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1. AccordingtoIMDB,Robert Redfordmessed up at the very end of this six-minute-long continuous scene fromAll the President's Men. He accidentally calls the man his character Bob is speaking to on the phone with — Dahlberg — "McGregor." (This is the man his character was on the phone with earlier in the scene). Given the mistake would require the entire six minutes to be reshot, Redford quickly corrects himself and stays in character, playing it off as if Bob has actually gotten the name wrong. It works because Redford's character is so flustered in the moment, and his mistake seems natural.
2.Donald Gloverrevealed toConan O'Brienthat the scene in which his character slips inThe Martianwas an accident. "I get up, and I, like, just eat it, like, I slipped so hard," Glover told Conan. He said everyone gasped, but he kept going with the scene. "After the scene's done, [director Ridley Scott] comes up and he's like, 'That was great,'" Glovercontinued. "When you see me in the movie, and I eat it, that's really eating it." The funny moment fit his character's overcaffeinated shakiness in the scene.
3. Glover also said Scott once told him about a scene in another of Scott’s films,Thelma & Louise, where Daryl — Thelma’s abusive husband, played by Christopher McDonald — falls. According to Glover, Scott said the fall was unplanned and that he liked keeping moments like that in because they made the film feel more real.
4. A ton of falls onscreen are apparently unscripted, which makes sense. Another example is,reportedly, Forrest Whitaker's fall from the opening credits inPlatoon.We can't 100% confirm, butgiventhe shoot involved the young actors actually on location in the jungle in an extremely realistic and grueling shoot, it wouldn't be surprising.
5. Another one: AccordingtoIMDB, in the scene where Dallas (Matt Dillon) tries to come onto Cherry inThe Outsiders, Dillon did actually fall off his chair. This was not in the script. You can actually see C. Thomas Howell looks right at the camera as he laughs.
6. The cat in this scene fromHalf Nelsonwasn't meant to be there, star Anthony Mackierecalledto Entertainment Weekly. It had just wandered onto set. "Nobody knew where this cat was from. Nobody checked this cat," Mackie said. "Ryan [Gosling, his costar] picks up the cat, nuzzles it, and starts rubbing the cat. And I'm like, 'Yo, you're gonna catch something. That cat was nasty." Mackie improvised around the moment, telling Gosling's character not to bring the cat into his house.
7. One ofClue's most famous scenes, where Mrs. White says the famous "flames on the side of my face," wasimprovisedby Madeline Kahn. "All that was written was, 'I hated her so much that I wanted to kill her,' or something like that," Michael McKean, who played Mr. Green, said. "But she just kind of went into a fugue about hatred. She did it three or four times, and each time was funnier than the last. I thought that they could have strung a bunch of them together because they had plenty of cutaways of all of us going,What the **** is she talking about?" It's been rumored this is because Kahn forgot her lines, though it could've just been improv. (In which case, this one is less of an accident, but still a fun unscripted moment!)
8. The chase scene ofThe French Connectionwasway realer than you probably realized. "I had no permits to do the chase scene. None," director William Friedkin said. "I broke all the rules, I put myself in danger, I put the lives of others in danger, and I really didn’t care. I just felt that nothing was going to go wrong, and, by the grace of God, it didn't." He put a police siren atop the car to try to keep other drivers away, and operated the camera from the car while stunt driver Bill Hickman drove 90 mph. All car crashes and near-misses in the segment are real accidents (except the baby carriage stunt, which was staged). They actually had to give money to one disgruntled driver. This paid off; it's one of the best car chases in movie history.
9. Clint Eastwood's famous squinty stare, popularized in the movie that made him famous,A Fistful of Dollars,wasaccidental. "That was just the sunlight," Eastwood said when asked about his expression in his 1960s trio of films with Sergio Leone, which started withA Fistful of Dollars. "They bomb me with a bunch of lights, and you're outside, and it's 90 degrees. It's hard not to squint." The films were low-budget and shot in the hot deserts of Spain, so you can hardly blame him. The squint became a hallmark of Eastwood's career.
