The history of cinema is highlighted by many examples of on-set accidents and injuries. The reasons are obviously numerous: poorly timed stunts, actors or actresses who are too confident and/or out of shape, the director pushing his casting to the extreme to reckless risks to make the shot as realistic as possible, mostly safety. At risk. At a discount when it doesn’t exist at all…
Fortunately, over the years, security measures on film sets have increased significantly. That said, we can still imagine that insurance is a big deal on the set of Tom Cruise’s movies, who always insists on — and, in fact, makes it a trademark of — doing his own stunts.
When an actor broke his ankle in a chase on the set of Mission Impossible 6 after a bad reception, the team logically had to have anxiety attacks…
Tom Cruise on the set of Mission Impossible 6, in the scene where he is injured.
If in most cases, fortunately, these injuries can be treated, sometimes at the cost of stopping filming while they heal, it also happens that the same injuries cause long-term damage to the body of the actor or actress. would affect the rest of his life and career.
Brendan Fraser knows something about this, having almost died on the set of The Mummy and spent seven years in and out of the hospital to have a laminectomy, a procedure that removes one or more laminae in the spine.
Russell Crowe, who broke his legs on the set of Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, could also testify. “Apparently I finished the film with both broken legs. All for the love of art. No actors, no splints, no painkillers. They continued to work and over time they were cured.” he will say Interview on the Vulture website in 2016, where he, among other things, compiled his career-long list of injuries.
But in 2020, the actor started experiencing new pain and his medical tests showed that ten years later he still had fractures in his tibia…
Buster Keaton
He was nicknamed “Buster” – French for bold – for his hot temper. Silent film icon Buster Keaton remains one of the greatest stuntmen in history. An absolute burlesque genius, “The Man Who Never Laughs” performed completely insane stunts.
Although they were meticulous, the level of risk taken by the person concerned was truly insane, regularly bordering on the worst, especially when making films such as Fridge at the Electric Hotel, Sherlock Junior, in 1924, or his great classic The Mechanic. of the general.
Below, a small preview of his stunts. Taking colossal risks to allow the audience to laugh at his jokes…
Keaton has obviously been injured many times. Over the years he has developed an astonishing resistance to pain. So real that he didn’t discover the injury until eleven years after the incident…
When he runs away from the moving train grab the water tank Sherlock Jr.Keaton accidentally lets go and falls backwards onto the rail. In this case, straight to the neck… he got lost and, in a particularly rare move from him, canceled the shoot for the rest of the day to recuperate. It was not updated until the next day.
In 1935, years after this film, Keaton was x-rayed during a medical appointment to discover that he still had a broken neck he had never known existed. And that he could only be blamed for the downfall on the set Sherlock Jr., which could sacrifice his life. He didn’t steal his bold nickname “Buster” for nothing…
Jackie Chan
With a theme like this, it’s impossible to ignore action and martial arts movie legend Jackie Chan, who is known for performing his own stunts. And when we see the list of his injuries during such a long career, we still wonder how he manages to walk and talk normally.
At the Chinese Masters in 1978, he almost lost his eye with a damaged eyebrow. Broken nose four times (Lion Dance in 1980, Sailor of the China Seas (1983), Big Brother (1989), Mr Cool in 1997. Lost teeth on the set of The Chinese Goes Unleashed in 1978. Broken ribs on Operation Condor in 1983.
Right shoulder dislocation and knee injury on Nikki Larson in 1993. Cervical spine was damaged after falling 25 meters from the watch Sailor of the China Seas. The spine was damaged after falling from the bar in the police story, with an additional dislocation of the pelvis, which almost caused partial paralysis.
Broken knees in the return of the Chinese in 1985. Thigh injury after being caught between two cars in Crime Story. Ankle broken twice, Jackie Chan in The Bronx (1995) and Police Story 5 (1996).

