10 Actors Whose Brilliant Moment Of Improvisation Landed Them The Role
7. Steve Carell - Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy
In recent years, Steve Carell has been redefining himself as an actor with stellar dramatic turns in everything from Foxcatcher (2014), The Big Short (2015) and Vice (2018). So, it's always fun to remind ourselves just how brilliant he was at making our sides split in the earlier stages of his film career.
His outstanding manipulated-newsreader riffing in Bruce Almighty (2003) was a sign of just how quickly Carell could think on his feet, but it was his audition for 2004's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy that really showcased his unrivalled improvisation skills.
Demonstrating his eating of a rancid 'sandwich' in front of a panel containing the film's star, Will Ferrel, Carell began to explain how found the sarnie - which consisted of cigarette butts and a used coffee filter - in the 'food basket' and obliviously joined in with the rousing laughter that followed.
Between his inhuman jaw movements and insistence on mime-eating the garbage that they all found hysterical, Carell pushed the awkward other-worldliness of his character, Brick Tamland, to new unimaginable heights and gave the people in charge no choice but to give him the part - after slowly taking away his 'lunch'.