Acting seems like a fun job.
Movie stars lead a glamorous life that potentially can lead to millions of dollars or awards
recognition.
Starring in a massive motion picture is a great way to raise your profile and earn the
adoration of millions of fans across the globe.
Yet, there’s a dark side to acting.
Making a film is not an easy task, and can sometimes be extremely dangerous.
Here are 10 movie sets that almost killed their actors.
The Hunger Games : Mockingjay – Part 1
Panem’s Hunger Games are a dangerous event for its participants, and that includes the
actors playing the tributes.
When running through a tunnel, star Jennifer Lawrence encountered a malfunctioning smoke
machine, which filled the whole area up with smoke.
Lawrence couldn’t breathe and reportedly narrowly escaped suffocating to death.
Fortunately, the crew was able to rescue her and Lawrence only suffered from nausea and
vertigo afterwards.
It could have been much worse, and a horrible crisis was averted.
Turns out even when you rehearse sequences and plan them out, things can still go wrong.
Maze Runner: The Death Cure
The star of this young adult franchise, Dylan O’Brien, suffered some injuries while filming
The Death Cure, falling off a set piece.
He reportedly broke a cheekbone or an orbital socket, but in actuality it was far worse
than that.
O’Brien’s condition is so bad that principal photography had to be put on hold until he
makes a full recovery.
The rest of the cast and crew have been released from the film until an unspecified time, meaning
the Death Cure’s release date will most likely be postponed as schedules are reworked.
Hopefully O’Brien recuperates soon and the film gets back on track.
Thor: The Dark World
Lady Sif is a powerful Asgardian warrior, but Jamie Alexander is a mortal human.
The actress learned this the hard way while filming Thor: The Dark World.
Alexander took a nasty fall after slipping on a metal staircase and wasn’t able to
work for about a month.
She displaced a disc in her spine, chipped 11 vertebrae, and dislocated her shoulder
among other injuries.
Thankfully Alexander made a full recovery and was able to complete the movie without
any further issues.
With Alexander returning for Thor: Ragnarok, hopefully she can get through production cleanly.
Back to the Future Part III
Michael J. Fox is so believable as Marty McFly, it’s hard for people to separate the two
– including his own director!
In Back to the Future 3, there’s a scene where Marty is being hung by the neck in the
Old West.
During filming, Fox shot a take where he didn’t use a box for safety and was actually hanging
in the air.
He was off a bit on his timing and ended up passing out.
He was unconscious for 30 seconds before anyone realized something was wrong and removed him
from the rope.
Great Scott, indeed.
Now You See Me
Sometimes movie magic can go wrong.
During a scene in which Isla Fisher’s character has to escape from a water tank before piranhas
are dumped on her head, the actress could not escape from her chain.
The chain got stuck and Fisher had to really swim down to the bottom for the sequence.
Everyone was so enamored with her performance, nobody noticed that the actress was actually
drowning.
Luckily, the tank came equipped with a safety switch, which Fisher used and received help
from a stuntman.
Fisher isn’t back for the sequel, and we have to wonder if this experience is a reason
why.
Inglorious Basterds
For the sequence in which Hans Landa chokes Bridget von Hammersmark to death, Quentin
Tarantino did not want Diane Kruger to be in any unnecessary danger and decided to “strangle”
his actress for real.
Ironically, Kruger went unconscious as a result of Tarantino’s actions.
The director was so into the scene, he nearly asphyxiated Kruger during shooting.
This is the take that made the final film, and you can clearly tell Kruger is not acting
in the moment.
This is a woman literally struggling for her life, and thankfully it was only her fictional
character who lost that struggle.
The Expendables 3
Action star Jason Statham is well known for doing his own stunts, and he certainly wasn’t
going to back down in the presence of legends like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
During filming for The Expendables 3, the brakes on Statham’s truck failed and it
went falling into the sea.
Luckily, the doors had been removed before Statham started driving, and he dove out of
the vehicle into the water to safety.
The actor could have died, as the truck sunk 60 feet into the Black Sea and became impaled
under water.
We love Statham’s commitment to his roles, but never want to say anything bad happen
to him.
Die Another Day
Working on a James Bond film involves hours of filming physical action sequences, but
it was one of the quieter moments that threatened Halle Berry.
While shooting a romantic scene with Pierce Brosnan, Berry cut a piece of fig and placed
it in her mouth.
She shared the fruit with Brosnan while they were kissing before she started choking on
it.
The lighting was so dark that nobody could tell what was going on.
Fortunately, Brosnan realized something was wrong and performed the Heimlich on his co-star,
possibly saving her life.
The actor is a hero on the big screen, and off it.
Gangs of New York
There are method actors, and then there’s Daniel Day-Lewis.
The Oscar winner is famous for completely transforming himself for each film role, taking
the concept of disappearing into a character to lengths few have ever seen.
While filming Gangs of New York, the actor would only dress in clothes from the 1863
time period, even when he wasn’t shooting scenes.
This caused Day-Lewis to catch pneumonia.
He attempted to fight through it since no cure for the illness existed in the mid-19th
century, but was told he could die if he didn’t seek treatment.
Fortunately for movie fans everywhere, he agreed to take medicine.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Stunt doubles are aware of the risks their profession presents, and sometimes they suffer
truly heartbreaking consequences.
While filming an action sequence in which Harry would appear on a broomstick, Daniel
Radcliffe’s double David Holmes was hanging from wires in front of a green screen.
One of the wires snapped and Holmes crashed face first into a wall and fell down on the
crash mat.
He was conscious immediately following the incident, but lost feeling in his legs, which
turned out to be a permanent condition.
Radcliffe took the injury hard and offered Holmes plenty of emotional and financial support.
So what do you think of our list?
Are there any death-defying accidents we missed?
Which ones are your favorites?
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