Mariska Hargitay Once Got Seriously Hurt On The Set Of Law & Order

Tom Cruise is probably the first name that comes into people's heads when they think of actors doing their own stunts, and no matter how badly hurt, he keeps doing them. In "Mission: Impossible — Fallout," for one, he broke his foot performing a stunt, and while the doctors told him his recovery would take nine months, he was back on set in 9 weeks, even though his foot wasn't completely healed (via ET Online). Then there's Daniel Craig, who famously lost his two front teeth, the tip of a finger, and sprained his knee, among other injuries doing his own stunts as James Bond (via Esquire).

It's pretty common for actors to use stunt doubles when it comes to the more difficult jumps and action shots on television shows and films, because directors don't want to risk their star getting hurt, or the stunt may be dangerous. But there are many actors that have been known to still insist on doing most of their own stunts. Whether because of pride or a love of adrenaline, some actors continue, despite getting hurt. For others, getting hurt is a wake-up call to use a stunt double more often. For instance, after getting seriously injured doing her own stunts on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," Mariska Hargitay decided that using a stunt double isn't such a bad thing.

In 2009, Mariska Hargitay suffered a partially collapsed lung performing her own stunt during filming. Stunts weren't unusual for the talented actress, as she acknowledged that she had been doing her own stunts on the show for the past decade (via People Magazine). But this time was different, and she felt immediately that something was wrong, but convinced herself she just needed to give it time. Three months after the incident while walking on the beach, she recalls that, "I felt this sharp pain, sort of like someone had stabbed me. I went down on one knee and just couldn't catch my breath (via Redbook)."

She got an X-ray and discovered, in her words, "my right lung was 50 percent collapsed. I began to panic. I was so scared." After surgery, she recovered and was told her right lung was now stronger than the left. "Then, on March 5, it happened again. "I was one out of 1000, statistically." 

Since the incident, Hargitay has confirmed that she now has stunt doubles to help her out — joking to Access Hollywood that "I've got like three!" so she doesn't injure herself again.