Top 50 Actor Injuries You ACTUALLY See On Screen

“Star Trek” (1966-69)
Since the creation of the franchise in 1966, “Star Trek” has featured actors performing all kinds of intense stunts. And on occasion, these feats result in a universe of pain. Take the original series’ 17th episode as an example. In “The Squire of Gothos,” guest star William Campbell – who played General Trelane – dislocated his shoulder as he sparred with William Shatner in the forest. Although Campbell managed to pop it back into place by instinctively flinging his arm, the incident caused production to go a day over schedule. If you watch closely, you can see Campbell slightly favoring his “good arm” during the brawl.

“CSI: NY” (2004-13)
Portrayed by the glamorous Melina Kanakaredes, crime scene investigator Stella Bonasera is a badass. Stella works alongside Detective Mac Taylor (played by Gary Sinise), serving as the Assistant Supervisor of the NYPD crime lab. During her time in this role, Stella protected the city with impeccable stealth and poise – er, most of the time. Season 5’s opener “Veritas” finds Stella and her team embroiled in a conflict with a killer named Ethan Scott. A chase ensues between Stella and Scott on a fire escape, during which the former trips and gets a very real scar on her left leg.

“Dad’s Army” (1968-77)
If you’re unfamiliar with this classic sitcom, “Dad’s Army” is bursting with good old fashioned British humor. Set in World War II, the show follows the adventures of English Home Guard volunteers, most of whom are too old or otherwise unqualified to join the regular army. Many of the laughs come from the inept group attempting to execute strenuous military exercises. When Season Three rolled around, these efforts proved to be too much for John Le Mesurier, who played Sergeant Arthur Wilson. The 57-year-old actor strained a ligament in his leg as he threw himself onto the ground in one episode.

“Dr. Who” (1963-)
Whovians know Sylvester McCoy as the whimsical and mysterious Seventh Doctor. Notably, McCoy’s incarnation of the famous Time Lord was the last to appear before the series went on hiatus in 1989. The Season 26 finale, titled “Survival,” also marked the only time McCoy’s Doctor came face to face with Anthony Ainley’s Master. Although Ainley and McCoy starred as iconic mortal enemies, they had one thing in common: their hatred of the contact lenses they had to wear in this final serial. Both found the lenses to be extremely uncomfortable and it’s visible if you watch closely. It didn’t help that Ainley had to hit McCoy with a giant animal bone – though McCoy was so irritated by the contacts that he barely noticed.

“Riverdale” (2017-23)
Debuting in 2017, this popular show presents a darker, more dramatic version of the beloved comic series than previously seen. KJ Apa stars as Archie Andrews, who goes from “everyday teenager” to “hero” at the end of Season 1. A scene in the finale finds Archie and his friends venturing to save their classmate when she falls through thin ice. Although Apa was actually punching a foam mat, he hit it with so much gusto that he actually broke his hand. What’s more, it was so cold on set that he didn’t even notice the injury until 20 minutes after it occurred.

“Breaking Bad” (2008-13)
As methamphetamine cook and dealer Jesse Pinkman, Aaron Paul filmed his share of fight scenes. But a slip that occurred behind the scenes of Season Two, Episode Two stands out as especially harrowing. Here, Paul suffered a concussion when Raymond Cruz (in character as Tuco Salamanca) pushed him into a screen door. Immediately feeling the effects of the tumble, Paul begged Cruz to stop, but Cruz simply thought his cries for help were part of the script and continued to beat the crap out of him. Real-life mistakes aside, you have to admit the final take looks pretty authentic.

“Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987-94)
Sirtis’ depiction of Counselor Deanna Troi earned her considerable fame - and, for a time, considerable pain. In Season 5’s “Power Play,” Troi is part of an away team that explores an uninhabited moon. When told there was a stunt that involved the crew being violently thrown backward, Sirtis had the option to use a double, as all her fellow actors were doing. She opted to do the stunt, and although they were able to get a great shot, it came at a hefty price: Sirtis hurt her tailbone while crashing to the ground. In Sirtis’ view, the worst part of this was that no one could see her face from that distance anyway, so no one would’ve known it was her rather than a double.

