Whether we realize it or not, acting can be kind of a dangerous job.
Some performers will put themselves through hell all for the benefit of their character.
Even with everyone’s best intentions, things go wrong and bones get broken.
Somehow, these actors pulled off awesome performances in spite of the pain.
Here are Screen Rant’s 10 Most Dangerous Movie Scenes Of All Time.
The Wizard of Oz The 1939 cinematic marvel The Wizard of Oz
is as beloved today as it was back then.
Even though the movie is relentlessly optimistic, the production was troubled right from the
start.
Effects makeup was in its infancy at the time, and was the downfall of a few actors.
All sorts of ingredients would be mixed together to achieve the desired look.
. And though something bad seemed to happen to everyone, Margaret Hamilton got it the
worst.
During a spectacular fiery exit, the copper in the makeup she was wearing as the Wicked
Witch of the West badly burned her face and hands.
She was even hospitalized because of it.
Django Unchained Over the course of his career, Leonardo DiCaprio
has cemented his reputation as a serious actor.
He’s a bankable Hollywood commodity and he’s been in some of the best films of the
past decade.
While his roles have been varied, his turn as Calvin Candie in Django Unchained was the
first time the experienced actor got to be the bad guy.
And ohhhhh what a bad guy he was.
DiCaprio got so deep into the character that when he sliced his hand open on a broken glass
during a rant, he didn’t even notice.
Obviously that’s the take Tarantino chose to be in the final cut.
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Of all the minor day-to-day injuries we could
sustain, stubbing one’s toe always seems extra painful.
Especially when you’re trying to look badass in front of your friends.
When Viggo Mortensen reprised his role as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: The Two
Towers, he took the injury to a whole new level.
The actor broke two of his toes in one scene after kicking a helmet.
And falls to the ground in pain.
Given that helmets are designed to take a blow, we can’t say we’re surprised.
Since there’s nothing like the real thing, that take was the one included in the movie.
The 40 Year Old Virgin The 40 Year Old Virgin is loaded with memorable
scenes and embarrassing situations.
Having sex for the first time is awkward in real life, but watching a full-grown adult
man try to figure it out is almost harder.
Given that the writers are Judd Apatow and Steve Carell, we know that’s exactly what
they wanted.
In an effort to be more appealing to the ladies, Carell’s character goes for a wax.
And if the actor looks like he’s genuinely in pain, it’s because he definitely is.
Carell wanted the scene and his reaction to feel authentic, so his hair got ripped out
for real.
Now You See Me Audiences love a good underwater trick.
But because of their environment, safety crews sometimes have a difficult time figuring out
where the acting ends and real distress begins.
During the filming of her scene in the opening montage of Now You See Me, actress Isla Fisher
nearly drowned after getting caught up in her submerged chains.
Since that’s also what’s happening to her character at the time, people on set have
admitted to not knowing if Fisher needed assistance for real.
If you want something done right you have to do it yourself, and the actress was able
to untangle her own chains before the situation turned fatal.
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation In his time as Ethan Hunt, Tom Cruise has
done a lot of his own glorious stunt work.
So when the franchise’s fifth installment rolled around, the actor wasn’t sure what
to expect.
Director Christopher McQuarrie was under the gun to find new ways to blow audience minds.
He and Cruise decided together that Hunt should hang from the side of a plane as it takes
off.
And with only a couple of straps to protect him, the actor did exactly that.
Production had a hard time finding a company willing to let them use their aircraft for
filming, but Airbus stepped up to the plate.
Along with a few dozen military advisors and safety personnel.
Rocky IV Stage combat is hard, and what people don’t
realize is that it takes a lot of practice.
Meticulously choreographing every single move the actors are supposed to make can interrupt
the flow of a performance.
Plus, when it’s done poorly, it’s obvious to the viewer.
When Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren were filming their infamous showdown from
Rocky IV, both men quickly grew tired of the phony fighting.
After a couple of takes, the two decided that if the hits were going to look real, they
would have to be real.
Stallone may have been ready to rumble, but his body wasn’t.
And after taking a hard punch to the chest, the actor’s heart swelled so much that he
had to spend over a week in the hospital because of it.
The Abyss Ed Harris has stated in no uncertain terms
that he will never work with James Cameron again.
And after hearing this story, we can’t say we blame him.
While filming his 1989 thriller The Abyss, Cameron used some downright dangerous tricks
to get performances out of his actors.
Since you can’t have a water movie without the near-constant threat of someone drowning,
the logical solution is to drown them in earnest.
Harris says the director knowingly gave him a nearly empty oxygen tank because he wanted
the scene to appear authentic.
Apparently Cameron didn’t let the safety team in on the little secret either, because
they were equally surprised when the actor ran out of air so quickly.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre As far as safety standards go, the 1970’s
were kind of a grey area.
And filmmakers could get by with the bare minimum.
To a lot of horror directors, part of the genre’s charm comes from it’s low budget.
And since safety costs money, it’s usually one of the first things to go.
When you consider all these things together, it’s easy to understand why the team behind
1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre would choose to use a real chainsaw during most
scenes - because it was cheaper!
Miraculously, everything was fine until the actor wielding it tripped, and the running
chainsaw landed inches from his face.
Pulp Fiction Even if (by some miracle) everything goes
perfectly on set, some scenes are just downright painful for the audience.
If you’re the squeamish type, we suggest skipping over this scene from 1994’s Pulp
Fiction.
While the movie has it’s fair share of questionable content, watching John Travolta stab Uma Thurman
in the heart with an adrenaline needle is easily one of the most traumatic things we’ve
ever seen.
The audience is nervous because the characters are nervous.
And the characters are nervous because the situation is messed up.
Thankfully though, the scene isn't without humor, and is exactly the sick mix Tarantino’s
known for.
What do you think of our list?
Did we miss any other dangerous scenes from movies?
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