10. While I can't track down the original source, it's beenwidelyreportedonfan accounts (so it may have been revealed at a screening or fan event) that the final shot ofThe Dark Knightwas an "accident," according to director Christopher Nolan. He reportedly said, "I didn't know how, visually, to end the film. The shot we ended up using, I only discovered in dailies. Our setup was: we had the stunt guy on the bike, and we would chase him with a vehicle filming. He goes up a ramp, and there's a movie light shining down the ramp. He just flew into it, and it flares slightly around the edges of the cape. I saw that in dailies; it's the tail end of the shot. I thought, okay, that's the end of the film."
11.The Blair Witch Projectis basically an entire movie of unplanned moments. It was essentially improvised by the actors, who only had an outline and were mostly alone in the woods with very basic instructions delivered while they were sleeping. The film was, of course, shot by the actors, and Heather Donahuedidn'teven knowhow to use a camera. She was given a two-day course prior to filming, but said, "I didn't really get it all in two days, which is why the camera is superjumpy at some points." This added to the authenticity of the found footage film. It also suggests that the exact framing of the extreme close-up in its most famous scene (which Donahue improvised) was unplanned.
12. In the parody filmBlack Dynamite, there's a moment where Black Dynamite is attacked while at a restaurant. The guy driving forgets to put the car in park as he gets out to shoot, and has to jump back in. According toIMDB, this was an actual on-set mistake. This funny error only added to the comedy and was kept in.
You can see it better in GIF form here:
13. The hilarious moment fromDr. Strangelovewhen Peter Sellers's character suddenly rises from his wheelchair and exclaims, "I can walk!" wasimprovisedby Sellers. It's long beenrumoredthat it occurred because Sellers rose from the wheelchair by accident. This ended up being the end of the film instead of the planned ending.
14. General Turgidson's hilarious fall in Dr. Strangelove wasalsocompletely accidental.
15. This is less a mistake, but it certainly was something that went wrong...the animatronic shark in Jaws didNOTlook realistic, or work properly. It looked so dumb onscreen that director Steven Spielberg decided to make the shark largely unseen throughout the movie. This ended up being agenius moveand is largely why the movie is so frightening: you can't even see the threat.
16. This symbolic moment inThe Two Towers, when the flag of Rohan flies off its post as Eowyn watches, wasaccidental. It was extremely windy on set, and the flag tore off — but it was so perfect for Eowyn's emotions that it was kept in.
17. In what would become an iconic moment, a stormtrooper extraclearlyhit his head in this scene from Star Wars: A New Hope. Fans loved the silly moment, and it seems it was intentionally left in, as there's a sound effect to accompany it. The actor who claimed to be the stormtrooper, Laurie Goode, said he was distracted by an upset stomach and figured he wasn't in the frame when the bump occurred or that a different take would be used. Instead, it became a beloved moment in the film.
18. InCaptain America: Civil War, Tom Holland accidentally blocked the spot where Robert Downey Jr. was supposed to sit in the scene in Peter's bedroom...so Tony telling Peter to move his leg wasactuallyRobert Downey Jr. telling Tom Holland to move. It was a funny, awkward moment that fit perfectly and was kept in.
19. Speaking of Marvel, the funny line fromAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,where a worker confuses Ant-Man for Spider-Man, was actually an accident — the actorconfusedthe two characters.
20. The funny, tiny moment when Tom Hanks accidentally closes the door on his balloons (while also carrying a bag of fish that narrowly avoids meeting the same fate) inYou've Got Mailwas also unscripted – ithappenedcompletely by accident. Running with it, Hanks opened the door and exclaimed, "Good thing it wasn't the fish!"
21. When Norman first comes upon Marion's body inPsycho,hejumps back, knocking a photo off the wall. This was accidental — Anthony Perkins actually managed to convince the usually extremely meticulous director, Alfred Hitchcock, to keep it in and even shoot an insert (in this case, a close-up shot of the photo on the floor) to emphasize it. The small moment served to reinforce Norman's shock.