“Fawlty Towers” (1975-79)
“Fawlty Towers” is celebrated for its sharp writing and hilarious physical comedy. The sitcom also features performances from British comedy legends, such as John Cleese and Andrew Sachs. Sachs’ portrayal of waiter Manuel earned him lots of love from his audience, but unfortunately, he was injured a few times while recording the shows’ humorous mishaps. In addition to the time he was accidentally set on fire, Sachs once found himself on the receiving end of a so-called “staged” hit on the head with an unexpectedly real frying pan. Talk about devotion to the craft.

“Game of Thrones” (2011-19)
Jon Snow is among the most famous players in the “Game of Thrones,” and Kit Harrington has been widely praised for giving life to the heroic Snow. And according to behind-the-scenes info for the episode “Winterfell,” it sounds like Harrington suffered for his art big time. To film a sequence where Snow rides a dragon, Harrington had to sit on a mechanical bull-like device that bucked around crazily. At one point, it grabbed hold of him in a particularly vulnerable spot, causing poor Kit significant discomfort – and fear. Being the seasoned professional he is, he soldiered through the scene, but if you watch very closely, you can see him grimacing.

“Friends” (1994-2004)
Joey Tribbiani is a fan-favorite character on “Friends.” What he lacks in intelligence, he makes up for in loyalty and lovability. That’s why we felt so badly for his actor, Matt LeBlanc, in Season 3’s “The One Where No One’s Ready.” A subplot of this episode involves Joey and his roommate Chandler fighting over a couch in their neighbor Monica’s apartment. At a moment where they both make a mad dash for the spot, Matt LeBlanc dislocated his shoulder. The writers were able to cleverly incorporate the accident into the show, having Joey – in typical Joey fashion – get hurt while jumping on his bed.

“Rocky III” (1982)
This franchise went places in the 1980s. “Rocky” was a grounded movie about underdogs, ambition, and the gritty streets of 1970s Philly. By “Rocky III” he was wrestling Hulk Hogan. In one of the movie’s signature scenes, Rocky and Thunderlips fight in a charity event, but the wrestler takes it a little too seriously and batters Rocky like a ragdoll. Turns out, this is pretty much what actually happened. Hogan reportedly wrestled Stallone for real, throwing him around the ring and leaving him with numerous bruises. Stallone has also recounted an incident where a particular move was so painful that he believed Hogan had broken his collarbone. Luckily, nothing of the sort had happened.

“Action Point” (2018)
This is basically the fifth “Jackass” movie with a story wrapped around it. Naturally, there are a ton of gnarly stunts. It is loosely based on Action Park, a shoddy New Jersey theme park known for its lack of safety features and extreme number of accidents. Johnny Knoxville performed all of his own stunts, resulting in four concussions, lost teeth, a torn meniscus, and a broken hand, just to name a few injuries. In the movie’s most famous stunt, Knoxville shoots off the Alpine Slide and lands directly on his face, which resulted in a horrible eye injury. Following this, he was not allowed to sneeze or blow his nose for six weeks for fear of the pressure causing further damage.

“Die Hard” (1988)
Undeniably one of the best action films ever made, “Die Hard” is full of wonderful set pieces and awe-inspiring stunts. And weirdly enough, it wasn’t a death-defying act that caused permanent injury, but the simple act of shooting a prop gun. A scene occurs in which John McClane is hiding under a boardroom table and kills a terrorist by shooting up through the wood. Bruce Willis was tasked with doing this himself, and he shot a number of blank cartridges very close to his face. Even though there is no bullet, blanks are still incredibly loud, and Willis lost two-thirds of the hearing in his left ear as a result.

“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (1989)
A perennial holiday classic, everyone knows this movie by heart. But did you know that Chevy Chase broke his finger in one of the scenes? No, it wasn’t when Clark fell off the roof or broke the sound barrier while sledding. It was when he had a tantrum about the lights. After spending countless hours setting up his winter wonderland, Clark’s Christmas lights won’t turn on, so he freaks out and begins destroying some decorations. At one point he punches a Santa, and it’s here that Chase reportedly broke his pinky finger. You can even see that Clark switches to kicks after the initial punch, likely because Chase was in so much pain.

