Actors Exposed Their Special Talents, Then Writers Put It Into Their Shows
When we watch a film or TV show, we can be almost certain that what we see on screen has been painstakingly orchestrated by directors and producers. But occasionally a director discovers an actor’s secret talent or skill and spontaneously decides that it needs to go in the script. Here are 20 examples of just such a phenomenon, from a Glee star’s super swordplay to an acclaimed actress’ ability to have a nosebleed on cue!
1. Lisa Kudrow’s fluent French
Remember the episode of Friends where Joey needs to learn French for an upcoming audition? Well, if not, we can remind you that it was a season ten one that saw the hapless Italian-American hilariously fail in his attempts to learn the language. Joey enlisted the help of a certain Phoebe Buffay, who proved herself to be surprisingly adept with the lingo.
Très bien!
What you might not know is that this proficiency extended to the woman who played Phoebe, Lisa Kudrow. Yes, Kudrow didn’t need to swot up on French for the episode at all, and was, in fact, chosen by the writers to teach the language to Joey. How come? Well, Kudrow has been married to a Frenchman called Michel Stern since 1995, having met back in the 1980s. All that means she’s well versed en Français. Très bien, Mademoiselle Kudrow!
2. Joseph Quinn’s guitar skills
One of the most beloved scenes in Stranger Things is the “Master of Puppets” sequence, in which Eddie Munson performs the classic Metallica song. It was handy, then, that actor Joseph Quinn was already a talented guitarist. He told Collider, “I played guitar since I was very young, so… I had a foundation there. When I read the scripts… I went out and bought a guitar and manically started learning ‘Master of Puppets.’”
"I’m a human being"
Quinn continued to Collider, “On the day, me and Gaten [Matarazzo] just got up on top of the camper van, and just got into it. It was very fun. I played most of it. We got a kind of black belt metal guitarist [Aiden Fisher] to come in and do the solo because I’m a human being.” The other guitarist’s hands were used on-screen for the close-ups.
