Movie Stunts Actors Regret
With so much done in post-production via computer effects in Hollywood nowadays, there's something to be said about good, old-fashioned stunt work. For a long time, the stunt people of Tinseltown were unsung heroes, though viewers have gradually come to appreciate what they do for our entertainment. However, while stunt performers are invaluable members of any film production, sometimes the actors they are paid to stand in for prefer to do these daring feats themselves. Of course, not everyone can be like Tom Cruise, who has performed some incredible stunts in his "Mission: Impossible" films.
The A-list action star is well known for his skill with stunts, though even he gets it wrong sometimes — Cruise broke his ankle during the making of "Mission: Impossible – Fallout." The production was put on hiatus as a result, something he immediately apologized for. Cruise is far from the first Hollywood star to pick up an injury while performing a stunt, and he certainly won't be the last. The following actors all came to regret doing their own stunts, and it's hard to see why.
Burt Reynolds really filmed that waterfall scene in Deliverance
1972's "Deliverance" made a big impact on pop culture. It's probably best known for that infamous scene with Ned Beatty, but there are some other notable moments in the picture, including one scene that Burt Reynolds regretted filming. Reynolds was known for doing a lot of his own stunts. That was him in the water during the film's big waterfall scene, which left him with a painful injury. "I went over the falls and the first thing that happened, I hit a rock and cracked my tailbone, and to this day it hurts," Reynolds told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015. It was actually Reynolds who insisted that he do the stunt himself — director John Boorman wanted to use a dummy rather than his star.
When Herb A. Lightman of American Cinematographer visited the set of the film not long after the accident, Reynolds gave him the lowdown on what happened. "I lit right on my tailbone, on a submerged rock, and bounced about five feet in the air," he said. "Man, did that hurt. I could hardly move for several hours afterward." When Reynolds sat down with Business Insider in 2016, two years before his death at the age of 82, he admitted that he should have let his stuntmen take the lead more often instead of trying to do dangerous scenes himself. "It was a dumb macho thing to do," he said.
Michael J. Fox's hanging scene in Back to the Future Part III left him unconscious
Michael J. Fox has never been known for doing his own stunts, but when it came to the hanging scene in "Back to the Future Part III," director Robert Zemeckis needed a close-up — and you can't really fake a close-up. Fox put himself in the noose for a shot that was meant to be pretty easy, all things considered. "For the first couple of takes, I stood on a small wooden box," Fox recounted in his 2002 memoir "Lucky Man." Unfortunately, the box meant that the "swinging effect" Fox was trying to create just didn't look real.
Being a dedicated pro, Fox offered to do a take without the box — and he ended up losing consciousness. "Noose around my neck, dangling from the gallows pole, my carotid artery was blocked, causing me briefly to pass out," he said. "I swung, unconscious, at the end of the rope for several seconds before Bob Zemeckis, fan of mine though he was, realized even I wasn't that good an actor."
In his memoir, Fox recounted a conversation between himself and his doctor, who believed at the time that the hanging had something to do with his worsening condition. "I was convinced now that my problem was physiological, and not neurological, probably related to the 'Back to the Future' hanging," the actor wrote. Of course, Fox was ultimately diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and while the hanging stunt wasn't a factor, he still regretted stepping off that box.
Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman both regret that Kill Bill car crash
There's a famous scene from "Kill Bill Vol. 2" in which Uma Thurman's Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo drives a convertible down a sandy, tree-lined road. What few people knew when the film was released in 2004 was that Thurman was involved in a serious crash while filming this scene. The actor lost control of the vehicle when she came to an unexpected bend in the road and crashed into a tree, resulting in lasting damage to her neck and knees. "I felt this searing pain and thought, 'Oh my God, I'm never going to walk again,'" Thurman said when she opened up about the incident in 2018.
Speaking to The New York Times, the actor revealed that she didn't want to do the scene and that director Quentin Tarantino had pushed her into it, insisting that it was safe. "Quentin came in my trailer and didn't like to hear no, like any director," she said. "He was furious because I'd cost them a lot of time. But I was scared. He said: 'I promise you the car is fine. It's a straight piece of road.'" Tarantino had tested the route himself, but in the opposite direction, and the bend was apparently easier to navigate coming that way. He told Deadline: "It's the biggest regret of my life, getting her to do that stunt." Thurman no longer blames the filmmaker for the accident, but Tarantino still hasn't forgiven himself.