“The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974)
Made for as little as $80,000, the budget of the first “Texas Chain Saw Massacre” was quite limited, so the visual effects team had to do a lot of improvising. And by improvising, we mean just doing it for real. In the climactic dinner sequence, Leatherface cuts Sally’s finger and draws blood for Grandpa. The filmmakers tried achieving this effect with fake blood and a tube, but the contraption wasn’t cooperating. So they just got rid of the contraption. Instead, Marilyn Burns allowed her finger to be sliced for real. Looking at the scene now, it’s quite obvious that her finger was actually cut, and we can’t help but wince.

“The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977)
Being James Bond comes with a high degree of danger, and as it turns out, so does playing him. In the climax of “The Spy Who Loved Me,” bad guy Karl Stromberg tries shooting Bond through a secret tube, but he jumps out of the way just in time and the chair he was sitting on explodes. To achieve the effect, various incendiary devices were placed inside the prop chair. However, these explosives were set off a bit prematurely, igniting Moore’s bum on fire. As he told BBC 5 Live, “Flames were coming out of my rear end…I ended up with three holes where most people have one.” At least he has a good sense of humor about it.

“Rumble in the Bronx” (1995)
We could fill a whole list with Jackie Chan injuries - in fact, we did! Check it out. “Rumble in the Bronx” was Chan’s big break in North America, and it only cost him a big break of his ankle. We apologize for that pun. Chan jumps from a bridge pier onto a nearby hovercraft, landing awkwardly on his right ankle. If you look hard enough, you can even see Chan briefly reacting in pain before the scene cuts. Chan shattered his ankle in the stunt and spent the rest of filming in a cast. Hiding said cast required a ton of creative solutions from the crew, like coloring the sock worn over his cast to resemble a shoe.

“The Mummy” (1999)
Brendan Fraser is a tough dude, and he has faced a number of injuries throughout his career. The most famous occurred while filming “The Mummy,” which, not coincidentally, is the one you actually see on screen. In the scene, Rick O’Connell is being executed but is saved in the nick of time by Evelyn. According to Fraser, his acting did not look authentic, so he agreed to take it one step further and was essentially strangled for real. Rick’s intense struggling is Fraser’s intense struggling, and while it achieved the authenticity they were looking for, Fraser ended up passing out from a lack of oxygen. Luckily, no long-term damage was done.

“Sherlock Jr.” (1924)
You ever break your neck and just carry on with your day? No, of course not. But Buster Keaton did. One stunt in “Sherlock Jr.” sees Keaton walking on a moving train, grabbing a water spout, and getting hit with the water that spills out. The water pressure was much higher than anticipated, knocking Keaton to the ground and causing his head to hit one of the steel rails. Despite the immense pain, Keaton carried on with the scene. However, in the weeks following he reportedly suffered from horrible headaches. Fast forward eleven years to 1935, when an x-ray showed that Keaton had fractured his top vertebra in the fall. Yep, the dude was just casually strolling around with a broken neck.

“Noah’s Ark” (1928)
In 1928, there were no safety regulations in place for actors or stunt performers. As you can imagine, this led to catastrophe. “Noah’s Ark” is an early disaster film, and the Biblical flood is depicted in the climax. This scene was very impressive for its time, but without the stunt regulations in place, it was also an unmitigated disaster. With 600,000 gallons of water pouring into the studio, a slew of extras suffered an extensive list of injuries, including many broken bones. It’s reported that up to 35 ambulances were called to the studio to tend to the wounded. It was such a mess that Hollywood convened and implemented safety regulations the very next year to prevent such a thing from occurring again.

“Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” (1977)
Alright, we’re stretching the concept of “injury” a bit, but come on, this is an iconic movie mistake that needs a spot on the list. You all know the story - a group of Stormtroopers are walking into a room when one of them bonks their head on the door. This was a famous gaffe in the “Star Wars” fandom before it became more commonplace in the early 2000s. The goof is referenced in “Attack of the Clones” when Jango Fett bumps his head on the door, and in the 2004 re-release a very noticeable “bonking” noise was added to the scene. To this day, no one really knows who played that specific Stormtrooper, but whoever they are, they are an iconic piece of movie history.