Jackie Chan in Mr. Dynamite.
However, it was on the set of Mister Dynamite that the actor suffered the most. During a stunt that should have seen him go from a wall to a tree, Jackie Chan missed his target and hit his head on a rock.
After 8 hours of skull surgery, the actor escaped, but now lives with a hole in his skull covered with a metal plate and has lost part of his hearing in his left ear. As he himself recalls, it was at this waterfall that he saw death very, very close.
Images of this failed stunt appear in the film’s end credits, starting at 2”19, which is a blooper reel. The actor is evacuated on a stretcher…
Hugh Jackman
We almost didn’t introduce Hugh Jackman, whose career finally went into orbit thanks to his portrayal of the mutant Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men. If the actor takes on the costume again in Deadpool 3, he is also a well-known entertainer and highly respected.
Trained in song and dance, she has shown time and time again that she is equally comfortable in musicals (Les Misérables), film, and on stage on Broadway. Hence the great variety that few actors are capable of.
In a February 2023 BBC podcast, front rowJackman said he permanently damaged his voice by pushing himself too hard to play Wolverine, especially in Logan. More specifically, he explains that his falsetto “Not as strong as before” which prevents him from singing.
To remind you, falsetto is an Italian term, and also a synonym of falsetto; and a technique that uses the singer’s highest vocal register and is distinguished from the older voice. Despite his efforts to save his voice LoganThe actor has not fully recovered his vocal skills, which does not prevent him from continuing to perform regularly and successfully on Broadway.
Buddy Ebsen
A classic among classics, The Wizard of Oz has had its share of incidents. The great actress Margaret Hamilton, who plays the Wicked Witch of the West, almost died on the set of the movie.
At the beginning of the movie, he should disappear in a puff of smoke. Director Victor Fleming wanted the cloud to last a little longer, just to keep the illusion of it disappearing… so the producer delayed the opening of the trapdoor the actor was walking on, while an explosive spark appeared, sending out smoke. ..

Margaret Hamilton
The trouble is, that spark caused a very, very bad chemical reaction on the actor’s face, the oil-based make-up… Result: 3rd degree burns on his arms and 2nd degree burns on his face. Six weeks of total shutdown and hospitalization. The actor had the elegance (and transparency) not to complain to the production, which he could have done.
“I know how this business works and if I had I would never have found a job” He would say later. and to add : “That’s why I told them that I agreed to return on one condition: no more fireworks!”

Buddy Ebsen, the original Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.
Make-up chemicals claimed another victim on the set. The Tin Man, Dorothy’s traveling companion, is played by Jack Hale. However, this role was originally played by another actor: Buddy Ebsen.
In his autobiography The other side of OzPublished in 1994, it describes aluminum dust coated with white paint. He sweated profusely under the costume, and especially under this make-up, so it was regularly used in production.
The combination of chemicals produced such a smell that the actor had difficulty breathing on the set. To the point where I actually wake up one night, suffocating, unable to breathe. The medical team that took him to the hospital found that his lungs were filled with aluminum dust, from inhalation, before causing a toxic reaction.
Ebsen took eight weeks to recover, but was replaced in the role by Jack Haley in the meantime. The show must go on… Nevertheless, Buddy Ebsen explained that the incident left him with bronchial weakness, frequent bronchitis.
Taylor Hickson
In 2018, actor Taylor Hickson headlined Pascal Lagier’s new horror film, Ghostland. As the film’s release neared, the Canadian-born actor announced that he would file a lawsuit against the film’s production.
sample? He was involved in an on-set accident in December 2016, despite being assured by the director and producer that the scene he was shooting would be safe. The result: a facial injury that required 70 stitches. So he announced filing a lawsuit against the production for facial injuries “which will change his career”according to Deadline site, which was able to consult the complaint.

In the filmed scene, the director asked him to knock very hard on the window on which his face was pressed: “During the filming of this scene, director Pascal Lauger kept telling Taylor Hickson to punch the glass harder. At one point, he asked one of the producers and the director if he should. “It wasn’t dangerous. They both told him. It wasn’t.”
Unfortunately, the window shattered, sending his head and upper body into the shards of glass. “A young woman who suffered a severe cut on the left side of her face received 70 stitches. Since then, a scar running from under her chin to her temple has cut her left side of her face.” specified term.
The complaint added: She has since undergone several laser and silicone treatments. But more than a year after the incident, he has a scar on the left side of his face. Today, we don’t know if a treatment like cosmetic surgery will reduce the appearance. Scar.

The film production company Incident Productions (the name was already a sad sign…) The actor will be charged $40,000, due to non-fulfilment of security obligations on the set. Despite the operations, the scar is still visible…
Source: Allocine

Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.