Top 10 Actor Injuries That Affected the Movie

“Rocky IV “ (1985)

Rocky Balboa may have helped to end the Cold War with his win over Ivan Drago, but actor Sylvester Stallone almost never lived to see it. When filming the big final fight, Stallone encouraged the former Swedish Marine and Karate champion to go all out. Lundgren reluctantly obliged. When he arrived home from the set, Stallone felt as if something were wrong. He later learned that his heart had begun to swell. Stallone took an emergency flight from Canada to a hospital in California and spent at least four days recovering. The production naturally had to wait for the director and star to return to finish the fight.

“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000)

Michelle Yeoh was cast in Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” on the merits of her acting and stunt talents. Unfortunately, soon after production began, she suffered a massive knee injury during a fight scene. Before seeking treatment, Yeoh and Lee decided to get one last shot in the can. Instead of running toward the camera across a rooftop, they pushed her in a wheelbarrow. This creative solution came before she had to get ACL reconstruction surgery. The production had to reschedule shoots for at least three weeks while Yeoh recovered. She also filmed certain scenes from the waist up as she had to wear a big boot to protect her knee.

“Æon Flux” (2005)

While Charlize Theron is now widely known for her fantastic stunt work, her action career was put in jeopardy back in the 2000s. In“Æon Flux”, she played a lithe assassin who usually got her mark. Theron tried to do as many stunts as possible during the process. In one scene, her character launches into a series of backflips. During the stunt, Theron landed on her neck and herniated a disk near her spine. Later reports revealed that if she had fallen in a different position she might have ended up being permanently paralyzed. Production shut down for almost two months while she recovered. Fortunately, Theron was able to return and continued starring in action heavy roles.

“Live Free or Die Hard” (2007)

The “Die Hard” franchise has a history of on-set injuries. In the first film, Bruce Willis permanently lost much of the hearing in his left ear thanks to a gunshot too close to his head. But few injuries were as intense as those suffered by Bruce’s stunt double Larry Rippenkroeger. During the production of “Live Free Or Die Hard”, Rippenkroeger was doing a scene on a fire escape when he fell twenty five feet. The stuntman broke both wrists, facial bones and suffered a deflated lung. Since he was an essential member of the crew, the production had to shut down until he could be replaced. Meanwhile, Willis paid for his double’s folks to stay at a hotel near the hospital while their son recovered.

“The Rhythm Section” (2020)

When Blake Lively starred in an action-packed revenge film, she shot scenes where her character had to learn how to fight. At one point, she was getting a rough fighting lesson from Jude Law’s Iain Boyd. The sequence was just as brutal behind the scenes. During the sequence, Lively broke her hand when she collided with Law’s bone. In the end, she had to get surgery to repair dislocated bones and ligaments. It took a half a year for Lively to recover from her injuries and complete physical therapy. In the end, the production also had to work in a plot point where her character cut her hand to hide the reason why it was actually bandaged.

“The Armour of God” (1986)

Legendary action star Jackie Chain aimed to start “The Armour of God” on a strong note with an opening that had him steal a sacred sword from an African tribe. He evades enemy attacks by jumping onto a treetop and launching onto a ledge. In one take, the stunt failed horribly when the tree branch cracked and he fell. Medical professionals assessed that Chan had suffered injuries to both his skull and brain as a result of the incident. He had to be rushed from the set straight to the hospital to get emergency brain surgery. Thankfully, the operation went well and he was able to keep performing death defying stunts after only a short delay.

“Maze Runner: The Death Cure” (2018)

Dylan O’Brien came within inches of dying three days into shooting “Maze Runner: The Death Cure.” While on set, he was struck by a vehicle during a stunt. He sustained major injuries to his head including a concussion and brain trauma. The production was only initially shut down for a few weeks. Once the producers learned the extent of O’Brien’s injuries, they stopped filming for an entire year. The actor came back and eventually finished the film. However, he did step away from the spotlight for several years. The physical and emotional trauma was so severe that he almost considered retiring from acting altogether.

“Django: Unchained” (2012)

One of the most iconic moments of the Tarantino revenge western “Django: Unchained” was a complete accident. In a scene where Jamie Foxx’s character is looking to purchase his wife from Leo’s slave-owning antagonist, things got bloody on set. DiCaprio’s Candie angrily slams his hand on a table and breaks a glass during an argument. In reality, the actor had severely cut himself on the item. Instead of breaking character, DiCaprio continued to perform until they had reached the end of the shot. The rumors that he placed some of his real blood on co-star Kerry Washington are thankfully not true. But the production did change the scene to make room for DiCaprio’s bloody and violent performance.

“Indiana Jones” franchise (1981-)

While there are some fan theories that Indiana Jones is invincible, the same cannot be said for star Harrison Ford. In “Raiders,” an airplane ran over his leg and tore his ACL. A few years later, he suffered a spinal injury while riding an elephant in “Temple of Doom.” Since he required spinal fusion, director Steven Spielberg spent five weeks shooting with Ford’s double from behind. The streak continued in 2021 when the 78-year-old actor was injured on the set of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” While rehearsing for a fight scene, Ford seriously injured his shoulder. The entire schedule had to be reworked for several weeks until the actor made a triumphant return to set.

“Mission: Impossible―Fallout” (2018)

From jumping out of airplanes to flying helicopters, Tom Cruise is famous for doing his own stunt work. It seems like he ups the ante in every subsequent film by doing increasingly dangerous stunts. But in 2017, Cruise suffered a setback while filming “Mission: Impossible ―Fallout.” While jumping from one roof to another, he hit a building at the wrong angle and broke his ankle. Production was immediately shut down to give the lead time to recover. According to director Christopher McQuarrie, the delay was a godsend. They used the opportunity to dip back into the script to fix a few problems. Since the film received rave reviews, Cruise’s accident very well may have saved the story.