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30 Actors Who Almost Died During Filming

In order to achieve a realistic stunt, actors go to extraordinary lengths. When they put themselves in danger, accidents happen. Here are 30 actors who flirted with danger and almost died!

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise

While filming The Last Samurai, a mechanical horse malfunction led to the actor being thrown toward another performer. Cruise missed being stabbed by his co-star’s sword by inches! In a later scene, it was estimated that Cruise could have been seriously injured 70 times while fighting four other men. 

 

(Image via Warner Bros Pictures)

Diane Kruger

Diane Kruger

Working with Quentin Tarantino must be absolutely nuts! While filming Inglorious Bastards, Dian was almost killed in a scene where her character is choked to death. Tarantino didn’t want to put her in harm's way, so he decided to do the choking himself. However, the whole scene went a bit too far, and Diane was choked until she was unconscious! 

(Image via The Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures)

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks

When a seemingly minor cut quickly became infected, Tom Hanks had to be hospitalized for fear that the infection may turn poisonous. As a result, filming was pushed back for nearly a month.

 

(Image via 20th Century Fox)

Dylan O’Brien

Dylan O’Brien

Dylan suffered near-fatal injuries while filming Maze Runner: The Death Cure. During a scene where he was supposed to jump from the top of one car to another, the actor was pulled underneath the car and suffered severe lacerations, and fractured both his cheekbones and orbital sockets. Due to this severe accident, the release of the movie was postponed a whole year!

(Image via Gotham Group/20th Century Fox)

Uma Thurman

Uma Thurman

Percy Jackson wasn’t the only thing after Uma while filming Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. During filming, someone left the parking brakes off of a van. The van started rolling towards Uma across the set, fortunately 007 Pierce Brosnan saves the day again! He jumped in the van and stopped it before it injured Uma.

(Image via Fox 2000 Entertainment/Dune Entertainment)

Jason Statham

Jason Statham

While filming The Expendables 3, the brakes on Jason Statham’s truck failed, causing him to drive into the Black Sea. An experienced diver, the actor was able to escape the vehicle and swim to shore. 

(Image via Millenium Films/Nu Image/Lionsgate)

George Clooney

George Clooney

In 2005, while filming Syriana, George Clooney’s character was being beaten while tied to a chair. In the scene, he was pushed over while still tied to the chair. He hit his head on the ground, and bruised his brain. This injury resulted in chronic headaches that were later resolved through surgery. 

(Image via Participant Productions/Section Eight Productions)

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence is known for her starring role in The Hunger Games; however, this role almost cost her life. Lawrence was filming a scene in a tunnel on set when a smoke machine malfunctioned and filled the tunnel with smoke. She came very close to suffocating. 

(Image via Color Force/Lionsgate)

Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox

The Back to the Future trilogy attempted some incredible practical stunts, but one nearly turned deadly in the final movie. During a scene in which Marty (Fox) is being hung by outlaws, the actor actually was suffocating to the point where he lost consciousness.

 

(Image in Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures)

All of The Kids in The Brady Bunch

All of The Kids in The Brady Bunch

America’s favorite family almost had a horrific accident while filming a scene where the kids are riding a rollercoaster. To film the scene, a camera was mounted to the front of the coaster. Luckily Robert Reed, the actor who played Mike Brady, insisted that the producers do a test run before filming. Due to the force of the coaster, the production camera flew off of the mount and hit the carriage, right where the kids would have been sitting. 

Darlene Hammond/Archive Photos/Getty Images

Kristen Chenoweth

Kristen Chenoweth

Kristen was cast for the fourth season of The Good Wife; however, on the first day of filming, a massive light fixture fell on her. She was immediately rushed to the hospital and sustained several injuries. Not only was her skull fractured; her nose was broken, and several teeth chipped. She decided to cancel the show and opted for a cameo appearance instead.

(Image via CBS Televison Studios)

Gerard Butler

Gerard Butler

Gerard Butler is known for being his own stuntman. While filming the surfer movie Chasing Mavericks, mother nature had her own plans. A huge 20-foot wave crushed Gerard, pushing him underwater and almost drowning him.

(Image via Walden Media/20th Century Fox)

Isla Fisher

Isla Fisher

When an actor is supposed to be in danger, accidents are bound to happen. During a scene in which she is immersed in a tank of water in Now You See Me, Isla Fisher was unable to escape. Cast and crew thought that her cries for help were part of the act. Luckily, she was able to make it out in time.

 

(Image via Summit Entertainment/K/O Paper Products)

Jaimie Alexander

Jaimie Alexander

Newcomer Jaimie Alexander’s career was nearly cut short on the shoot for Thor: The Dark World.  Alexander slipped a spinal disc, tore a rhomboid muscle, chipped 11 vertebrae, and dislocated her shoulder when she slipped and fell down a flight of stairs.