Dylan O'Brien suffered some severe injuries during a stunt on The Death Cure
Dylan O'Brien was a star on the rise when he was involved in a serious accident on the set of 2018's "Maze Runner: The Death Cure," the third and final installment in the "Maze Runner" film series. However, just days into production, O'Brien was involved in a stunt that went horribly wrong. According to reports, the film's leading man was thrown from one vehicle and hit by another. The vehicles were only traveling at 10 mph at the time, but the actor's injuries were extensive: He suffered a concussion, brain trauma, and a facial fracture.
Production was shut down indefinitely so the star could recover, but O'Brien began to question whether he wanted to return to acting at all. "I really was in a dark place there for a while and it wasn't an easy journey back," he told Vulture in 2017 ahead of "American Assassin," his big return project. "There was a time there where I didn't know if I would ever do it again ... and that thought scared me, too." The actor went on to explain that his extensive recovery, which lasted about six months, felt more like years to him when he was at his lowest. "Even right now, it's just kind of hard to talk about," he admitted.
Sylvester Stallone took some damaging blows from Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV
When we think of Sylvester Stallone, two roles come to mind: John Rambo and Rocky Balboa. The Italian Stallion gave everything while playing these two characters, including his physical well-being. For "Rocky IV," Stallone thought that the best way to make the boxing look legit was to actually get punched. He gave the go-ahead for Dolph Lundgren (Ivan Drago) to really go at him on camera, a move he came to regret. Stallone felt the injuries by the third take, but he ignored them — only to be rushed to the ER later that night. It turned out that Lundgren had hit him so hard that his heart had begun to swell.
"My blood pressure was 200+, and the next thing I knew I was on a low-altitude flight from Canada to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica," he told Ain't It Cool News in 2006. "I resided in intensive care for eight days." Stallone also put his body on the line doing stunts as Rambo, breaking a rib during the first film. The action star has undergone almost half a dozen back operations over the years, as well as a neck fusion and some repairs to his shoulders. "Don't do your own stunts, that's the moral of that," he told The Times in 2022. "But the special effects became more important than the person. Life is a matter of managing your ass-whipping."
Jeremy Renner broke both arms in Tag
Another actor who does his own stunts is Jeremy Renner. He has appeared in action-heavy franchise films like "The Bourne Legacy," "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol," and several Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, playing physically demanding roles in every one. Given his resume, it's perhaps surprising that the stunt he regrets doing is from the comedy film "Tag." The movie follows a bunch of grown-up friends who are still playing the same game of tag they began as kids. In one sequence, Renner runs along some chairs as he tries to make his escape. Unfortunately, one of the chairs broke during the filming of the scene.
"I broke along with it and fell on the ground and broke my arms," Renner told Entertainment Weekly in 2018, adding that he actually got up and did the stunt again, not knowing how bad the injuries were. "Then I realized, I think something's wrong, so I went to the hospital, and they said [both arms were] broken, so I got them wrapped up and then I went back to work and did everything I could do to continue on as we did." He really started to regret doing the stunt himself when it came to spending time with his kid. "When I couldn't pick up my daughter, that was a very upsetting time," he said.
Brendan Fraser blacked out during a stunt in The Mummy
Brendan Fraser rose to prominence playing the swashbuckling lead in 1999's "The Mummy" and its 2001 sequel "The Mummy Returns," both of which contain plenty of action set pieces. Fraser blacked out while filming his hanging scene in the first movie, and it was a scary experience. After his stuntman did the wide shots, Fraser came in for the close-ups, and he quickly saw the world fade around him. "It was like turning down the volume switch on your home stereo, like the Death Star powering down," Fraser told Entertainment Weekly. "I regained consciousness and one of the EMTs was saying my name." The stunt coordinator found it funny, but Fraser wasn't amused. "I was like, 'Hey, you guys think what you need to, but I'm done for the day.'"