“Syriana” (2005)
We got from a head bonk to a head smack, and a funny goof to a horrifying injury. Clooney earned an Oscar for his performance in “Syriana,” but it was a small consolation for months of physical and mental anguish. Clooney’s character Bob Barnes is being interrogated when he falls backwards and hits his head on the floor. This bone-crunching smack was real, and according to Clooney, he “immediately” knew how serious it was. He began suffering from debilitating headaches and checked himself into a hospital, where it was discovered that he had torn his dura and was leaking spinal fluid. The pain was so unbearable that Clooney considered taking his own life, but operations fixed the injury and the pain eventually subsided.

“Dazed and Confused” (1993)
In 1993, a then-unknown Ben Affleck starred as bad guy Fred O’Bannion in “Dazed and Confused.” Fred takes incredible glee in tormenting the younger students, but the kids get their revenge when they douse Fred in white paint. Frustrated and embarrassed, Fred throws a tantrum before climbing into his car and driving off. If you look closely, you can see Affleck roll his ankle just as he slams the bat into the ground. Some sources claim that he merely twisted his ankle, while others say that he broke it completely. Whatever the case, it sure looks nasty, and we have to commend him for keeping the scene going.

“Carrie” (1976)
Brian De Palma’s “Carrie” has one of the most famous, and terrifying, climaxes in horror movie history. Carrie White finally snaps after a continued string of abuse and torment, causing her to go on a deadly rampage. During the infamous prom sequence, Norma is blasted directly in the face by a firehose. A fire chief who was on set warned De Palma against the stunt, telling him that it was incredibly dangerous. They went through with it anyway, and it cost P.J. Soles an eardrum. The stream of water clearly hits Soles in the ear, and she reportedly blacked out from the pain. After a visit to the emergency department, she was told that her eardrum had been ruptured.

“The Godfather” (1972)
James Caan’s Sonny Corleone is arguably the most brash and violent character in “The Godfather.” And when he learns that his brother-in-law has been abusive towards Connie, he makes a rather chaotic visit to sort the problem out. Gianni Russo claims that he and Caan did not get along while filming, which may have led to Caan being a little more… forceful than he would have liked. While filming the fight sequence, Caan actually made contact on more than one occasion, chipping Russo’s elbow and breaking two of his ribs. In Russo’s own words, “Jimmy got a little aggressive.”

“Cape Fear” (1962)
Both “The Godfather” and “Cape Fear” prove that faking fights isn’t so easy. In this classic ‘60s thriller, Max Cady is released from prison and begins stalking the lawyer who helped put him away. During the climax of the film, both men fight on a riverbank, and this fight was actually performed by actors Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. While filming the fight, Peck accidentally hit Mitchum for real, but the actor never let on and continued the scene without incident. Luckily, Mitchum was not seriously hurt, but he claimed that it was a very painful hit that left him sore for a few days.

“Goldfinger” (1964)
Oddjob is one of the most iconic villains in the James Bond franchise, known mainly for his steel-rimmed hat that has the power to decapitate statues. Bond faces Oddjob in hand-to-hand combat and gets his butt totally kicked. However, Bond eventually uses the henchman’s steel hat against him and electrocutes Oddjob with a loose wire. If Oddjob’s scream of pain sounds a little too real, that’s probably because it was. Sakata seriously burned his hand while filming the scene, but he refused to let go of the hat prop until the director called cut. Now that is one tough dude. Then again, he was a professional wrestler.

“Scream” (1996)
Skeet Ulrich is one of the few people who can claim with certainty that they have been stabbed by an umbrella. During the movie’s famous finale, Sidney dons the Ghostface mask and stabs Billy multiple times with the tip of an umbrella. Ulrich was wearing a protective vest underneath his shirt, but that little bit of health and safety didn’t amount to much. The stuntwoman underneath the Ghostface mask missed her mark and stabbed Ulrich for real, resulting in a very genuine scream of pain. Like Stu, he was probably feeling a little woozy after that one.

“Liar Liar” (1997)
Jim Carrey is at his manic best as Fletcher Reede, a lawyer who is cursed with the inability to lie. In a desperate attempt to prolong his case, Fletcher heads to the bathroom and beats himself up, hoping that the injuries will be cause for delay. According to Cary Elwes, most of this scene was improvised by Carrey, and he performed all of his own stunts. Furthermore, no sound effects were used in the scene - all those bonks and slams were 100% genuine. The marks and welts on his face are likely just makeup, but that doesn’t negate the fact that Carrey put his body on the line for this hilarious sequence.

