Nobody said making a film is supposed to be easy.
Actors and directors sacrifice a lot of blood and tears to deliver their projects to the
big screen.
Even when things are carefully planned out, accidents – or even something worse – can
still happen.
It may not look it, but movie making can be a dangerous line of work, and there are plenty
of people who are aware that being a film star isn’t all glitz and glamour.
Here are 10 times things went horribly wrong on movie sets.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
At the start of the second Lord of the Rings film, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are saddened
when they believe Merry and Pippin have been killed by the orcs.
Standing near a burning pile of carcasses, Aragorn kicks a helmet across the grass and
lets out a cry of agony.
Director Peter Jackson was impressed by Viggo Mortensen’s level of anguish for fictional
characters, but the actor’s performance in the take was partially because he fractured
his toe during the scene.
Mortensen was frequently injured in Middle earth, even losing a tooth in one stunt.
That only endears him to fans even more.
Twilight
Robert Pattinson’s time as Edward Cullen could not have gotten off to a worse start
if he tried.
In the very first take he shot for the first Twilight film, the actor had to life his co-star
Kristin Stewart.
Of the injury he received while filming, Pattinson was quite frank, saying, “I lifted Kristin,
ripped my ass cheek, and had to get a bum massage.”
It’s one of those things where you can laugh about it in retrospect, but at the time it
certainly was no funny matter.
Fortunately, Pattinson didn’t let the poor experience deter him and worked with Stewart
on all four films, earning millions of admirers along the way.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
Few jobs in Hollywood are as dangerous as stuntmen.
No matter how many precautions they take, things can still go wrong.
While practicing for a broomstick sequence for the first Deathly Hallows film, Daniel
Radcliffe’s double David Holmes suffered a serious injury when an explosion knocked
him off the broomstick and onto the ground.
He lost feeling in his legs and had to be rushed to the hospital.
He was paralyzed from the neck down.
Radcliffe felt awful about the incident and in the years since has made sure to highlight
Holmes’ contributions to the franchise and the friendship the two still have.
Die Hard
Action movies are known for loud, explosive set pieces, and that can make things hard
on the ears while filming.
During production on the original Die Hard, Bruce Willis shot a multitude of guns that
had extra loud blanks in them for maximum effect.
Unfortunately for the actor, he did some serious damage to his senses and lost two-thirds of
his hearing in one ear.
Even with that, Willis still loves playing the character and has returned for all of
the Die Hard sequels.
Let’s hope he brought ear plugs for the follow-ups so this didn’t happen again.
Quantum of Solace
Being James Bond involved getting through one death-defying day after another, and Daniel
Craig has seen the brunt of this during his time as 007.
While filming Quantum of Solace, the actor suffered a gruesome injury when one of his
fingertips was sliced off during an action sequence.
As you’d expect, there was a lot of blood loss and Craig had to be taken to the hospital
for emergency treatment.
Fortunately, it wasn’t too severe and Craig was reportedly back on set later that day
to resume production.
With all the actor’s been through playing Bond, it’s no wonder he might be ready to
step down.
Top Gun
Tragedy can strike on film sets, and one such incident happened during principal photography
on the 1980s action film Top Gun.
The movie is known for its daring fighter jet sequences and hired professional air stuntman
Art Scholl to handle the in-flight camera work.
Scholl was one of the best in the industry, having performed similar tasks for commercials,
television shows, and other films.
On Top Gun, Scholl did the flat spin move and was unable to return his plane to normal
position.
He crashed into the Pacific Ocean saying, “I have a problem.
I have a real problem.”
Neither Scholl nor the plane were ever recovered.
Goodfellas
Violence is a hallmark of Martin Scorsese’s filmography, and sometimes that goes beyond
what was in the script.
One scene in Goodfellas depicts Tommy shooting bartender Spider to death after Spider offends
him.
The actor playing Spider, Michael Imperioli, broke a hand on a glass while filming and
had to be taken to the emergency room.
While at the hospital, doctors noticed a chest wound on Imperioli and tried to treat that,
before the actor explained the entire situation.
Imperioli was then forced to wait three hours before he was seen again.
The crew had a good laugh about it after the fact, and Scorsese even shared the story on
The Tonight Show.
Syriana
This film is living proof that even dramas can cause serious harm.
While filming a stunt for Syriana, George Clooney suffered a spinal injury that left
him stuck in bed for a month.
He also endured severe migraines during his recovery.
He couldn’t do publicity for the upcoming Ocean’s Twelve.
The actor said things got so bad at one point he considered taking his own life.
Surgery was eventually required to repair the damage, and Clooney has been fine ever
since.
He even took home an Oscar for his role in Syriana, so in a way, it was all worth it
in the end.
Rocky IV
Sylvester Stallone loves doing his own stunts, but he may have taken things a bit too far
for this Rocky sequel.
While filming the Italian Stallion’s big fight with Drago, Stallone and Dolph Lundgren
punched each other for real.
One hit from Sly’s co-star did a considerable amount of damage.
Stallone felt a burning in his chest, which was caused by his heart slamming against his
breastbone and swelling up, cutting off his blood supply and limiting his oxygen intake.
The actor had to remain in intensive care for several days at a hospital in Santa Monica.
Rocky’s taken some beatings in his time, but nothing can really compare to what Stallone
has gone through.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
A big selling point of Episode 7 was the return of original trilogy stars like Mark Hamill,
Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford.
Of the three, Ford had the meatiest role, which meant he was involved with some of the
more physical aspects.
During filming, he now famously suffered a broken leg when the door of the Millennium
Falcon came crashing down on him.
In an effort to save his actor, director J.J.
Abrams attempted to lift it, and broke his back – something he wouldn’t reveal publicly
until months later.
Filming was delayed, giving Abrams more time to iron out the script, which paid off in
spades.
Those are just some of the instances of when things went horribly wrong on movie sets.
Which ones did we miss?
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