Even now, Fraser and director Stephen Sommers argue about who is to blame for the incident, though the actor has ultimately taken responsibility for his stunt choices. He was simply taking on too much at the time. "I believe I probably was trying too hard, in a way that's destructive," Fraser told GQ, comparing himself to the workhorse from George Orwell's "Animal Farm." The actor said that he was always in and out of hospitals and that, when production on "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" began in 2008, his body was falling apart. "By the time I did the third 'Mummy' picture in China I was put together with tape and ice," he said.
Bruce Campbell's blood stunt in Evil Dead II led to some bizarre aftereffects
If you've seen any of Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" movies, then you'll know that there's a lot of fake blood involved, and 1987's "Evil Dead II" really upped the ante. When Ash is hunting his demonically possessed severed hand, he frantically fires his shotgun at the wall of the franchise's famous cabin. When he hears a squeal come from the other side, he thinks he's won, saying: "Gotcha, didn't I? You little sucker!" However, the trickle of blood that comes from the hole he's just made soon becomes a torrent — 55 gallons of fake blood shoot out at the actor, hitting him square in the face.
In his memoir, "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor," Campbell reveals that this is one "Evil Dead" scene he regrets filming. Why? Well, when that much fake blood hits you in the face, there are going to be some aftereffects. "I lived to tell the tale, but every time I blew my nose for the next two weeks, the snot was bright red," he said. This wasn't the only issue he faced after filming this scene, either. "Out of sheer bullheadedness, I had insisted on using the original, time-tested Karo syrup formula from the first 'Evil Dead' film," he added. "The visual effect was nice, but I became the object of desire for every fly in Wadesboro."
Margot Robbie really hated filming the chemical vat scene in Suicide Squad
David Ayer's "Suicide Squad" has its fair share of critics, but one thing that most people can agree on is that Margot Robbie was perfectly cast as Harley Quinn. She made the role her own and is still associated with it to this day, but there's one scene from her first outing as the famous DC character that Robbie absolutely hated to film. As Harley recalls her turn from psychiatrist to psychopath, she discusses the moment that the Joker convinced her to jump into a vat of chemicals. She does what he tells her, and he jumps in to pull her out of the solution. It's definitely one of the stranger parts of the Joker and Harley Quinn's toxic relationship, and it drove Robbie mad.
"That chemical [scene] was the most unpleasant thing I've ever done in my entire life," Robbie told The Washington Post in 2016. "It was like this gluggy paint stuff that was so far in my ears and up my nose, and I was choking on it underwater, and I couldn't breathe, and I tried to open my eyes, and it would glaze over my eyeballs, and I could only see white." The Australian A-lister added that the stunt was "horrible" and her "least favorite" thing about the "Suicide Squad" filming experience. Coincidentally, she noted that her favorite stunt in the film also had her submerged, but this time in water and with a free-diving expert on hand.
Kurt Russell made a costly error in that guitar scene from The Hateful Eight
Okay, this one isn't exactly a stunt in the traditional sense, but considering that it involved an intense moment of action, we think it's worthy of inclusion. Do you remember that moment in "The Hateful Eight" when Kurt Russell's character rips a guitar out of Jennifer Jason Leigh's hands and breaks it into pieces against a wooden beam? Well, it turns out that the guitar was on loan to the production from the Martin Guitar Museum and was actually a 145-year-old priceless antique. "Jennifer had a number of guitars to work on this song that she was going to sing," Russell explained to Esquire. "The one particular guitar that she liked, I guess, was this Martin. Nobody ever said that it was 145 years old at the time."
Unfortunately, Martin deemed the guitar both unfixable and irreplaceable, and as a result, they no longer loan guitars to film productions. But Russell had no idea, and when director Quentin Tarantino called cut, he discovered the truth. "I can tell [Leigh's] not happy about this. It's like, something's wrong," he explained. "So as soon as it's over, I say, 'Tell me that's not the guitar you've been practicing with,' and she [nods]. I only felt bad about that. I couldn't give a s*** about the guitar." Even if it's only because he hurt his co-star's feelings, this is one scene from "The Hateful Eight" that Russell no doubt regrets.