“The Last Samurai” (2003)
Give this guy the Extra of the Year award, because he definitely deserves it. Edward Zwick’s epic takes place in the late 19th century, with Tom Cruise playing a Civil War veteran who becomes embroiled in a Japanese rebellion. In one scene, Cruise rides up to a group of soldiers and dismounts in front of a particularly unlucky extra. The horse that Cruise was riding kicks out and hits the extra, making contact with a particularly sensitive body part. The guy keels over in pain but, amazingly, remains standing. Did they hire an actual samurai for this scene? Because that is one tough and disciplined dude.

“Mission: Impossible - Fallout” (2018)
At this point, we’re starting to think that Tom Cruise has been replaced with a stunt-performing robot. He's inhuman. “Fallout,” the sixth installment in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, contains a shot in which Cruise’s Ethan Hunt jumps between two buildings. Hunt slams into the second building, pulls himself up with a clear grimace of pain, and slowly hobbles off-screen. It’s a great realistic detail – and that’s because Tom Cruise was actually in a lot of pain. Cruise performed the stunt himself and broke his ankle upon impact with the building. Rather than calling for a cut, Cruise pulled himself up and finished the scene. Seven weeks and $80 million later, he was back at work, good as new.

“Follow the Fleet” (1936)
Injuries and dancing go together like peanut butter and jelly. “Follow the Fleet” was the fifth collaboration between iconic dancing duo Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and one of the movie’s musical numbers required Rogers to wear a beaded gown. During the very first take of the long shot, Astaire was smacked across the face with a sleeve of heavy beads, leaving him “somewhat maimed.” His words, not ours. He continued the rest of the dance in a daze and asked for another take, believing that his injury had affected his performance. And while more takes were eventually performed, it was the first that ended up in the movie. Beaded sleeve slaps and all.

“Nightcrawler” (2014)
Jake Gyllenhaal committed to the role of Lou Bloom, a criminal-turned-crimescene videographer. Bloom is not quite right mentally, and it shows when his frustrations finally come to head in this scene: he’s lost out on an important story to a competitor, and he’s clearly stressed and angry. He takes that anger out on his bathroom mirror, screaming at it, shaking it, and eventually slamming it shut, breaking it. If the scene looks a bit TOO real, that’s because Gyllenhaal got really into it and smashed the mirror by accident, slicing through his thumb in the process. He apparently needed upwards of 40 stitches, but the shot of the mirror breaking was left in the final version of “Nightcrawler.”

“The Exorcist” (1973)
In one of the most famous scenes of “The Exorcist,” a possessed Regan assaults her mother, Chris, and slaps her across the room, resulting in Chris screaming in distress. It wasn't acting – that’s the scream of a back injury that caused lifelong pain. To film the sequence, a stuntman was needed to forcefully pull actress Ellen Burstyn onto her back using a wire. Burstyn told director William Friedkin that the stuntman was pulling too hard and that she feared for her safety, but Friedkin didn’t listen. On the next take, Burstyn injured her back and screamed in pain, which is the take you see in the movie. The injury wasn’t debilitating, but it did leave Burstyn with a lifetime of back discomfort.

“Inglourious Basterds” (2009)
In a tale of Nazi-killing basterds, things are bound to get dangerous – even for the actors involved. German movie star Bridget von Hammersmark, played by Diane Kruger, is actually a spy for the good guys – something that doesn’t go over too well with Christoph Waltz’s Nazi colonel Hans Landa. When “The Jew Hunter” confirms his theory, he lunges at Ms. von Hammersmark and chokes the life right out of her. It seems like Kruger’s acting here is on point, but the truth is she actually can’t breathe. Because of the scene’s importance, the danger involved and the fact that he had a very specific vision in mind, Quentin Tarantino himself strangled Kruger, with his hands used in the close-ups.

“The Fugitive” (1993)
Harrison Ford is one of those actors who doesn’t let a mere limp hold him down. And if that means that his character walks with a limp throughout the movie, then his character walks with a limp throughout the movie! While filming a scene in the woods, Ford tore some of the ligaments in his leg. While this should be cause for surgery, recovery, and significant filming delays, Ford simply soldiered through and refused to treat his injury. And owing to the fact that Ford was filming with torn ligaments, his character Richard Kimble can be seen limping throughout much of the movie. He’s clearly taking the phrase “walk it off” to heart.

