Making movies can often be a dangerous business, especially in action movies when actors decide to do their own stunts. Plenty of actors have suffered injuries on set, ranging from cuts and burns to more serious issues that required extensive surgery.

The breadth of injuries that movie actors have suffered over the years highlights just how important stunt coordinators and performers are. Actors can get injured in scenes which don’t look particularly harmful, and every stunt comes with a certain level of risk.

10

Aragorn Kicks The Helmet – The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Viggo Mortensen Broke Two Toes

Viggo Mortensen’s injury on the set of the Lord of the Rings movies is one of the most famous movie injuries of all, and it’s one piece of Lord of the Rings trivia that most hardcore fans of Peter Jackson’s trilogy will already be aware of. Mortensen broke two toes kicking an empty metal helmet on the floor.

The Lord of the Rings franchise has some jaw-dropping battle scenes, so it’s surprising that the most famous injury from the production comes from a more low-key scene. Aragorn merely kicks the helmet in frustration, thinking that Merry and Pippin are ᴅᴇᴀᴅ for a moment. Mortensen’s guttural scream is completely genuine, although he’s crying out in pain rather than anger.

9

Ethan’s Chase Through London – Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Tom Cruise Broke His Ankle

Tom Cruise is famous for doing his own stunts, and he constantly tries to one-up himself in the Mission: Impossible franchise. In one dramatic chase scene in the franchise’s sixth entry, Ethan Hunt is sprinting across the rooftops of London, and he has to take a dangerous leap between two buildings.

Christopher McQuarrie filmed the scene from multiple angles, so there’s a lot of footage of Cruise’s ankle breaking. His foot bends back at an awkward angle as his leg collides with the edge of the building. Considering some of his stunts are even more dangerous, it’s good that he hasn’t had any more serious injuries. The upcoming Mission: Impossible movie promises more of the same extreme stunts.

8

Ivan Drago & Rocky’s Fight – Rocky IV (1985)

Sylvester Stallone Was Hospitalized For Nine Days

Rocky IV has a mixed reputation. It has the second-lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of the entire Rocky franchise, including the Creed movies, with just 39%. Audiences are generally more positive about it, though, as the 79% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes underlines. Many of the film’s best qualities come from Dolph Lundgren’s portrayal of Ivan Drago.

Drago is a cold-blooded machine in the boxing ring, which makes Lundgren’s immense physicality perfect for the role. In the climactic boxing scene when Rocky and Drago finally meet in the ring, Sylvester Stallone urged Lundgren to hit him for real. This proved to be a mistake, since Stallone suffered an injury to his heart after a ferocious punch to the chest.

7

Mills Chases John Doe Through The Rain – Se7en (1995)

Brad Pitt Tore A Tendon In His Arm

Se7en is still one of David Fincher’s best movies, partly because Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt deliver two superb performances as a pair of mismatched detectives on the trail of a serial killer. Pitt’s dedication to the role helped make him a star, but he paid the price after an on-set injury.

In one particularly tense scene, Detective Mills chases John Doe through an alley in the rain. It’s the first time that Mills comes close to the killer, but he can’t apprehend him. Brad Pitt accidentally smashed his arm through a car windshield in this scene. Rather than delaying production too much, Fincher worked the incident into the story, and Mills wears a cast for the remainder of the film.

6

Lou Bloom Screams Into The Mirror – Nightcrawler (2014)

Jake Gyllenhaal Sliced His Hand

Jake Gyllenhaal delivers one of his finest performances in Nightcrawler, a dark psychological thriller about a sociopath who finds a lucrative career filming the grim aftermath of crimes and accidents on the streets of Los Angeles. Lou Bloom is intense and unstable, which Gyllenhaal captures in one memorable scene in front of a mirror.

After a setback in his new career, Lou Bloom stares at himself in his bathroom mirror, before violently screaming at himself, shaking his reflection and punching the mirror. Gyllenhaal took this scene further than it was supposed to go, breaking the mirror and slicing open his hand. He required over 40 sтιтches on his palm.

5

Bob’s Interrogation – Syriana (2005)

George Clooney Received A Severe Head Injury

George Clooney won an Oscar for his performance in Syriana, but it came at the cost of a serious head injury that caused him unbearable pain. The injury occurred while filming the interrogation scene, and the take in which Clooney’s head smacks onto the concrete floor made it into the final cut of the movie.

Clooney injured his dura, a layer of thick connective tissue which sits just beneath the skull and protects the brain. He required extensive surgery to deal with the pain and solve the issue, but he soon made a full recovery. The fact that he managed to return to filming Syriana and deliver such a compelling performance is remarkable.

4

Count Rugen Knocks Westley Out – The Princess Bride (1987)

Cary Elwes Was Genuinely Knocked Unconscious

Even comedies can be dangerous sometimes, as Cary Elwes discovered on the set of The Princess Bride. Rob Reiner’s book adaptation has plenty of swashbuckling adventure, including some sword fights and other exciting confrontations. Elwes sustained an injury during one of the movie’s quieter moments, after a hit that’s meant to be played for comic effect.

Christopher Guest didn’t have access to a prop sword, and faking the hit didn’t look convincing on camera, so the decision was made that he would hit Elwes on the top of the head for real. Elwes agreed to this, but he wasn’t prepared for how hard Guest was going to hit him. He woke up later in the hospital, but fortunately suffered no lasting effects. The moment that Elwes gets knocked out can be seen in the film.

3

Reagan Slaps Her Mother To The Ground – The Exorcist (1973)

Ellen Burstyn Suffered From Long-Term Back Pain

The Exorcist is a classic horror movie, and some of the behind-the-scenes details have made it even more famous. There’s a legend that the production was haunted, which fits neatly with the paranormal subject of the story. This is partly because there were several accidents on set, including a serious injury to Ellen Burstyn’s back.

In one scene where Chris tries to reach out to her daughter beneath the demon possessing her, she is violently slapped and thrown to the ground. To achieve this sH๏τ, Ellen Burstyn was pulled back by a string tied to her back. Unfortunately, she was pulled back too hard, causing a back injury that periodically flared up for years. Her scream of pain in the film is genuine.

2

Sonny Beats Carlo In The Street – The Godfather (1972)

Gianni Russo Suffered A Cracked Rib

The Godfather has an outstanding cast, arguably one of the best ᴀssembled for any movie. This means that James Caan’s performance sometimes gets overlooked due to the power of Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall and others. He has plenty of memorable moments as Sonny, including his violent beating of Carlo.

When Sonny discovers that Carlo has been hitting his sister Connie, he takes matters into his own hands and attacks Carlo in the street. The scene is famous for one obvious missed punch, but some of the hits were all too real. James Caan ended up fracturing one of Gianni Russo’s ribs, which has fed into the persistent rumors that the two actors disliked each other during production.

1

James Bond Electrocutes Oddjob – Goldfinger (1964)

Harold Sakata Burned His Hand

Although Oddjob doesn’t say anything, he’s still one of the best James Bond villains. Goldfinger’s henchman is a force of silent brutality, and he often seems to find some perverse glee in dishing out violence. His iconic steel hat proves to be a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly weapon, but it also leads to his death, as it conducts a powerful electric current that Bond uses to kill him.

Harold Sakata was an Olympic weightlifter and a professional wrestler, so he obviously had a high pain tolerance. This explains how he held onto the hat, even as his hand was being severely burned. He only released his grip when director Guy Hamilton yelled “cut“, when he collapsed to the ground.