Time an actor managed to convince the writers to change plot points

On the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Dylan Sprouse refused to do fat jokes the writers wrote about the actress who played his mom. She was pregnant during some of filming and the writers wanted him to make fat jokes. Every time the lines came up, he would just skip them and go onto the next line.

It was Vito’s actor on the Sopranos that suggested they make his character gay.

Liam Cunningham as Davos on Game of Thrones  “When we first meet Daenerys, Benioff and [director Mark Mylod] wanted Davos to have a crush on Missandei. And I fought them. I’m not f****** doing it. It’s the only thing I ever stood up to them on. The woman is a goddess, but with Davos’ history with Lyanna Mormont and Shireen, you can’t have him getting the hots for a young woman. You’re not undoing my hard work engendering the sympathy of the audience to have him be a perv.”

Bob Newhart frequently told the story about the time that The Bob Newhart Show's writers sent him the script for an episode where Emily announces she's pregnant. It was a whole new direction for the show. They were eager to find out what he thought about the script for the big moment. "It's a great script," he said. "Who are you thinking of hiring to play Bob?" And that was the end of it.

Similarly I believe there was going to be a "Jim cheats on Pam" storyline in the latter seasons of The Office John refused to do.

Kevin Williamson created Dawson's Creek with the intention that Dawson and Joey would end up together in the end, and Kevin came back to write the show's finale when the show ended. He wrote the first draft of the script with his initial intention of Dawson and Joey getting together, but Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson campaigned to him for Joey to end up with Pacey instead. Kevin listened to Katie and Josh's input and realized his script didn't feel right, so he changed the end of his show to have Joey and Pacey end up together and Dawson got to meet his idol Steven Spielberg instead.

Katee Sackhoff influenced the decision of who was Starbuck's ultimate love in Battlestar Galactica.

*Kira sleeping in her quarters* *Gul Dukat calls her in the middle of the night* "I fucked your mom" *Dukat hangs up* This legitimately happened lol

In Leon, Jean Reno thankfully refused to play Leon as a pedophile the way pedophilic director Luc Besson intended and instead maintained a more socially awkward caretaker role for Matilda (a child)

For season 3 of Heroes, the actors asked for script changes to be done on the day of filming because they realized that the scene between their characters (I believe it was Pater and Matt) just didn't make sense due to their interaction in their previous episode. For Lost, Evangeline Lily (Kate) absolutely hated the love triangle scenes in the episode Catch 22. That's the episode where Kate get jealous of Jack seeing Juliet, so she runs off to sleep with Sawyer. Evangeline knew that she couldn't get any script changes, so she tried to bargain with the show's editors to have her scenes feel less shitty.

Days of Our Lives actor Joey Tribbiani once boasted that he wrote most of the lines for his character Dr. Drake Ramoray. The writers responded by having him fall down an elevator shaft. Ironically, Ramoray's injuries were so severe, the only doctor who could have saved him was him.

My favorite example of the opposite is when Jonathan Banks wanted Mike to use the grammatically correct “whom” in a line of dialogue in the season 4 episode “Bug.” The writer Thomas Schnauz refused. Banks remembered this and playfully kvetched about it on a podcast. I’ve always suspected Schnauz refused because Walt uses a very dramatic “whom” later in that same episode, and Schnauz didn’t want to compromise its impact on some subliminal level by having the word show up earlier.

In the incursion episode in season one of the Blacklist the Dembe was originally going to be killed. James Spader convinced the showrunners to keep him alive. On top of that he wrote the monologue that Reddington gives; “I won’t let them get the best of me, and they certainly won’t get the last of me”

While filming Star Trek VI, Nichelle Nichols refused a couple of lines, including "look who is coming to dinner." The line was given to Walter Koenig instead.

Probably Steve Harrington's actor turning him from a potentially jerk boyfriend into a fan favorite.

African-American Eriq LaSalle played Peter Benton on ER, and his character entered a romantic relationship with white Elizabeth Corday, played by Alex Kingston, in season 4. He felt that it would not be logical for his character to date a white woman, and made his opinion known in the writers' room. So, Benton and Corday had an uneventful and undramaric relationship in season 5, followed by an undramatic break-up. Also, Gloria Reuben, playing HIV-positive Jeanie Boulet, decided on how the virus affected her character. The writers may have planned for it to be all melodramatic, but she wanted to make sure that the viewers know HIV is not the end of the world for people, and her character had an optimistic run having to live with HIV, including finding a husband and adopting a child.

Norman Reedus stopped a drug abuse storyline for his character in season 2 of the walking dead.

Zack Gilford (who plays the character Matt Saracen) told the writers of Friday Night Lights that the story they wrote in for the season 1 finale where Tyra and Lyla murder a man was stupid and didn’t fit the show. It was filmed but was not included in the show. Instead they rewrote it to make it Landry and Tyra and did it for season 2. Everyone thought it was stupid because it was.

