When shootingApocalypse Now , Marlon Brando all throw manager Francis Ford Coppola ’s imagination for his case out the window . He went the method acting path , turn down to learn most of his lines , and extemporize the majority of the time .
On a film set, an actor’s job is typically pretty separate from a writer’s. One creates the character, and the other brings it to life. Sometimes, however, the lines blur, and actors end up giving a TON of suggestions that get incorporated into the script, or they even rewrite parts of the script themselves.
Here are 14 actors who rewrote the script for their TV shows and movies:
1.While filmingWednesdaySeason 1,Jenna Ortegachanged or decided not to say lines that she felt didn’t fit with the character’s personality.
At aNetflix Q&A , she suppose , " I commend there ’s a line where I ’m talking about a apparel , and ab initio , she was supposed to say , ' Oh my god , I ’m freak out over a dress , I literally hate myself . ' And I was flub away because that sounded like … It was just a bunch of fiddling thing like that , where I felt like we were able to annul a plenty of dialog in an attack to make her sound human . "
For Season 2 , she ’s been promoted to producer . Appearing on theHollywood Reporter ’s Comedy Actress Roundtable , she said , " I sense really lucky to be able to be in the [ writer ' ] elbow room early next season and be talking about script and giving notation . "
2.After reading the originalCruel Intentionsscript,Reese Witherspoonfound her character, Annette Hargrove, to be “too demure and too much of a woman influenced by a guy’s manipulations.” So, she spent a week rewriting Annette’s dialogue with writer/director Roger Kumble.
Roger toldEntertainment Weekly , " Annette was the fibre most removed from me . There ’s no way the movie would have its success if it were n’t for [ Reese ’s ] gift as a author . "
Reese also said , " I was get going what I guess became my big mission in aliveness — of interview why women were written certain way on film . "
3.Jeff Bridgessaid that he, lead actor Robert Downey Jr., and directorJon Favreau"basically rewrote the script" ofIron Manduring their two weeks of rehearsal.
appear on theHollywood Reporter ’s Actor ’s Roundtable , he say , " And the day before we were go bad to take , we get a call from the Marvel guy cable suppose , ' Oh no , no , no . None of this is correct . ' So we would muster up in my house trailer and rehearse while the guys were in the studio tapping their foot , saying , ' When are they expire to come ? ' We were still sample to calculate out the [ scene ] we were going to shoot down . "
4.While working onIron Man 3, Robert Downey Jr. — who’s well-known for improvising — would often cut scenes short to get his dialogue rewritten.
music director Shane Black toldCinemaBlend , " Downey would be like , ' Time ! ' and I ’d be like , ' We ’re shooting ! ' and he ’d be , ' No , shut the cameras , ' and we ’d go back to the trailer , and we ’d all write , because he wanted fresh lines . "
5.After Edgar Wright, the original director and co-writer,leftAnt-Man, Paul Rudd teamed up with Adam McKay to rewrite the script.
Adam toldCollider , " I ’ve always eff Paul Rudd ’s a really good author from improvising with him on set , but I had no idea he was that honorable — he ’s really great with dialogue . So the two of us holed up in hotel rooms on the east and west coast , and I imagine it was , like , six to eight weeks , we just crunch it out and did a giant revision of the script . I was really proud of what we did . I really thought we put some amazing stuff in there and build on an already strong playscript from Edgar Wright and sort of just enhanced some stuff . "
Costar Michael Douglas was initially skeptical of the conclusion to permit Paul bring on the playscript . He toldCollider , " We had a couple of issue with conductor . They were going through a few draught . Paul was brought in , that was certainly not initially part of the whole thing , for him to write . I did advance my hand a minuscule bit , because I did n’t have sex Paul that well . I enounce , excuse me , but the extend role player spell the script , uhhhh , you know , no , no we ’re watching , alright fine . So , no , you bonk , I kind of assumed that there were the parameters from the cartoon strip , and I mean , you have to get used to playing somebody your own age , you bang . "
6.When Meryl Streep first read the novelKramer vs. Kramer, which Avery Corman intentionally wrote to be anti-feminist, shethoughtJoanna came off as “an ogre, a princess, an ass.” She only agreed to accept the role in the film adaptation on the grounds that the script would be rewritten to make Joanna a more sympathetic, realistic, and fully developed character. She also wrote Joanna’s powerful courtroom speech herself.
In Meryl ’s version of events , she had actually been call in for a minor role , but writer / film director Robert Benton , manufacturer Stanley R. Jaffe , and lead player Dustin Hoffman were so impressed by her savvy of Joanna that they decided she was the best paroxysm for the part .
However , in the men ’s version of events , she was only consider for Joanna , but " it was , for all intents and role , the bad coming together anybody ever had with anybody " because " she said a few things , not much , and she just listened . " But they allegedly decided she was correct for Joanna because the recent demise of her partner , John Cazale , meant she had refreshed botheration and emotional turmoil she could reap from .