22. Eva Marie Saint was not meant to drop her glove onOn the Waterfront.It was an accident, and Marlon Brando, famously a method actor, justwentwith it. He picked it up, fiddling with it, then put it on. It was a cute, flirtatious moment that made it into the final cut.
23. Jake Gyllenhaal was always meant to hit the mirror inNightcrawler,butit wasn'tsupposed to break. When it did, it cut Gyllenhaal's hand, and he had to go to the ER to get stitches. This take, with Gyllenhaal's real-life injury, actually ended up in the movie. This served to reinforce his character's unstable identity.
24. In a comedic moment of1941,John Belushi's Kelso falls not once but twice as he's trying to get back onto his plane. He then recovers with an ironic bravado. The second fall — the more serious one —truly happened by accident. Belushiactuallyfell off the wing and landed on his head, sustaining such a serious injury that he had to go to the hospital. However, it made the scene even funnier, and it was kept in.
25. While filmingThe Passion of Christ,Jim Caviezelwashit by a cross that weighed over 250 pounds. "It fell on my head, and I bit through my tongue and my cheek," he said. "And it was actually in the film. You see blood streaming out of my mouth." The moment is even more disturbing as a result.
26. The assistant camerapersonaccidentallyopened the camera magazine in one of the last scenes ofThe Last Temptation of Christ, causing there to be exposure from light on the edge of the film. However, director Martin Scorsese ended up loving it, saying, "The edge fog became the Resurrection."
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27. The "tears" reflected on Robert Blake's face inIn Cold Bloodwereactually an accident. Conrad L. Hall, the director of photography for the film, noticed the rain effect as he was setting up the lighting of the scene using a stand-in, and he decided that it was perfect for the scene.
28. Terry, played by Charles Martin Smith,wasn't meantto crash his scooter inAmerican Graffiti— that was a funny accident that made it into the film.
29. InAlmost Famous, William asking Penny to ask him to come to Morocco with her again was actually Patrick FugitaskingKate Hudson to give him the line again because he wanted to say his line again, only more excited. However, this take — where he becomes more excited after the second time she asks the question — was so sweet that it made it into the final cut.
30. According to the commentary forAmerican Beauty, the remote control car hitting Carolyn, played by Annette Bening, was acomplete accident— but it was so perfect, it ended up in the film.
31. Maria's trip in "I Have Confidence" inThe Sound of Musicwas alsounscripted, but it ended up being the perfect amount of irony for the number, while also demonstrating how poorly prepared the nanny, played by Julie Andrews, actually was.
32. The sound of lightsabers inStar Warswas actually created through a happy accident. When trying to come up with how they'd sound, sound designer Ben Burttwalked byhis TV with a tape recorder that had a broken mic cable, and it picked up the sound and amplified it, creating a buzzing noise that Burtt used in the film.
33. The crash heard after Uncle Billy walks offscreen inIt's a Wonderful Lifewasn't planned— a bunch of props were dropped right as he walked offscreen, and Thomas Mitchell (who played Billy) improvised "I'm alright!," pretending the crash was him. James Stewart's laugh is real.
34. Alvy's sneeze — sending his friend's expensive cocaine into a cloud — inAnnie Hallwas unscripted and accidental. But when Woody Allen, who played Alvy, sneezed, it was decided that ruining his friend's coke was so typical of Alvy, and funny, that itstayedin the film.
35. In the scene fromThe Maskwhen Stanley, played by Jim Carrey, tries to stuff the money in the closet, Milo wasn't supposed to bite the Frisbee. But the Jack Russell terrieractually didjump and bite the Frisbee, holding on for dear life. This was so funny that they decided to incorporate it into the movie.
36. Another funny scene that wasn't meant to happen was inAddams Family Values, when Joel threw the arrow on the ground. The actor, David Krumholtz, couldn't get the arrow on the bow. "So in real-life frustration, that's me throwing it down and walking out," Krumholtzsaid."I was super angry at myself. Then, after they cut, they all started laughing, and they were like, 'That was hilarious!' I was like, 'Oh! OK!'"
