Kirsten Dunst and advised her to replace her teeth as they did not match the director’s vision of a flawless smile. However, Dunst remained true to her instincts and refused to conform to societal beauty standards. Her close friends supported her decision, and she ultimately stuck with her natural smile.

2. Keanu Reeves — John Wick

The original concept for John Wick’s character was that of a 75-year-old man, and initially, the director considered actors like Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford as potential candidates for the role. However, upon meeting Keanu Reeves, he was convinced that Reeves would be perfect for the part. Reeves even went on to contribute to the script and helped transform the character into a middle-aged version of John Wick.

3. Dwayne Johnson — Shazam! and Black Adam

Dwayne Johnson played a crucial role in changing the direction of the movie Shazam. In a phone call with the movie’s producers, Johnson convinced them to alter the script to focus more on the character of Billy Batson and his journey to becoming a superhero.

His influence also extended to the development of the Black Adam movie. As a result, the DCEU is looking to build a cohesive universe with interconnected stories and characters.

4. Gene Hackman — Superman

In 1978, director Richard Donner chose Hackman to portray the infamous villain Lex Luthor in Superman. Despite decades of depicting the character as a bald antagonist in the comics, Hackman refused to shave his head or wear a bald cap.

To work around this continuity issue, the director had Gene Hackman do his hair to make it look like he was wearing a wig. The only time we see Lex Luthor bald is at the movie’s end when he’s being taken to jail.

5. Sarah Jessica Parker — Footloose

Sarah Jessica Parker was offered the role of Rusty in the movie Footloose. Even though it would have been her first grown-up movie part, she said no.

The movie’s producers wanted her to cut and dye her hair red, which she didn’t want to do. She had just grown her hair back after she didn’t think red was her color. Instead, They ended up giving the role to Tracy Nelson.

Later on, the producers changed their minds and realized that Rusty’s hair color didn’t matter. They called Sarah from the movie set and asked her to film in Utah. She agreed to come but wouldn’t cut or dye her hair red. They said that was okay and gave her the role.

6. Carrie Fisher — Star Wars

Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the first Star Wars movie, wrote about her experience in her 2016 memoir, The Princess Diarist. Although she was already thin, the movie’s producers told her to lose 10 pounds and sent her to a “fat farm” to lose weight.

She was scared she would be fired if she didn’t lose the weight, but she showed up on set at the same weight she was when they hired her. The movie was a huge success, and Fisher became famous as Leia.

7. Harrison Ford — American Graffiti

American Graffiti is a movie about teenagers driving around on the last night of their summer vacation. Harrison Ford has a small part in the movie as someone who challenges the town’s best drag racer. The film is set in the ’60s, so the actors had to have period hairstyles. However, there’s a rumor that Harrison Ford didn’t want to cut his hair for this small role, so his character wore a Stetson hat instead.

Bonus: Dwayne Johnson refused advice to stop working out and lose weight.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson refused to take advice from Hollywood executives to change his bulky physique and drop his famous nickname if he wanted to be successful in movies. However, he insisted on being true to himself and refused to conform to Hollywood’s beauty standards.

“They said, ‘Okay, great. But now here’s what you have to do: You have to stop working out as much. You have to lose weight. You can’t call yourself ‘The Rock.’ You can’t talk about wrestling. That was it. When that happened, I made a choice, and the choice was I wasn’t gonna conform to Hollywood. Hollywood was gonna conform to me.”