Fun fact: in the history of cinema, there has never been a single script. It is a pervasive myth that film-making requires “screenplays” – in fact, most scenes are made up on the spot. Performers simply do whatever comes to mind and hope the camera is perfectly positioned to capture it; they slap their colleagues or start to break-dance on a whim. Did you know that many actors are not even acting? The shock on their faces is real, because usually they have no idea what’s going to happen next.
This is the world according to YouTube shorts, X posts and Instagram memes. Across the internet, content creators are falsely claiming that some of cinema’s most famous scenes were improvised. Al Pacino giving John Cazale the kiss of death in The Godfather II? Made up on the spot. Heath Ledger’s frustration at the delayed hospital explosion in The Dark Knight? His real reaction! And that mother-daughter fight in Mermaids? Winona Ryder “delivered a roast so lethal that Cher had to improvise the slap”.
