Action movies surely give us an adrenaline rush. But ever thought who actually performs those dangerous stunts? Some daring actors prefer to perform the stunts on their own. But, there are a few A-list actors who choose professionals to do it for them. FYI, Tom Cruise has almost been killed multiple times while filming. Stunt doubles are always in demand and earn almost $70,000 on average. But is this amount justified for the danger they put themselves in? Definitely not. While most of the time these stunt artists manage to complete the shoots unhurt, there are times when the shoot doesn’t have a happy ending. So, here’s a list of movie scenes that almost killed the stunt double. Check it out!
1. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows- Part 1 (2010)
Warner Bros. tried to represent the characters in their true sense as they were in the book. This also included characters being on broomsticks! Stuntman David Holmes doubled for Daniel Radcliffe in plenty of scenes from 2001’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to 2010’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 1. However, during this time period, he suffered a life-changing injury. Holmes was shooting when he was yanked from his broomstick that broke his neck and paralyzed him at the age of 25.
2. Back To The Future- Part 2 (1989)
As much as we enjoy watching the hoverboard scene from the movie, it brings back painful memories for performer Cheryl Wheeler. One stuntwoman had already backed out. In the sequence, local meathead Griff and his cronies were tossed through the glass window of a clock tower. However, she collided with a stone pillar and fell to the ground. She was lying unconscious on the ground with a pool of blood around her head. That surely is giving me goosebumps.
3. The Expendables 2 (2012)
This accident that we’ll talk about has actually killed the stuntman! Professional stuntman Kun Lieu was performing a sequence that involved an inflatable raft. But, this went completely in the off direction. The raft was blown by a faulty explosion as Lieu drifted on the waters of Bulgaria’s Lake Ognyanova. Sadly, Kum Lieu lost his life. However, his partner during the stunt, Nuo Sun, managed to escape the accident.
4. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)
In 2016, Milla Jovovich‘s stunt double Olivia Jackson was miraculously saved in a fatal accident on set. Olivia collided with the camera crane while performing a motorcycle stunt. She survived with multiple injuries. Jackson reveals, “Two weeks in a coma, brain bleed, brain swelling…crushed and degloved face, several broken ribs..an open wound and a 7.5 piece of bone missing, Not my funniest day on set.”
5. The Avengers (2012)
Jeremy Fitzgerald performed various stunts in movies and TV shows in his career. He won the Tauras World Stunt Award for his contribution in 2011’s “The Predator”. However, he nearly escaped getting beheaded during the filming of “The Avengers“. Jeremy fell from a 30-feet long building and hit his head on the building wall. In the end, he escaped with his head. However, a chunk from his scalp was missing.
6. The Hangover Part 2 (2011)
We all remember this car chase scene from the movie “The Hangover Part 2“. But do you know it has a history behind it? Australian stuntman Scott McLean while performing this scene crashed his head with a truck because the drivers got their marks wrong. It is said that he suffered permanent head injuries. McLean’s wife says, “There was so much damage…He was a mess.”
7. Kick-Ass 2 (2013)
Chloë Grace Moretz played the lead character in “Kick-Ass 2“. She was enthusiastic enough to learn and adapt to the challenging role. She majorly performed all the stunts in the movie. However, she was thankful to the makers who convinced her to let the stunt double perform a few. Moretz says, “She cracked her head open. They used a hydraulic system and they did it too much and it just pulled her an inch too far and she cracked her head on a bar.”
8. Fury (2014)
The movie “Fury” stars Brad Pitt. The 35-year old stuntman in the movie was stabbed in the shoulder while rehearsing for an action sequence and was immediately airlifted to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital. A spokesperson from the production clarified that the stuntman was “laughing and talking” as he was loaded into the helicopter. Thankfully the injury was not life-threatening.
9. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011)
The movie “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” was the starting point in Gabriela Cedillo’s career. She was very excited to kickstart her career with such a massive movie! However, stars did not favor her. She was asked to take part in the scene where the stunt cars were being towed by flatbed trucks at a high speed. Unfortunately, the welding connecting the car lost the connection and it turned into a fatal accident. Cedillo hit her head in the windscreen and suffered permanent brain damages and paralysis