(Image via Marvel Studios)

Halle Berry

Halle Berry

Halle Berry got to live the dangerous life of Jinx, a “Bond girl”, while filming Die Another Day. Halle and Pierce Brosnan were filming a sensual scene in which Berry cuts apart a fruit and the two start kissing each other while they eat it. Getting caught up in the act, Halle accidentally chokes on the fruit. Luckily, Bond was there to employ the heimlich maneuver, letting Halle live to die another day. 

(Image via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists)

Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet

Remember the scene in Titanic where Jack and Rose scramble desperately to keep from being trapped in the sinking ship? Well, Kate Winslet's coat got stuck on the elevator as the room filled with water, and she nearly drowned.

(Image via Paramount Pictures/20th Century Fox)

Matthew Fox

Matthew Fox

Matthew Fox, or Jack Shephard from Lost, was dangerously close to losing his life while filming the last episode of the series. A retractable knife was replaced by a real knife because it looked too fake. The plan was to switch the props at the moment of penetration, but it didn’t happen. Thankfully, he was saved by a protective vest he put on at the last minute before filming. 

(Image via Bad Robot/ABC Studios)

Margaret Hamilton

Margaret Hamilton

You might know Margaret better as the Wicked Witch of the West from the movie The Wizard of Oz. While filming, the witch ominously disappeared with a flash of red smoke. Unfortunately, one of the sparks ignited the petroleum in Margaret’s green makeup, causing second and third degree burns on her face. All this time, we thought it was water that kills the witch!

MGM Studios/Moviepix/Getty Images

Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron has been doing her own stunts for most of her career. While filming Aeon Flux, a movie packed with action scenes and physics-bending stunts, Charlize had a gruesome fall that landed her right on her neck. Doctors weren’t sure if she would regain full mobility, and filming had to stop for eight weeks. Thankfully, she made a full recovery and is still delivering badass roles to this day. 

(Image via MTV Films/Paramount Pictures)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

In 2012, Joseph Gordon-Levitt collided with a taxi while filming Premium Rush. His impact was pretty intense, requiring more than 30 stitches. Who knew riding a bicycle through rush-hour traffic was a bad idea?

(Image via Columbia Pictures/Pariah)

Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan is known for doing his own stunts, but sometimes they go south. When filming Armour of God, he fell more than 16 feet out of a tree. Chan needed emergency surgery to remove a piece of his skull that was embedded in his brain.

(Image via Golden Harvest)

Lorenza Izzo

Lorenza Izzo

Lorenza starred in the 2013 horror flick, The Green Inferno, playing Justine. While filming an escape scene, Lorenza was swept downstream. The production crew thought her cries for help were part of the act; little did they know she was in real danger. Apparently, the footage was actually used in the movie.

(Image via Worldview Entertainment)

Aaron Paul

Aaron Paul

Aaron Paul’s character in Breaking Bad was initially scripted to die in the first season. In a stunt that involved a boulder falling from the roof of a vehicle, Paul narrowly avoided being crushed.

(Image via High Bridge Entertainment/Sony Pictures Television)

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp

As if starring in The Lone Ranger wasn’t enough of a disaster, Johnny Depp nearly kicked the bucket on the set. When his saddle slipped, Depp was thrown in front of his horse whose hooves came dangerously close to trampling the actor’s head.

(Image via Walt Disney Pictures)

Sylvester Stalone

Sylvester Stalone

One of the things that made the Rocky film series so good was the iconic fight scenes. Little did we know, those punches weren’t staged...they were real! For the final punch in Rocky IV, Stalone asked Lundgren to hit him as hard as possible. He got what he asked for and ended up in the hospital with a swollen heart that took eight days in the ICU to heal.

Archive Photos/Moviepix/Getty Images

Halle Berry (Again)

Halle Berry (Again)

Halle must have bad luck on set, because while filming The Call in 2013, she hit her head on the concrete floor. She hit so hard that she was immediately knocked unconscious. Thankfully, she recovered quickly!

(TriStar Pictures/Stage 6 Films)

Brendan Frazier

Brendan Frazier

While filming the action-packed movie The Mummy in 1999, Brendan nearly died from a hanging scene that went terribly wrong. Brendan was nearly strangled and had to be resuscitated!

(Image via Alphaville Films/Universal Pictures)

Jim Caviezel

Jim Caviezel

Poor Jim was plagued with accidents while filming the controversial film The Passion of the Christ. He suffered through pneumonia, hypothermia and a lung infection. While filming the pinnacle seen, delivering the sermon at the mount, he was even struck by lightning!

(Image via Icon Productions)

Dominic Purcell

Dominic Purcell

Dominic Purcell suffered an intense head injury while filming Prison Break. An iron bar fell on Dominic, breaking his nose and injuring his head, and requiring more than 150 stitches. 

(Image via Rat Entertainment/20th Century Fox Television)

Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep

The world almost lost a star during the filming of The River Wild. Meryl fell out of the boat into the icy water while filming. She was near drowning when Kevin Bacon pulled her to safety, saving her from drowning or hypothermia.

(Image via Turman-Foster Company/Universal Pictures)