10 Normal Looking Scenes That Almost KILLED the Actor

#10: Chevy Chase

“Modern Problems” (1981)

You don’t often run the risk of losing your life while shooting a comedy, but that’s exactly what happened to former “SNL” star Chevy Chase on the set of “Modern Problems.” At one point, his character enters a dream sequence where he imagines himself as an airplane. He wore a special suit, equipped with landing lights. Unfortunately, the suit was incredibly warm and the future “Community” star began to sweat profusely. The moisture short-circuited the lights and Chase was badly electrocuted. His entire nervous system was overloaded, and he lost consciousness. While he survived the accident, Chase suffered from PTSD and drug use afterward. Both - along with his notorious temperament - significantly harmed his career.

#9: Matthew Fox

“Lost” (2004-2010)

On-set accidents happen, but they can be especially traumatic when a co-star is responsible. While Terry O’Quinn may be a nice guy in real life, his character in “Lost” could be a scary dude. In the show’s finale, O’Quinn’s character fatally stabs hero Jack Shephard, played by Matthew Fox. Unfortunately, the stunt almost proved fatal for the actor as well. O’Quinn had two knives - one real, one rubber - for the sequence. When it came time to shoot the moment of the stabbing, he accidentally grabbed the real knife. He actually stabbed his co-star, who thankfully managed to survive the incident with good humor.

#8: Tom Hanks

“Cast Away” (2000)

Tragedy nearly struck when actor and generally nice bloke Tom Hanks cut himself on the set of this adventure drama. While only a minor cut, it quickly became infected. When he finally went to the hospital, a doctor told him the cut could poison his blood so Hanks was kept in the hospital. This incident set filming back three weeks, but Hanks fully recovered, and we’re certainly glad he didn’t die. Who’d break the bad news to Wilson?

#7: Jennifer Lawrence

“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” (2015)

One-time America’s Sweetheart Jennifer Lawrence was on set in Atlanta filming the “Hunger Games” finale. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until disaster nearly struck. During a scene where her character, Katniss, leads people through a tunnel, a fog machine malfunctioned. It kept pumping thick fog into the tunnel, choking Lawrence and her co-stars. Everyone vanished in the mist, though the sounds of gagging and choking were audible. The assistant director barked orders to turn on large fans to blow it away. The crew carried Lawrence to safety, though she was nauseous and nearly hacking up a lung.

#6: Daniel Day-Lewis

“Gangs of New York” (2002)

Daniel Day-Lewis paid a heavy price for his extreme brand of method acting on more than one occasion. But on the set of the Scorsese epic “Gangs of New York,” this devotion to craft almost cost Day-Lewis his life. As his character lived in the 1860s, Lewis insisted upon wearing period-specific clothing 24-7, despite the cold weather. When he developed pneumonia, he refused to treat the illness with modern medicine. Instead, he would spend his off-time in character on the streets of Rome, New York, trying to instigate fistfights with locals. After the production ended, Day-Lewis confessed that his ‘approach’ to the character almost ended with his own demise.

#5: Viggo Mortensen

“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2002)

Depending on who you ask… Mortensen came close to dying in Middle-Earth twice. Viggo almost drowned doing one of his own stunts – which is well-established. Aragorn was supposed to be doing a dead man’s float down the river, but the speed of the current, coupled with the weight of his costume made for real danger. Mortensen was pulled underwater... and nearly stayed there. But it's also been reported that a scene where Aragorn deflects the Uruk-hai’s throwing knife was actually a mistake, and the deflection was actually self-preservation. Planned or accidental, Viggo’s clearly got some survival skills.

#4: Jaimie Alexander

“Thor: The Dark World” (2013) & “Blindspot” (2015-20)

This Sif actress got defeated by the most humble of foes in the second “Thor” flick; a flight of stairs. After tripping over in heels, Jaimie Alexander chipped 11 vertebrae, knocked out her left shoulder, slipped a spinal disc, and tore a rhomboid. Don’t worry though - she was largely healed and back to filming within a month. However, we couldn’t finish this entry without mentioning the injuries she’s sustained on the American crime drama “Blindspot”. During a “Today” appearance, the actress needed to consult her smartphone to remember the multitude of injuries she sustained on set. The only conclusion you can make is she’s a real-life Asgardian warrior.

#3: Aaron Paul

“Breaking Bad” (2008-13)

Did you know Jesse Pinkman was supposed to be killed off in the first season of “Breaking Bad”? The idea was ditched early on because, you know, Jesse’s awesome. But the writers may never have had the chance to save Jesse if Aaron Paul wasn’t a perfectionist. In episode 6 of the first season, Paul asked to change the position where he was standing. This was very lucky because a boulder fell down off the roof of an RV and landed exactly where Aaron had been during the filming of the scene.

#2: Margaret Hamilton

“The Wizard of Oz” (1939)

“The Wizard of Oz” may be one of the most classic films in American history, but the set was a death trap. The original actor cast to play the Tin Man, Buddy Ebsen, had to drop out when the silver body paint gave him a near-fatal allergic reaction. He had to recover in an iron lung. Margaret Hamilton, a.k.a. The Wicked Witch of the West, met with a nastier, near disastrous fate. There was a running gag that the witch would often disappear in a puff of smoke. During one of those scenes, the trap door she had to fall through malfunctioned, and the pyrotechnics caused severe burns. She spent six weeks recovering and refused to do the stunt again.

#1: Martin Sheen

“Apocalypse Now” (1979)

An infamously troubled shoot, the cast and crew of the critically acclaimed film have said that, much like Marlon Brando’s Col. Kurtz, many involved in the production kind of lost their minds. Those involved partied very, very hard, getting lost in the jungle atmosphere and losing themselves in their roles. Martin Sheen, who was already hitting the bottle, began to lean even more heavily into alcohol throughout the high-stress shoot. Ultimately his body responded in the form of a heart attack and nervous breakdown. He survived, but the entire experience would continue to haunt him for years.

Are there other near-fatal accidents that should be on this list? Let us know in the comments