The show must go on: injuries of actors on the set included in the films
Everyone knows the legendary phrase "the show must go on." An ordinary cut, bruise or even a broken arm — the show should still go on. Injuries during the filming process are common for all its participants. Sometimes it is really difficult to predict exactly where the danger lies in wait for an actor — a dangerous trick or, maybe, a dress will be unsafe.
The legendary Fred Astaire was injured... what would you think? A dress. In the 1939 musical "Following the Fleet", the characters of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers performed a three-minute dance composition. Rogers was wearing a chic beaded dress with flared sleeves. Completely covered with beads, it was quite heavy.
While Aster was circling in the Rogers dance, his partner hit him with her sleeve during the rotation. The blow landed on the jaw, and slightly grazed the eye. Astaire spent the rest of the dance carefully trying to avoid those killer sleeves. By the way, the director was not happy with the take, so another 20 were made. And later, ironically, the one with the slap sleeve was recognized as the best.
American popular actor and model Channing Tatum suffered a head injury in the acclaimed film "Fox Hunter". In the bathroom scene where Tatum punches the mirror with his head, the actor punched not only him, but also the wall on which this mirror was hanging. The take turned out to be so impressive that it was included in the film.
After four takes in a row of the scene where Viggo Mortensen kicks a helmet into the camera, on the fifth take the actor broke two toes. The film 's director Peter Jackson recalls this scene like this:
The film turned out to be rich in injuries not only for Mortensen, Orlando Bloom broke his ribs in the same film.
Jake Gyllenhaal in one of his last films "Stringer" was injured in a scene with a mirror. The actor even had to be hospitalized.
Despite the severe cut, Jake continued to play. The film shows Gyllenhaal's character hiding his cut hand behind a mirror.
The famous scene with the skull from the movie "Django Unchained" struck everyone with Leonardo DiCaprio's game. The impressive double included in the film was not easy for the actor.
Producer Stacy Sher describes the episode as follows:
In the scene itself, you can see how DiCaprio takes out the glass fragments that got into his hand.
In the chase scene in the night rain, Pitt tore the tendons in his arm. The injury sustained by Brad Pitt was so severe that even adjustments to the script were required.
During the struggle between the heroes of Robert Downey Jr. and Halle Berry in the psychological thriller "Gothic", Downey Jr., not calculating the strength, broke the arm of the main character. Berry recalls this scene like this:
Filming had to be suspended for two months until the actress' hand healed.
No less, and the third degree burns of the face were received by the actress Margaret Hamilton, who played the Evil Witch of the West in the movie "The Wizard of Oz". Such a serious injury occurred due to a faulty secret hatch in the pyrotechnic scene with the disappearance of the witch.
Despite the fact that Hamilton's recovery took more than six weeks, director Victor Fleming is sure that that take was the most successful.
I remember that critics were partial to Nicole Kidman's dance scenes in the movie "Moulin Rouge". In her defense, the actress said that dancing with a broken rib and torn cartilage is generally difficult. And it's even harder to dance well. The reason for this was Ewan McGregor, who dropped his partner during the dance.
In addition, a large number of scenes with Kidman had to be filmed sitting down to hide a medical brace on her leg.