8 On-Screen Kisses That Were Completely Unscripted

Watch these scenes to see if you can catch the improv. Tom Cruise forgot his lines in Top Gun and Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence created some *serious* tension in American Hustle. These on-screen kisses were never supposed to happen, here's what went down. 

16 July, 2021
 8 On-Screen Kisses That Were Completely Unscripted

Much like IRL, there are times when stuff that happens on-screen in the movies goes off the script. In fact, some of the best cinematic moments are at times, impromptu, and lines and sometimes entire scenes are improvised. Romantic scenes and on-screen kisses are no exception to this rule. Actors can surprise their co-stars with a kiss because it feels right for the moment if they forget their dialogue or find that the previous scene was not flowing well. While improvisation goes with the creative territory, it is no surprise then that some of the most touching, hilarious and romantic on-screen kisses were never supposed to happen. Read our list below. 

8 Famous Movie and TV Show Kisses that Were Not in the Script 

1. Lost in Translation

The Oscar-winning drama Lost in Translation follows the story of a romance between a faded movie star (Bob Murray) and a lonely young newlywed living in Tokyo (Scarlet Johansson). As the pair parts at the end of the film, they share a tender embrace and a touching kiss. Well, director Sophia Coppola revealed in an interview that a kiss was never supposed to happen! "It was always meant to be this tender goodbye where they both knew that they had touched each other in some way," she shares." And I remember sometimes (Bill Murray) would always spring things on (Scarlet Johansson), and it was fun to get her reaction."


 

2. American Hustle 

In a now-iconic scene, Jennifer Lawrence's character confronts her con man husband’s mistress played by Amy Adams. Suddenly, Rosalyn (Jennifer) impulsively kisses Sydney (Amy), before leaning back and laughing bitterly. In press interviews, the director of the film  David O. Russell revealed that the two actresses came up with the kiss together. "The kiss was something that was pitched, and I didn't know how it would happen, and Jennifer helped finish the logic of how it would happen," he said. The result, an emotional, unexpected and provoking cinematic scene. 


 

3. The Office

When Micheal Scott (Steve Carrell) accidentally outs Oscar (Oscar Nunez) for being gay in season 3 and makes some homophobic comments, he has to prove to the whole office that he is absolutely fine with homosexuality. To do so, he makes everyone watch as he kisses Oscar on the mouth (akkkkwaarrdd). This hilarious scene, amongst the funniest The Office moments, was entirely improvised by Steve Carrel. Watch it below. 

4. Jurrasic World 

Throughout the movie, you can sense the tension building between Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and velociraptor trainer Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), culminating in a kiss between the two after Claire saves Owen from a flying dinosaur (yep, gotta love this franchise!). The moment, my friends, was completely improvised. "The kiss was spontaneous," explained a cast member in an interview. "That wasn't written in there. Once it was shot director Colin Trevorrow said, 'I think the characters are going to earn this. I think that it's good to have a moment like this,."


 

5. The Edge of Tomorrow

The movies scriptwriters struggled to write a kiss between the two lead actors, Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, so they took matters into their own hands. 

"As we tried to write some sort of a romantic moment between them, it always felt false," one of the movies screenwriters shared. "It always felt like they weren't focused on what was really important...As we were shooting that scene at the very end of the movie, we gave up on the kiss. We weren't even trying to find a place for it anymore," he continued. "And right as Emily was saying goodbye to Tom, she just kissed him goodbye in the moment. And it was not in the script. It was not even discussed on the day. Afterwards, she said, 'It just felt right. It felt right and I did it.'"


 

6. Game of Thrones

In the 7th season of Game of Thrones, Yara Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan) was only supposed to flirt with Ellaria (Indira Verma). " It was meant to be a suggestion of flirting," shares Gemma," but it became more sexual than expected because it felt right. 


 

7. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

One of the most sweetest, most emotional moments of 2017's "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" occurs when Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) reunites with his sister, Leia (Carrie Fisher). At the end of the scene, Luke gives Leia a kiss on the forehead, a moment that Mark improvised during filming."It was just spontaneous, and really momentous for me, because Luke was saying goodbye to his sister forever," the actor confessed in an interview. 


 

8. Top Gun 

After Maverick (Tom Cruise) stops his motorcycle and Charlie (Kelly Mc Gillis) catches up to him, Tom Cruise was supposed to say something, but her forgot his lines...so he improvised with a kiss. The director loved it, and the rest is eighties film history!


 

 

 


 

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