“The Passion of the Christ” (2004)
Playing Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s Biblical opus sounds like the role of a lifetime, and that role went to Jim Caviezel. Unfortunately, Caviezel went through absolute torture while filming the movie. He suffered migraines from his swollen eye makeup, incurred a lung infection and pneumonia, dislocated his shoulder while carrying the 150 pound cross, and was even struck by lightning while filming the Sermon on the Mount sequence. During the lashing scene, Caviezel was accidentally whipped across the back on two separate occasions, a pain he described as “so horrific that you can’t get air.” Suppose that’s one way to get a great reaction shot...

“Blade Runner” (1982)
She may be playing an android, but Daryl Hannah is still very much a human – a fact she proved on the set of “Blade Runner.” Hannah plays basic pleasure model, Pris, and in one scene she encounters genetic designer J.F. Sebastian in a rainy alleyway. She’s surprised and scared, so she bolts. But as she’s running away, she slips and breaks a car window. This was, in fact, not scripted: Hannah actually slipped on the wet pavement, and her arm actually went through a real glass window, but she managed to stay in character for the rest of the scene. That’s even more impressive when you find out she chipped her elbow in eight places.

“Back to the Future Part III” (1990)
Michael J. Fox came a little too close to feeling like a condemned outlaw. When Marty arrives in 1885, he is immediately hanged by 'Mad Dog' Tannen. While most of the wide shots were performed by a stuntman, we do get a brief shot of Fox clearly struggling for breath. That’s because he was. Fox had offered to film the sequence without a box to make it look more realistic. Unfortunately, he mishandled the noose and ended up actually hanging himself. The crew believed that he was giving the performance of his career, when in actuality he was just dying in front of everyone. Fox ended up passing out on the noose, and that’s when director Robert Zemeckis realized that he wasn’t acting...

“Apocalypse Now” (1979)
To introduce us to Captain Benjamin Willard, Martin Sheen shambles around his Saigon hotel room, drunk as a skunk. Sheen decided to go very “method” with this one, which is a fancy way of saying he was actually drunk when they filmed the scene. That’s probably why he thought it’d be a good idea for him to punch a mirror. Of course, as this list proves, it’s hard to break a mirror and not cut yourself, and Sheen indeed did slice open his hand in the process. But he kept going, rolling over his bed and smearing his blood all over the sheets and his face, and ultimately ending the scene bloody, drunk, naked and sobbing.

“Patriot Games” (1992)
The climax of “Patriot Games” sees Harrison Ford’s Jack and Sean Bean’s... Sean... fighting on a speedboat. While filming the sequence, Ford was instructed to mime pushing a boat hook up into Bean’s face. Either Ford pushed a little too hard or Bean was a little too close, because the boat hook actually slammed into Bean’s face and knocked him backwards. The accident left Bean with several stitches and a distinctive scar over his left eye. At least he has a cool story to tell people when they ask. Who else can say that they’ve been hit with a boat hook by Harrison Ford?

“Pineapple Express” (2008)
One of James Franco’s most popular roles is that of Saul Silver in the stoner comedy “Pineapple Express.” In one of the movie’s funnier sequences, Saul thinks he sees something in the woods, causing him and Dale to run away in abject terror. While running, Dale trips and falls onto a rock while Saul runs headlong into a tree. Franco did the stunt himself and hit a safety pad that had been screwed onto the trunk. Ironically, the screw head was jutting out of the safety pad, and Franco ran straight into it. Fun fact – the grey headband that Saul wears throughout the movie was used to hide Franco’s stitches!

“Foxcatcher” (2014)
When he was playing Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz, Channing Tatum tried to be as authentic as possible, and in this case that meant destroying a mirror with his face. By this point in the film, Schultz is feeling the mental strain. After losing an important match, he paces around his hotel room, hitting himself angrily and crying. The most intense moment comes when he stands in front of a mirror and proceeds to smash it with his head three times, shattering it and cutting his forehead in the process. Though he was actually bleeding and came within inches of hitting a stud in the wall, Tatum finished the scene beautifully – and he claims not to remember filming this at all.

