Think it's all just CGI and production tricks that bring your favorite superheroes to life
on screen? From damaged vocal chords to broken bones to an actual death on set,
you won't believe how dangerous playing a superhero can actually be.
Jaimie Alexander, who plays the warrior Lady Sif in the "Thor" franchise, suffered various injuries
while filming "Thor: The Dark World." Luckily, the film's production could work around her,
giving the actor time to recuperate without delaying the production of the movie.
Alexander was an athlete in her youth, so she carried that physical prowess
with her into her acting career and has always been willing to do her own stunts.
"I've got this completely under control!"
Describing the injuries she suffered on the set of "Thor: The Dark World," Alexander told Page Six:
"It was raining, it was dark outside, it was like 5 in the morning — I went
down a metal staircase and slipped and slipped a disc in my thoracic
spine and chipped 11 of my vertebrae. I knocked my left shoulder out of place
and tore my rhomboid on my right side... It took me out of filming for a month."
These severe injuries didn't stop Alexander from reprising her role in the "Thor" franchise,
nor did they keep her from taking on another stunt-intensive role when she agreed to play Jane
Doe in "Blindspot." She also sustained numerous injuries from her stunt work on that series.
Despite the pain, she loves doing her own stunts and takes pride in her physical endurance.
Noah Centineo has enjoyed major success in recent years, thanks to his lead role in
Netflix's "The Recruit" and his performance as Atom Smasher in "Black Adam." But this
triumph comes with costs. Centineo told Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show" that
he suffered a pretty painful injury while shooting a scene as Atom Smasher under
the sweltering Atlanta sun. He explained that he was trying to add some flare to
the scene by pretending to hit his knee on a parked car while he was running.
"And I spin around like 'ahhhh,' like that hurt. And my arm goes up and then dislocates."
Medics struggled to get Centineo's shoulder back in its socket, due to his tight costume. Filming
was paused as they cut the sleeve open. After 13 tries, they finally popped his shoulder back
in — only for Centineo to immediately pop it back out by lifting his arm to cheer. Luckily,
his shoulder was easier to fix the second time. Although it's a fairly minor injury
in the grand scheme of things, production ground to a halt while the medics dealt with Centineo,
and the wardrobe department surely had to replace his damaged suit.
Robert Downey Jr. might seem invincible on screen,
but he actually broke his ankle while filming a stunt for "Iron Man 3." Guy Pearce,
who played Aldrich Killian in the film, revealed further details to GQ.
"Robert broke his ankle in the middle of that film, 'cause he had to do a stunt
where he had to jump from one platform down to another platform and be on a cable. They
wanted to rehearse it, and he said, 'No, I don't need to rehearse it,' and he jumped,
and the guy holding the cable wasn't ready or something, and he landed hard."
Interestingly enough, the take where Downey broke his ankle actually made it into the movie.
After the film was done, Downey told media outlets his body held up fine, and joked that the delay in
production gave them an opportunity to work on the script and make "Iron Man 3" into a better movie.
"I did alright. I broke my ankle once,
but then that gave us time to do some more script provisions."
Believe it or not, Chris Evans almost turned the iconic role of Captain America down. But
once he was on board, Evans embraced the role's more physical aspects, even doing
some of his own stunts in "Captain America: The First Avenger." The actor told MTV News:
"The good thing about Cap is that most of his abilities are rooted in what a human being is
capable of — he's not flying, he's not shooting fire. For the most part, the stunts involved
were hand-to-hand combat, so any time I can put the gloves on and get in the ring, I'll do it."
Unfortunately, Evans injured his arm while filming "Captain America:
Civil War." In a pivotal scene, Steve Rogers tries to stop a helicopter from
taking off with his bare hands. Evans told Entertainment Tonight:
"That was in the first week of filming. And I actually messed up my arm doing it,
I really did. It's a fake helicopter, obviously, but it was drifting beyond
the ability of control. I tweaked a little something. To this day, I'm still messed up."
Notably, Robert Downey Jr. wasn't surprised by this injury. When he arrived at the "Civil
War" set and saw what Evans had been filming, the actor immediately knew that this shot was
risky. Luckily, after Evans sustained his injury, Downey was there to help.
Hugh Jackman has suffered a litany of injuries playing Wolverine over the years.
During the production of "X-Men," Jackman smashed his ear and in a separate instance
injured his groin after getting caught in a stunt harness. The actor told Yahoo!:
"That was pretty brutal. I screamed so much,
and they kept going because they figured it was me primal-yell emoting."
Then, during the production of "X2: X-Men United," Jackman discovered just how dangerous
Wolverine's metal claws truly are when he cut the skin next to his eye — which left
a scar — and his upper thigh. Jackman talked about the latter injury on "The Graham Norton
Show," explaining that it happened while filming a nude scene. He turned a corner,
saw a group of female crew members who had gathered together as a joke
to surprise and embarrass him, and reflexively tried to cover himself.
"And of course the first I did was like —"
"I did cut myself on the inner thigh."
External injuries aren't the only type Jackman experienced
while playing Wolverine. During an interview with the BBC, he admitted:
"I've done some damage to my voice with Wolverine. My falsetto is not as strong
as it used to be and that I directly put down to some of the growling and yelling. My
vocal teacher in drama school would've been horrified with some of the things I did."
