Good actors give a lot to any film they are working on. Some of them go into extremities and lose or gain a lot of weight. Some lock themselves up for weeks in preparation for a role. But there still precede the movie-making process. Sometimes, during the shooting of a film, actors get badly hurt. And while a lot of these injuries require immediate attention and a lot of rest, few actors just don’t call off the shoot.
1. Tom Cruise – Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Tom Cruise is widely known for going to extreme limits to perform his own stunts, which explains a career filled with injuries. One of the worst injuries he suffered was during the shooting of Mission: Impossible – Fallout when he broke his ankle while jumping from building to building. Cruise is seen on video getting off the ledge after suffering the broken ankle and continuing with the scene.
2. Jeremy Renner – Tag
Renner broke both his arms just 3 days into shooting. He had to go to the hospital and casts had to be put on them. But the actor would continue filming despite it. He would simply have the casts removed before shooting a scene.
3. Brad Pitt – Seven
The injury occurred when he was chasing the suspected murderer through an alley during heavy rainfall. Pitt slipped and his arm went through a windshield and he suffered from a torn tendon. This should have halted shooting but director David Fincher simply wrote the injury into the film and production went on without much of a hassle.
4. Johnny Depp – The Lone Ranger
Depp, who played Tonto in the film was almost run over his own horse during the shooting of the film. The video shows him clinging on to the horse and then getting dragged for about 25 years. Luckily for him, none of the injuries he suffered was that serious and he continued shooting.
5. Leonardo DiCaprio – Django Unchained
DiCaprio badly cut the palm of his hand while breaking a skull during a ghastly scene in this film. His hand was visibly bleeding but the actor simply went on saying his lines and Tarantino never yelled cut. You can actually see it in the film.
6. Channing Tatum – Foxcatcher
During the filming of a particularly intense scene, Tatum headbutted a plastic-covered mirror thrice with his head. He hit it so hard that his head caused a two-inch dent in the wall. While doing so he also cut his head pretty badly. Regardless of the injury, the professional actor that he is, Tatum went through the scene and then some more.
7. Linda Hamilton – The Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Sarah Connor is a god damn badass. And so is actress Linda Hamilton, who did a brilliant job portraying the character on screen. However, Hamilton forgot to plug in her earplugs during a shooting sequence. So when Arnold’s shotgun went off, her ears were badly damaged and she suffered from permanent hearing loss.
8. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton – Warriors
A film about mixed martial arts is bound to have a few injuries. But Warriors really pushed the limit. At one point, Edgerton tore his ACL and blew his knees. Hardy too broke a rib, his nose and a couple of his toes. Not to forget, the countless black eyes the actor endured on a daily basis. Director Gavin O’Connor even said that they were not trying to act and that was the point. And it shows in the film.
9. Daniel Craig – Spectre
And who hurt him? None other than Dave Bautista himself. Bautista picked him up and threw him but Craig just landed at a weird angle and his knee just gave out. However, Craig did not get a surgery as it would have slowed down filming. He eventually needed a surgery though. But he came back from that in two weeks as well to restart shooting.
10. Michael J. Fox – Back To The Future Part III
Fox was almost hanged till death during the filming of this film. He was supposed to get his hand between the rope just in time to spare his neck from the noose but failing to do so, he was hung for about 30 seconds. That’s a long time if you were hanging by your neck. Reminiscing about it, he says, “Thankfully Bob Zemeckis, a fan of mine though he was, realized that I wasn’t that good of an actor.”
11. Abhishek Bachchan – Bol Bachchan
During the shooting of his film, Bachchan did a stunt that left him with some serious injuries that required stitches. However, he did not leave the shoot. He took a few minutes off and went back to shooting the film. Make no mistake, the movie was still horrible with its caricature of gay and trans people. But Bacchan coming back to shoot gets him on the list.
Whoever thinks filmmaking is easy, clearly hasn’t been on the set of one!