Watching DS9's "What We Left Behind" doc seems to imply that Nana Visitor also didn't want to have anything to do with Marc Alaimo, who was hot for the actress.

A lot of the time there is a contract clause where the actor has the power to call for a rewrite if they don’t think it will fit the character. But then on a lot of comedy shows, like the Office, there are open-ended scripts that call for improvisation. Famous comedy actors tend to get a lot of leeway when it comes to rewriting because of their improv skills. Big actors that are experienced tend to get the same respect depending on the production and how much ass they’ve kissed.

The Professional with Jean Reno and Natalie Portman (child). If you eatch the movie, you'd know Natalie's character likes/is in love with Jean (and adult). She refers to him as her lover, and there are a few other scenes that hint at her attraction. If I remeber correctly, the original script (per the director) want the two of the to be in a full blown relationship, from the start. Jean (lead actor) didn't like that, and suggested changes be made (thankfully). There is one scene where the two are joking with each other and she is playing dress up. She plays dress up as Marolyn Monroe (dress/lipstick and all). The dress/dance scene i always felt a little uncomfortable with. Makes me think what the film could have been if no changes were made.

Just talking about DS9, the Rootbeer scene was a product of Garak and Quark’s actors I think. It’s not a big scene but they have some really interesting interviews out there where they talk about, as actors, approaching the writing team in order to make changes in the script

The O.C. Adam Brody was friends with the showrunner/creator, so his character went from nerdy guy to cool guy (which, in my opinion, killed the dynamic and made it kind of boring in later seasons).

Also with DS9, Avery Brooks didn't want to be Another Black Man Who Runs Off From His Family, so he had them throw in the line about how he'll be back "yesterday." Starfleet Academy notwithstanding, >!my head canon is he did come back a few weeks later and is living quietly in Kendra Valley with Kasidy and the baby, and only Jake and Kira know.!<

Kirk Cameron getting Julie McCullough fired after she posed naked, because as an extreme hypocrite it's more important to use his religion as an excuse to attack others than to treat other people the way he wants to be treated.

Supposedly Joe Gannascoli pushed the writers of The Sopranos to do Vito’s gay storyline.

He didnt directly request it, but Aaron Paul was so good as Jessie Pinkman in S1 of Breaking Bad that they abandoned their plan to kill him off at the end of the season ans kept him on as a main character to the end of the show. I cant imagine the show without him now.

Originally Uncle Fester, played by Christopher Lloyd, in the Addams Family movie was never intended to be the REAL Uncle Fester. Christina Ricci convinced the director and producers of Addams Family movie that Christopher Lloyd's character HAD to be the real Uncle Fester, and that it made no sense for him to be an imposter all along who just pretends to be Fester in the end. Apparently the sight of Ricci holding her own and explaining to a group adults in charge of the film for 15-30 minutes that their planned ending didnt work was amazingly impressive. So much so they changed thenscript and made Fester into the real character at the end.

Maya Hawke advocated for her character in Stranger Things to be gay, when Robin was originally intended as a love interest for Steve. It made both of their characters better, and it provided a foundation for Will’s character arc in the final season.

Cavill convinced Hissrich to pull the joke they wrote for the Witcher to say after Roach, his horse, was killed.  Geralt’s character would *never* make such a crass joke at the passing of his loyal steed.

I remember something about Jenna Ortega trying to explain to people that Wednesday Adams would never do a dance scene. Also Jim Carrey had to stand firm that there was no chance his character was getting on that bus at the end of Dumb & Dumber.

I'm also interested to know how close these scenarios were to actually happening. Like, was the script written and the actor said no, and thus it was rewritten? Or was it more like, a general discussion with producers / writers / cast about how a season could roll out, and the actor suggested something different?

Jesse Pinkman was supposed to die in season one of Breaking Bad.

Early on Lost in Space, Jonathan Harris convinced the producers to change his character of Dr. Smith from a murderous saboteur to a buffoonish troublemaker, and the rest was infamy.

Back in the 1980s, Donna Mills went to the producer of Knots Landing and asked him to change a plot point in which her character was involved in the kidnapping of newborn twins. The writers originally had her setting up the crime, but Mills rightfully argued that viewers would never forgive her character for that. The plot was changed to her consultant arranging the kidnapping after hearing her complain about her husband fathering the twins with his ex. The consultant was then killed before he could tell her what he’d done.

That Chandler plotline would have essentially been a retread of the "photocopy girl" plotline with Ross and Rachel. Definitely the right thing to change it.

Joey Tribianni and the elevator :D

Shrinking and Jessica Williams. She explained that there was zero chance her character would ever be friends or even friendly with the person who killed her beat friend and would be furious at all the rest of the main cast for hanging out with him. And so Brett Goldstein was written out of the show.

