Bryan Cranston says he still gets paid for two-second whistles and tiny bits of humming he did as Hal on Malcolm in the Middle.
“When I was on Malcolm in the Middle, my character used to hum and whistle a lot.”
Fox's music supervisor eventually called him and asked, “Are you a member of BMI or ASCAP?” Cranston replied, “No, why?”
The supervisor explained, “I need to write down every second of music on a show. Unless you're whistling and humming someone else's work?”
Cranston jokingly replied, “How dare you! Original!”
“To this day, I will get a check that said, ‘Hal humming, two seconds. Hal whistling, a second and a half.’”
He would cash the checks and buy drinks for the crew, who eventually began suggesting more scenes for Hal to whistle.
“Hey Bryan, it looks like a good opportunity for Hal to whistle on his way to the car.”
Cranston would reply, “You just want a drink, don’t you?”
One of my favorite Alex Ross paintings is this one of Hulk. It conveys so much about the character without spelling it out for you, it’s incredible.
Also an incredible example of how you can use tangents purposefully.
In Spider-Man 3, there was a whole character named Dr. Wallace (Adrian Lester) who got completely cut. He's the biologist Sandman forces to cure his sick daughter, which is why he was stealing money in the first place
In the deleted scene, Sandman comes out of an air vent in Wallace's lab, confronts him, and slams him against the glass wall demanding a cure.
Without him, Sandman's entire motivation makes a lot less sense in the final film.
Sam Raimi personally called Adrian Lester to apologize for cutting him, the movie was running over 3 hours.