Celebrities

From Action Sequences to Near-death Experiences: 7 Actors Who Risked Their Lives on Set

written by Tobias Rivera

January 17, 2023 5:04 am

From Action Sequences to Near-death Experiences: 7 Actors Who Risked Their Lives on Set — Image credit: Legion-Media

No CGI needed here, these actors are the real deal when it comes to life-threatening scenes.

Charlize Theron

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In the sci-fi movie Æon Flux, the actress decided to do all the stunts herself, but because of such a decision she almost lost her life. Charlize tried to do a reverse somersault, but the safety ropes broke and she fell to the ground. The impact was so strong that they called doctors fearing that the actress might have fractured her spine.

In most cases, after such injuries, people die or are permanently disabled. Theron was lucky, she survived and did not become permanently confined to a wheelchair. However, she had to undergo several years of treatment to get rid of the consequences of that fall.

Isla Fisher

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In the film Now You See Me there is a scene where the main character is trying to escape from the iron handcuffs in the water. During the filming, actress Isla Fisher may have suffered seriously: one of the chains got caught in the bottom and for several minutes Isla unsuccessfully tried to get out of the tank. The film crew was mesmerized by the actress' performance and did not even notice that something went wrong.

Good thing the tank had a special button for such cases. Isla pressed it in time and got out of the water thanks to the crew members.

Kate Winslet

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The filming of the iconic Titanic scene was not without consequences for Kate Winslet. James Cameron decided that the special pool, where the actors were in, should have cold water so that they played more realistically. All participants in the scene wore special wetsuits that protected them from frostbite. However, Kate rejected it, since she wanted this scene in the movie to be as natural as it can be.

After the end of filming Winslet got seriously ill — she had double pneumonia. The recovery from such a mistake took the actress a long time.

Ed Harris

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Apearnalty James Cameron is ready to risk the health of his actors for the sake of a good scene. This time it was Ed Harris, who played in his science fiction film The Abyss. The actors and the entire crew were often submerged in water. During the filming of the scene in which Ed's character runs out of oxygen, Cameron purposely gave him an incomplete tank, to make everything come out realistically.

Harris began to suffocate, but continued to act, despite the fact that the actor could die from lack of oxygen. After this experience, he had a serious fight with the director and even slapped him in the face, saying that he would never agree to work with him again.

Jason Statham

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Jason is a professional that often risks his own life and refuses the use of stuntmen. That what happened in the movie The Expendables 3, when the actor decided to drive a truck on a winding road, but suddenly lost control.

It would have been nothing if the car hit the ditch, but it went off the cliff and fell straight into the sea. Jason was already going down with the truck, when rescuers came to help him. It is good that the actor survived such an accident, but this story has further cemented his reputation in the eyes of his fans.

Tom Cruise

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Tom Cruise is another fan of doing all the stunts himself. Throughout his film career, there have been many instances where he could have lost his life. In the movie Top Gun, one of the first projects of the actor, he almost drowned, entangled in a wet parachute. While in the movie Edge Of Tomorrow Tom may have been injured because of his colleague, actress Emily Blunt.

The director asked her to drive the car vigorously and quickly to make the scene more dynamic. But Emily overdid it and crashed into a tree. She was not alone in the car, but with Tom Cruise. The Hollywood stars were not hurt, but very much frightened.

A few years ago, the actor got into an ugly situation again. During the filming of the sixth part of the Mission Impossible series, he had to jump from one roof to another.

It was at this point he hit the wall with his foot and severely injured his ankle. Because of the fracture, Tom had to forget about the film for two months and spend time in a rehabilitation center. But once his bones healed, he immediately went back to the set to continue shooting his scenes.

Johnny Depp

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Sometimes Johnny Depp also does not trust the stuntmen and chooses to do everything himself. He was confident that he could handle horseback riding during the filming of The Lone Ranger. However, the actor did not take into account one thing — the nature of the animal. One day the horse suddenly rebelled and threw Johnny off.

As if by chance, the actor's hands were tangled in the reins, and the animal dragged him for another 60 feet (20 meters). The horse managed to stop in time, and Depp was released from the reins. He got off with minor scratches and bruises.