The most romantic moments on screen are not always planned. Actors can surprise their co-stars as well as the director himself when they hear the word "action"
Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in "Lost in Translation"
“Lost in Translation” follows old Hollywood actor Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and young Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) as they develop a friendship in Tokyo. At the end of the film, Bob says goodbye to Charlotte and whispers something in her ear that was never revealed in a touching scene that includes a kiss. Johansson had no idea that her partner was going to kiss her because she wasn't in the script. At the time, Murray decided to include the kiss, and Sofia Coppola immediately loved that moment between her leads. In fact, Scarlett's reaction to the unscripted kiss made the ending even better. “I remember sometimes Bill would rant to Scarlett, and it was fun to get her reaction. It was a tender goodbye where they both knew they had touched each other in some way," the director said of the moving scene when asked by The Daily Beast.
Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence in "American Hustle"
During a scene from "American Hustle," Rosalyn Rosenfeld (Jennifer Lawrence) confronts her husband's lover, Sydney (Amy Adams). Suddenly, Rosalyn impulsively kisses Sydney before walking off and laughing maniacally. Adams came up with the idea for the kiss and told the director, but Lawrence's performance came as a surprise. In press interviews, director David O. Russell revealed that the two actresses came up with the idea. "The kiss was something that was thrown, and I didn't know how it was going to happen, and Jennifer helped finish the logic of how it was going to happen," he told Vanity Fair. "I came up with the idea, but she executed it organically with her character," Adams said during the promotion for the film. “Not only did it feel like a moment where the two of them would kiss on screen, but it felt emotional. And the laugh that Lawrence gives afterward? That was great".
Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis in "Top Gun"
When Charlie (Kelly McGillis) explains to Maverick (Tom Cruise) that she doesn't want anyone to find out about her feelings for him in the blockbuster “Top Gun,” she interrupts the conversation with a passionate kiss. It's a sweet moment that defines their relationship, but it wasn't part of the original script. In fact, the conversation between Charlie and Maverick was supposed to continue without any rapprochement between the actors. However, Tom Cruise forgot his lines. Instead of starting the scene over, he decided to kiss Kelly McGillis. Director Tony Scott really liked the direction the scene took, which ended up leaving it in the movie.
Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard in "Jurassic World"
Throughout 2015's "Jurassic World," romantic tension builds between Claire Dearing (Howard) and Owen Grady (Pratt). That tension culminates in a kiss between the two after Claire saves Owen from a flying dinosaur, but that moment wasn't in the script or requested by the director. According to the protagonist of the film, the kiss was not intended. "It was not written. it was spontaneous,” Bryce Dallas Howard told Out magazine. Director Colin Trevorrow would have expressed his desire for such a moment between his leads, but not much more than that. On the last day of filming, Trevorrow pulled Pratt aside and suggested that he surprise Howard with a kiss on set. "The idea was for Chris to surprise her in front of 200 people ... and that's the shot that's in the movie," the filmmaker said.
Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise in "Edge of Tomorrow"
In “Edge of Tomorrow,” Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is trapped in a time loop that sends him back to the day before he died over and over again. While trying to escape the time loop while saving humanity from aliens, Cage seeks the help of Special Forces fighter Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt). Although the writers originally wanted a romantic moment between the pair, they couldn't find a moment where a kiss felt appropriate. Thankfully, Emily Blunt took matters into her own hands and planted a kiss on Tom Cruise during one scene. Although she surprised everyone, Cruise included, everyone agreed that the kiss worked and made it into the movie.
“When we tried to write some kind of romantic moment between them, it always felt fake,” Christopher McQuarrie, one of the film's screenwriters, told Film School Rejects. “It always felt like they weren't focused on what was really important. When we were shooting that scene at the 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 just as Emily was saying goodbye to Tom, she kissed him on the spot. And she wasn't in the script. It was not even discussed that day. Then she said: 'It just felt good. It felt good and I did it.'”