37. The cigarette ashwasn't supposedto hit McManus in the eye inThe Usual Suspects— it was an accident, and Stephen Baldwin's reaction is real.
38. And the laughing in the lineup scene wasn't supposed to happen either — it wasmeantto be serious. “We were supposed to be very stoic, very unimpressed, unintimidated,” Kevin Pollak, who played Hockney, said. But “we would lose it over and over and over.” Pollak alsoclaimedin the DVD commentary that part of the reason they laughed was that Benicio del Toro, who played Fenster, "farted like 12 takes in a row," which created one of the most memorable scenes in the film.
39. Similarly, Dustin Hoffman actually accidentally farted in the phone booth scene inRain Man, and Tom Cruise's reactions were improvised. Hoffmancalled ithis "favorite moment" of any film he's done: "That includes Shakespeare that I've done onstage, anything."
40. InDie Hard,the stunt person filming the scene where McClane, played by Bruce Willis, falls down the elevator shaftactually losthis grip, leading to the fall being much longer and scarier than it was supposed to be.
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41. Timothy Dalton, who played Simon Skinner inHot Fuzz,accidentallylooked at the camera in this scene. According to the DVD commentary, the moment was kept in and accompanied by a "ka-ching" to make it seem intentional and meta.
42. According to theDVD CommentaryforAustin Powers: Goldmember, the part where Austin pees next to the fountain — and his stream comes out in little spurts — was an accident. In the film, Austin trips on a cord and accidentally unplugs a water fountain, so he jumps behind it and starts peeing to make it look like it's still going. But when the water pump used to simulate Austin's stream started spurting (because it was running out of water), the filmmakers thought it was funny and decided to incorporate that into the scene by having Austin pee in spurts.
43. We can't 100% confirm this, but according tolegend,Carol Channing's character inThoroughly Modern Milliewas actually supposed to blow a raspberry in the below scene. However, Channing misunderstood the script direction and yelled "RASPBERRIES" instead.
44.Popular legendalsostatesthat the hilarious moment where the camel spits on Bob Hope inRoad to Moroccowas unintentional. Costar Bing Crosby's laughter and response were real.
45. InClueless,Alicia Silverstoneactually thought"Haitians" was pronounced that way, and the director, Amy Heckerling, thought it was so funny that she declined to correct her.
46. Rachel McAdams' scream when the broom behind her falls inDoctor Strangeisreal— the hilarious moment happened by accident, as McAdams was in character and feeling easily startled after her character saw a portal.
47. InBoogie Nights, William H. Macy's character was meant to say "**** in her ***," but kept accidentally saying "*** in her ****." The director, Paul Thomas Anderson,thoughtit was funny and kept it. The funny moment only serves to make his character seem more flustered.
48. InThe Amazing Spider-Man 2, according to the DVD commentary, the funny moment where Gwen accidentally reveals Spider-Man's identitywasa complete accident — Emma Stone yelled his name in character, then covered her mouth when she realized that Gwen should not be shouting Peter's real name out loud in public. The silly momenteven appearedin the trailer.
49. Costar Hank Azariarevealedthat Robin Williams' fall inThe Birdcagewas accidental. "If you watch that little piece of film again, you'll see me laughing and Robin laughing. It's one of those things that happens that you never really think they're going to use, but I was so emotionally upset in the scene — I was supposed to be crying — that I just pretended that he was making me cry even more. But I was actually laughing."
50. InCheech & Chong's Up in Smoke, the dog that eats Chong's burrito was areal straythat just wandered up and ate the burrito. It wasn't in the script.
51. InA Knight's Tale, the crowd was supposed to cheer at Chaucer's speech. However, many of the extras did not speak English and didn't realize it was time for them to cheer. Mark Addythen started cheeringto get the extras to join in — a funny moment that director Brian Helgeland kept in.
52. InZoolander, Ben Stiller had actually forgottenhis lineafter JP Prewitt explained why he was using male models, so he just repeated his last line again. The actor playing Prewitt, David Duchovny, ad-libbed a reply, and the exchange ended up in the film.