“The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (2005)
This chest waxing sequence is now iconic, and part of the magic stems from its realism. Wanting the scene to look as true-to-life (not to mention as funny) as possible, Steve Carell decided to bite the bullet and actually get his chest waxed. His clear hesitance and screams of pain are all real, as is Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen’s laughing. By the end of the waxing, Andy has tears in his eyes and blood spots adorning his chest. That is not makeup, nor a great bit of acting from Carell. Those are very real tears and very real blood spots. We thank Carell for putting his body and comfort on the line just for our comedic enjoyment.

“Rocky IV” (1985)
This is widely considered to be the goofiest movie in the “Rocky” franchise, but it has an amazing final fight between Rocky and Ivan Drago. To make the fight appear more authentic and brutal, Stallone asked Dolph Lundgren to punch him for real. He took three straight takes of powerful body shots before he felt a burning sensation in his chest. Stallone proceeded to ignore the discomfort... until his blood pressure shot up to 260 and he had trouble breathing. He was subsequently flown to a hospital and spent time in the ICU, where he learned that his heart had slammed against his breastbone and begun to swell.

“The Princess Bride” (1987)
“The Princess Bride” is a fantastical fairy tale filled with swashbuckling pirates, six-fingered men and – of course – princesses. At one point, Princess Buttercup and her true love Westley are confronted by the dastardly Prince Humperdinck and Count Rugen, and Cary Elwes’ Westley is ultimately captured. To make sure their new prisoner is compliant, Christopher Guest’s Rugen – aka the six-fingered man – hits him in the head with the butt of a sword and knocks him out. According to Elwes, there were no rubber swords on-hand, and they couldn’t get a good take by faking it, so Guest actually hit him and actually knocked him out. Elwes woke up later in the hospital, wondering what the heck had happened.

“Police Story” (1985)
“Police Story” contains one of the most insane Jackie Chan stunts – and that’s certainly saying something! It involves Chan jumping onto a metal pole, sliding down through a series of lights, and crashing through a glass ceiling onto a display below. Chan was actually very hesitant to perform the stunt and was ecstatic following its successful completion. But once the immediate adrenaline wore off, Chan realized that the skin on his palms had been peeled away. The hot prop lights had significantly heated the metal pole, resulting in second-degree burns to Chan’s hands. All things considered, we think he got off very lucky...

“First Blood” (1982)
In movie badass John Rambo’s first outing, our titular protagonist – played by Sylvester Stallone – is being pursued by the abusive Hope, Washington police department. The chase eventually leads to a cliff, where Rambo is hanging on for dear life, about to be shot at by a cop in a helicopter. With no other options, Rambo takes a blind leap, tumbles through the trees, and lands on a tree branch. Being the professional action star he is, Stallone performed this stunt himself; however, things didn’t quite go as planned. The painful scream you hear when he lands is not acting. When all was said and done, Sly walked away with a cracked rib but an amazing stunt performance.

“Django Unchained” (2012)
Here’s another Tarantino movie, but this time the director didn’t personally injure his star. In “Django Unchained,” Leonardo DiCaprio plays a psychotic slave owner who’s hosting a dinner for Django, played by Jamie Foxx, and Dr. Schultz, played by Christoph Waltz. During the meal, DiCaprio’s character unnervingly reveals his knowledge of Django’s plan to free his wife – and as you can imagine, this makes him mighty angry. So angry, in fact, that DiCaprio slams his hand on the table, breaking a glass and slicing his skin in the process. Pretty soon, the audience can see that DiCaprio’s hand is completely covered in blood. But like a true thespian, he gives an amazing performance and uses his injury to his advantage.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2002)
In the second “Lord of the Rings” film, Viggo Mortensen returns as Aragorn with a performance as powerful, emotional and raw as that in “The Fellowship of the Ring.” One of his most visceral scenes comes at the beginning of the film: angry at the thought that his hobbit friends might be dead, a rage-filled Aragorn kicks a helmet on the ground. After doing four takes of this shot, Viggo broke two toes on his fifth take, meaning that scream heard in the finished film is very real. Even so, Viggo kept working, and director Peter Jackson said he didn’t even realize his star was injured until much later – he just thought Viggo had given it his all.


Which injury sounded the worst to you? Let us know in the comments below!