HIGHLIGHTS: Actor mistakes that became moments of genius include Alicia Silverstone mispronouncing “Haitians” in “Clueless”, Anne Hathaway slipping on the bleachers in “The Princess Diaries”, and Heath Ledger’s Joker licking his lips in “The Dark Knight”.
FULL STORY: Sometimes an actor makes a mistake that doesn’t just make it into the final movie or TV show, but actually becomes a moment of GENIUS. Here are some examples:
1. On “Breaking Bad”, when Walt kidnapped Holly and she called out for her mom, that was the child actor calling out for her real mother. It wasn’t scripted, but Bryan Cranston had the presence of mind to just go with it.
2. In “The Princess Diaries”, Mia wasn’t meant to slip on the bleachers. They were wet because it had just rained, and Anne Hathaway went down by accident. But it was so funny, they kept it.
3. Dustin Hoffman’s classic line, “I’m walkin’ here” from “Midnight Cowboy” was completely improvised. He and Jon Voigt were walking across an actual busy street, and the cab almost hitting them was NOT part of the scene.
4. Phil tripping on a broken step on “Modern Family” was a running joke that occurred by accident. During Season 1, Ty Burrell was running down the stairs and tripped, and ad-libbed the line “Gotta fix that step!”
5. Victoria Justice struggling to catch the microphone in the opening credits of “Victorious” was a screw-up.
6. Why did the Joker lick his lips so much in “The Dark Knight”? Because Heath Ledger was trying to keep his makeup from coming off.
7. Robin Williams was supposed to push his face into a cake in “Mrs. Doubtfire”, but the frosting dripping into Mrs. Sellner’s tea was a happy accident. Apparently, the heat from the lights melted it.
8. In “Clueless”, Cher pronounces the word “Haitians” as “Haiti-ins” during a school presentation. It turns out that’s how Alicia Silverstone really thought the word was pronounced.
The director heard her saying it during rehearsal, and decided NOT to correct her, so she would sound naturally confident when she mispronounced it.
(Check out a lot more of these here.)
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