53. InThe Princess Diaries,Mia's fall on the bleachers was completely accidental — Anne Hathawayreally did fall(the bleachers were slippery because it had just rained), but it was so funny it was left in.
54. InHow the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch was supposed to knock over everything on the table when he pulls the tablecloth. However, Jim Carreyaccidentally performedthe trick flawlessly, and everything stayed where it was on the table — this resulted in Carrey improvising pushing everything off.
55. Accordingtoaudio commentary forScream,Skeet Ulrich didn't mean to hit Matthew Lillard in the head when he slammed the phone down — the fake blood on his hand made it slip. Lillard then improvised his iconic line: "You ******' hit me with the phone, ****!" Lillard's reaction was so good, it was kept in.
56. InScrooged,Bill Murray's character wasn't supposed to fall after throwing water on the waiter. Murray accidentally slipped on the water on the floor, and it was so funny that theykeptit in.
57. The scene inMrs. Doubtfirewhere Daniel sticks his face in a cake to avoid being recognized was planned — but the crewdidn't realizethe heat from the lighting would melt the frosting, causing it to fall into Mrs. Sellner's tea.
58. The elephant next to Ewan McGregor's character inBig Fishwasnot meantto poop during the circus scene where he's cleaning their enclosure – however, it worked perfectly to comedically contrast Edward's mood. "How amazing was that moment when the elephant craps on screen? We'd shot the wide shot where you see the two elephant's bums and then me. We'd shot that and we'd moved in to do a close-up. ... As we were setting that up, it lifted its tail and we all went, 'Quick!' and they widened the camera out, I got ready, and there was no turnover. They just turned the camera on and I played the scene as it dumped next to me. Genius," McGregor said of the scene.
59. InKnives Out,the ending shot — where Marta drinks from a cup that says "my house, my rules, my coffee" — wasunplanned. Director Rian Johnson called it "kind of ... a happy accident." He said, "I knew I wanted her to like sip tea in the final shot, and I had had separately the idea of 'My house, my rules, my coffee,' as that first shot in the movie — after that first big dramatic shot of the house, breaking the tension with kind of a goofy modern joke mug." He then came up with bringing the mug back at the end, and as they were filming, he asked Ana to take a sip of tea – realizing that the words "my house" perfectly came into frame.
60. InGlass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,Pegwassupposedto smash the glass wheel — but she accidentally did it before she was supposed to. There was only one glass wheel, and director Rian Johnson was explaining how she'd only have one chance when Jessica Henwick actually dropped it and looked into the camera in terror at what she'd done. Luckily, they were already filming, and her real panic ended up being perfect: "That's the take that's in the movie," Johnson revealed.
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61. InHome Alone,Kevin was supposed to move his hands from his face before his iconic scream. However, on the first take, he kept his hands on his face, and director Chris Columbus and editor Raja Gosnellthoughtit was hilarious and kept it in.
62. Harrison Ford's character inThe Fugitivehad a limp because Fordactuallytore a ligament in his knee early into filming andrefusedto get it treated. The limp ended up adding to the realism and tension.
63. Michael Caine wasn't supposed to be speechless when his character, Alfred, first sees a video of the Joker. Cainesaid, "I had to do this bit where Batman and I watch a video which The Joker sends to threaten us. So I'd never seen him, and then he came on the television in the first rehearsal and I completely forgot my lines. I flipped, because it was so stunning, it was quite amazing." In the final scene, Caine doesn't speak.
64. Daniel Craig's suave water bottle catch inThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoohappened completely by accident. According to theDVD commentary, on the sixteenth or so take of the below scene, he accidentally knocked over a water bottle and then "deftly" caught it "like Gene Kelly." Director David Fincher immediately knew he wanted it in the film, saying, "I don't know what we could hope for that would be better than that."
Watch the moment in GIF form here. (Sorry it's so dark — why don't we light movies anymore???)