Mike Farrell as BJ Hunnicut convinced the writers not to have him cheat on his wife. He felt he was a firm family man, and wouldn’t do that.

It makes you wonder why these writers try to insert these cheating story arcs. Is it just lazy writing? Or are they trying to rationalize their own cheating in their personal lives. If a beloved character can be redeemed, why not them? Anyways, that's my pondering thought for the day, enjoy!

Arnie had the producers drastically changed the story for Total Recall. It was never meant to set on Mars.

On My Family, Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wannamaker refused to film one episode that they considered too poor and because theu were the stars, it got scrapped

Gigi Edgley was supposed to play a one-off character on Farscape, but she had such great chemistry with the rest of the cast that they rewrote her death at the end of the episode to just a wound and she became main cast just a few episodes later.

When the show *Inspector Morse*, an adaptation of a series of books, was in early production the producers had eyes set on John Thaw to play the titular character. Thaw, due to having previously worked on *The Sweeney*, didn't want to be a copper on TV again but agreed... on the condition that the character trait of Morse being a *massive* pervert be removed from the TV adaptation.

I will forever love Nana Visitor for not letting Kira/Dukat become a thing. I kind of think actors would be nice to have in the writer's room every now and again because they think about their character more than the writers really have time to.

Neal McDonough has a stipulation in his contracts that he won’t kiss or have sexual scenes with actresses. Which is probably why he plays so many bad guys. Other than looking like the Aryan dream come true.

The unrequited Lennier/Delenn storyline was apparently Bill Mumy’s idea. The Ivanova Boom Shakalaka scene was due to a request by the actress to do more comedy

I only know of the cases where actors were so good that they changed the writers' ideas. My prime examples are Chris Pratt in Parks and Rec who got promoted to main cast because he was funny af and Neill Flynn in Scrubs. He was supposed to be a one off character and also an imagination by JD but they also kept him because he was so good in his role.

Knowing now about the director, it all makes sense. What a prick

Not a TV show example but similar, but in the *Yakuza/Like A Dragon* series of games, the protagonists can participate in a karaoke minigame in most if not all of the series entries... except for one. When the series went from action-brawler to a Japanese role-playing game with *Yakuza: Like A Dragon*^1 it naturally led to the inclusion of party members who can all sing in the Karaoke minigame, some even performing together... except for Joon-gi Han, who doesn't participate in the minigame at all in the first RPG entry (he does get some in the next game, *Infinite Wealth*). This is because of his voice actor Yuichi Nakamura, who openly admitted that he didn't like singing and wasn't very good at it so he just asked to be left out of the minigame. This is also reflected in gameplay. The game features a class/job system where the player can unlock roles for the party members. One of the most difficult jobs to unlock for Joon-gi is the Musician class. Also, originally the gangster Goro Majima was supposed to be from Osaka and spoke in a Kansai accent... which Hidenari Ugaki couldn't fake for shit, his accent coming across as incredibly fake. So, they just changed it to Majima faking the accent and in certain scenes, he actually reverts back to his native accent. Given just how f****** *weird* Majima is, it fits the character perfectly. And going back to the karaoke minigame, when Majima became playable, Ugaki also hated singing... so Majima just straight-up deliberately fucks up the songs for his own amusement. 1: Yes, the title's confusing. It's when the series began to switch from the original English title *Yakuza* back to its Japanese name *Like A Dragon*.

And then there is the other side of the coin. Sam Waterson played D.A. Jack McCoy on Law and Order for nearly 30 years. I remember an interviewer asked him if he had any input in the writer’s room because his character was so passionate and believable. His answer was “absolutely not”. He said his job was showing up and performing the actions the writers had already set in stone. A real pro’s pro.

In Farscape, Scorpius was meant to be a one and done villain, his fate to die on his base when the crew blew it up. But the dude was just *too damned good*. So they fudged the details, let him survive, and one of the greatest villains in Sci Fi history was born.

Amy Pohler got her character in Parks and Rec changed after season 1. She was a Michael Scott clone in season 1, and thought if it stayed that way the show wouldnt last. Chris Pratt also wasnt supposed to last past season 1. I dont think he had any input though; he was just too entertaining to fire.

It's my understanding that when it comes to TV the actors have a lot more leeway in developing their characters and storylines, and that it's not at all uncommon for them to be involved in the process of saying things like "Yea um my character would literally never say that," or from a scene point of view "I don't think my character would ever realistically be put into that situation."

Daredevil Born Again season 1. Charlie Cox and Vincent D’onofrio told the writers that it was going to work. So they cut together what they could from the existing film and cobbled together a better story for DD:BA. You can really tell because the last (?) 2 episodes of Born again had a completely different feel. Both Cox and D’onofrio have been outspoken on what their characters would and would not do.

Melania - leaving out the entire Epstein call girl portion of her life.

Ellen Page transitioning to Elliot Page made the writers of Umbrella Academy transition Vanya to Viktor.