On bent , Dustin reportedly mistreated Meryl , slap her to get her to elicit the emotions he wanted or taunting her about John to get her to use " excited recall . "
After that incident , Robert pulled Meryl to the side and take her to rewrite Joanna ’s upcoming court words because his edition felt like " a man taste to pen a adult female ’s speech . "
Robert toldVanity Fair , " Part of the delight she must have read is showing to Dustin she did n’t need to be slapped . She could have deliver anything to anybody at any fourth dimension . "
7.When Alan Rickman read the originalRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves, he thought it was so terrible that he decided to go behind the screenwriters' backs and get his friends, Ruby Wax and Peter Barnes, to help him write new lines.
Alan told theTimesthat he contact up with Peter in a Pizza Express . He said , " I suppose , ' Will you have a look at this script because it ’s terrible , and I involve some good wrinkle . ' So he did , and , you know , with kind of pizza and bacon and egg go all over the script . "
After getting additional suggestions from Ruby , Alan shape with director Kevin Reynolds to implement the fresh lines on set .
Alan said , " Nobody knew this was chance except him . And I knew it had worked because , as I cleared the television camera , I see about 80 member of the bunch just [ stifling laughter ] . ”
8.When Crispin Glover was offered the role of the Thin Man inCharlie’s Angels, he refused to do the “terrible” and “expositional” dialogue, but he offered a suggestion for rewrites — the character should havenodialogue and be completely silent.
He told theGuardian , " Subsequent toRiver ’s Edge , I was seek to find things that interested me . But , for the most part , the films did not reflect what my psychological interests were , and a sure theatrical role was etched out that is essentially still with me , which is o.k. . But I recognize in 2000 and 2001 [ duringCharlie ’s Angels ] that I really needed to make as much money as I could for fund my own filmmaking . So I change my psychological view on how I choose motion-picture show , and I now see acting as my wiliness , but my films are my art . "
9.When director Bassam Tariq left the upcomingBlademovie, lead Mahershala Ali wasreportedlyfrustrated with the script. Marvel Studios brought on a new writer, but Mahershalareportedlyrequested further rewrites, which he’s involved in.
He ’s very invested in the projection , and he ’s actually the one whocalledKevin Feige to suggest himself for the theatrical role .
10.WhenThe Mummy(2017) was in production, Tom Cruisereportedlyexercised nearly total creative oversight, with things like script approval promised in his contract. Unsatisfied with the original screenplay, he reportedly brought in two additional writers who helped rewrite it into the story he wanted to tell.
The change his new writers reportedly made included giving his character more projection screen time than the Mummy and adding a twist where he got possessed for the dramatic play .
He also brought in his own editor , his longtime partner Andrew Mondshein .
Supervising art conductor Frank Walsh toldVariety , " This is very much a movie of two halves : before Tom and after Tom . I have heard the history about how he drive everything and pushes and energy , but it was amazing to exploit with him . The guy cable is a big film producer and knows his workmanship . He will walk on to a set and recite the director what to do , say ' that ’s not the right lens of the eye , ' ask about the set , and as long as you do n’t fumble what you ’re saying to him … he ’s easy to operate for . "
11.When shootingApocalypse Now, Marlon Brando completelythrewdirector Francis Ford Coppola’s vision for his character, Colonel Walter Kurtz, out the window. He went the method acting route, refused to memorize most of his lines, and improvised the majority of the time.
The director worked around him by record his extemporize ramblings for five mean solar day , typing up the constituent he wanted to keep , putting them on tape , and giving him headphones .
12.When Jack Nicholson was first approached to play Frank Costello inThe Departed, he turned it down because the character wasn’t even in the script yet. However, after director Martin Scorsese and lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio talked him into doing the movie, the trio worked together to create Frank.
Jack toldVariety , " Marty is very innocent with his estimate and very receptive to yours . We build this case layer by layer , until we had something that fit inside a great musical genre moving picture , but also pushed the envelope until the movie becomes almost operatic . "
13.Edward Nortonreportedlyonly agreed to star inThe Incredible Hulkon the basis that he’d be allowed to rewrite Zak Penn’s screenplay, but most of the scenes he penned were left on the cutting room floor.
Zak — who received lone writing credit for the script — toldEntertainment Weekly , " Yes , [ the fallout between Edward and me ] forbid me from collaborating with him [ during production ] . I do n’t really know the guy , he has his own physical process , and he chose to do it the way he want to do it … I was n’t well-chosen with him come to Comic - Con saying that he wrote the script . I ca n’t tell you that made me go back and watchFight Club . "
14.And finally, Sylvester Stallone was initially cast as the lead inBeverly Hills Cop, but, since he was known as an action star, he rewrote the script into an action flick. Because his version raised the budget higher than Paramount was willing to go, he agreed to leave the project, remove anything screenwriter Daniel Petrie Jr. had penned from his script, and go make his own movie.
Daniel toldMoney Into Light , " By that time , the moving-picture show was so different that he was capable to do that , and he was extremely gracious about it and took that suggestion . He used almost all of his cloth and incorporated it into his filmCobra . really , Stallone had rename our lead role Axel Cobretti in hisBeverly Hills Copscript . "
Sylvester was replaced by Eddie Murphy .