65. InTitanic,Leonardo DiCaprioflubbeda line where he was supposed to direct Winslet's character to lie on the couch during her **** scene. He instead indicated she should go "over on the bed," then corrected himself to say "the couch." The moment made his character Jack appear flustered, which was perfect for the scene.
66. Joaquin Phoenix studied wild animals in captivity for his prison cell scene inThe Master. Smashing the toilet wasn't in the script; it was just a part of him going berserk. "I didn't intend to break the thing," Phoenixsaid."I didn't know that was possible."
67. According to a story Jane Russellrecounted inBlonde Heat: The Sizzling Screen Career of Marilyn Monroe,she was not supposed to fall in the pool during "Ain't There Anyone Here for Love?" inGentlemen Prefer Blondes.One of the dancers, Ed Fury, accidentally pushed her in with his foot. He was then fired because he tried to claim co-choreographer credit for the mistake.
68. The famousMidnight Cowboyscene when Ratso slams his hands down on a taxi that almost hits him and yells, "I'm walking here!" was theresultof an accident. They didn't have the money to create a full set with extras, so they used a "stolen shot" — using a hidden camera on a real street. At one point, the characters cross the street — they had rehearsed and timed the dialogue so they could cross when the signal was green. But in the first shot, a car ran the light and almost hit them. Staying in character, Ratso yelled, "I'm walking here!"
69. TheRockytraining scene where Rocky is thrown an orange in the Italian market happened similarly — the passerby thought he was a real runner andreally didthrow him an orange. Sylvester Stallone caught it and went with it.
70. According to the documentaryI Am Heath Ledger, thereal reasonHeath Ledger licked his lips so much as the Joker inThe Dark Knightwas to keep his makeup from coming off. It ended up becoming a signature part of his character.
71. In1917, Schofieldwasn't supposedto fall — an extra ran into him, causing him to fall over. He got back up again and kept running. Screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns said she screamed when he fell, and that it was like "watching your team mess up a field goal at the Super Bowl." When George MacKay got up, director Sam Mendes yelled to keep filming, "and out of that came a sort of movie magic, I think, personally," Wilson-Cairns said. "I’m obviously a little biased, but it’s one of my favorite scenes of the film."
72. The famous shot of Daniel Craig as James Bond walking out of the water inCasino Royalewas not meant to happen. "It was actually by accident," hesaid."Where we filmed, off the Bahamas, it's just one of those places where there is a sand shelf and the sand shelf happens to be three feet deep. Because the idea was, I was supposed to swim in and sort of float off, but I swim in and stand up. And it was just one of those things."
73. Calvin slicing open his hand inDjango Unchainedwas accidental — DiCaprioactually sliced it,and kept going with the scene despite bleeding. It made the scene even more terrifying, and Calvin seem even more unhinged.
74. Toothless hesitating to touch his nose to Hiccup's hand inHow to Train Your Dragonwas a mistake — itwas caused by a software error— but it fit the moment, so it was kept in.
75. TheChildren of Menscene when blood splatters on the camera was a complete accident — it happened on their last chance to film the six-minute continuous scene. Director Alfonso Cuarón yelled "cut" when the blood splattered onto the camera, but the assistant director didn't hear him because an explosion went off at the same time. They continued with the shot, which the cinematographercalleda "miracle."
76. The cat Don Corleone creepily (yet iconically) pets inThe Godfatherwas not in the script. Director Francis Ford Coppola spotted the stray on set and handed it to Marlon Brando (who loved animals) for the scene. In fact, italmost ruinedmultiple takes from purring too loudly.
77. Another one fromThe Godfather— Lenny Montana was so terrified to act alongside Marlon Brando that he tripped up on his lines in the scene where his character Luca Brasi greets Don Corleone. Coppola saw this and decided to make his anxiety a part of his character,adding in an additionalscene in which Brasi practices greeting Don Corleone. This made Brasi far more layered and memorable.
78. And finally, the swastika falling inInglourious Basterdswas accidental — the fireburnedwayyy hotter than expected and caused it to fall.
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