Jason Momoa suffered multiple injuries while filming "Aquaman
and the Lost Kingdom," telling Ellen DeGeneres that he scratched his cornea
during production — and that's just for starters. He elaborated:
"I messed up my eyes, just got something in it that kind of cut it up. And I gotta get
surgery on a hernia. I got ribs out. I'm just getting beat up."
Momoa assured DeGeneres the injuries were well worth it, however, saying:
"It's gonna be a great movie. You're gonna love it."
DeGeneres playfully gave Momoa a hard time for getting injured in
every movie he seems to make. Momoa chalked it up to his advancing age
and passion for filmmaking. It's rough stuff, but he considers it worth it.
Like many movies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,
"The Batman" saw its fair share of difficulties during production. Some
of them even predated the pandemic. Star Robert Pattinson told GQ:
"I broke my wrist at the beginning of it all, doing a stunt, even before COVID. So
the whole first section was trying to keep working out — looking like a penguin. I
remember when that seemed like the worst thing that could go wrong."
Soon the film was shut down because of the pandemic, giving Pattinson plenty of time
to nurse his broken wrist and quarantine with the rest of the world. Then,
after the movie finally went back into production with new regulations, Pattinson tested positive,
and production was paused again. "The Batman" shoot ultimately encompassed a staggering
18 months, leaving the star feeling beleaguered and burned out. In the end,
breaking his wrist during a stunt turned out to be one of the smaller challenges Pattinson
faced while bringing this new iteration of the Caped Crusader to life during a global pandemic.
Jeremy Renner was in the news in early 2023 after getting injured saving his
nephew from being crushed. But this real-life hero has also made a name
for himself by doing his own stunt work, and sometimes, these stunts result in injuries.
Renner discussed his commitment to doing his own stunts with Howard Stern:
"You don't want them to be pulled out of the movie by
some guy with a bad wig trying to do the stunt."
This incurs a major price tag, however: Renner broke both his arms while filming
the action comedy "Tag." Astonishingly, he went back to work the same day.
Renner has gotten beaten up while playing Hawkeye too. While filming a stunt for
"The Avengers," the actor tore a muscle in his back and had to take
a break from filming. Director Joss Whedon told The Hollywood Reporter:
"His fight work is wonderful: precise, heroic, and you seldom have to double him. But one day
he just turned wrong and his whole body shut down... He was in enormous pain,
and we had to shut that sequence down and shoot it a couple of weeks later."
Ruby Rose sustained a spinal injury while filming the first season of
"Batwoman." The actor had surgery for two herniated discs, sharing on Instagram:
"A couple of months ago I was told I needed an emergency surgery or I was risking
becoming paralyzed... I had herniated two discs doing stunts, and they were
close to severing my spinal cord. I was in chronic pain and yet couldn't feel my arms."
After this injury, Rose completed filming season one and departed the series. According to Vulture,
she later alleged that she was pressured to return to
production only 10 days after surgery, and that the CW production was unsafe.
"Yeah, you know, it stings a little. Just for reference."
Warner Bros. Television Group denied Rose's allegations, and claimed the actor was let go
due to colleagues' complaints. Notably, Rose isn't the only actor who was hurt on set:
A production assistant was left paralyzed after being injured by a descending lift.
We may never know the truth about the set of "Batwoman," but we do know that Rose
required surgery for injuries sustained while playing the titular character.
While filming "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" in Boston, Letitia Wright,
who plays Shuri, suffered a concussion and a shoulder fracture. Initially, no one expected
Wright's injuries to affect the production of the blockbuster Marvel movie. But in November 2021,
production on the "Black Panther" sequel was temporarily halted so Wright could recover.
After Chadwick Boseman's tragic death, Marvel decided not to recast the role
of T'Challa. This meant Shuri embarked on a larger role in the sequel, eventually
taking on the mantle of the Black Panther herself. Because of this increased profile,
the production needed to give Wright — now the star — ample time to heal from
her injuries. Like many movies filmed during the pandemic, "Black Panther:
Wakanda Forever" also experienced several delays and setbacks, in addition to being
subject to ever-shifting regulations. This forced everyone involved to be flexible.
Marvel Studios executives sent a note to the cast and crew of
the production detailing the need for a delay in filming. It read:
"Letitia had a frightening accident on our set during a stunt back in August.
It was a reminder of the importance of safety at all times in our work,
which we know you understand and are committed to. What we had
initially thought were minor injuries turned out to be much more serious."
Happily, Wright was able to recover, and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" made it to theaters.
In very rare circumstances, something worse than serious damage befalls actors. Tragically,
this is what happened to Brandon Lee when he was filming "The Crow" in 1993.
"The Crow" follows the titular hero, an avenging angel with goth-rock swagger,
as he seeks revenge for his own death.
"Suddenly, I heard a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."
During production, Lee was shot with a prop gun that accidentally contained
the tip of a dummy round in the barrel of the firearm. He died about 12 hours later.
His death raised major concerns about firearm safety in the film industry,
and remains one of the saddest Hollywood stories of the past few decades.
District Attorney Jerry Spivey declined to press
charges against the movie's production company. As he told The New York Times:
"There's a part of me that wants to file charges and have a trial. But
from a purely legal point of view, I would not feel comfortable."
Lee's mother, Linda Lee Cadwell, filed a civil suit and settled out of court. Paramount Pictures
backed out of distributing the film because of Lee's death, but it made $94 million at
the box office and gained a cult following. In an eerie example of life imitating art,
Lee, like his character, was young, talented and on the cusp of stardom
when his life was cut short. He will always be remembered for his role in "The Crow."