Not every on-set injury comes from a punch or a stunt gone wrong, as the cast of The Princess Bride learned the funny way. Billy Crystal was so hilarious as Miracle Max that he had his co-stars fighting not to break character during takes. Mandy Patinkin clenched his stomach so hard to keep from laughing that he ended up bruising a rib, surely the most pleasant injury on this entire list. | © 20th Century Studios
The famous scene in The Godfather where Sonny Corleone beats down Carlo carried some real-life tension, thanks to a genuine feud between James Caan and Gianni Russo. Caan reportedly used the choreographed fight to let out some actual hostility, improvising moves that weren't in the plan. Russo walked away with broken ribs and a chipped elbow, recalling how Caan threw a billy club at his head and kicked him hard enough to lift him off the ground, none of which was supposed to happen. | © Paramount Pictures
In Creed, Michael B. Jordan shared the ring with real-life professional boxer Tony Bellew, and one scene apparently called for an authentic hit. Bellew obliged, landing a punch that left Jordan feeling like he'd been in a car accident for days afterwards. Jordan later noted that Bellew claimed to have only thrown the punch at 40 per cent power, though it felt closer to 85 on the receiving end. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
For the MMA drama Bruised, Halle Berry stepped into the cage with a genuine professional in former champion Valentina Shevchenko. The realism came at a cost, with Berry suffering two broken ribs during their scenes together. The injury happened early in production, but Berry pushed through the pain to finish the film she was also directing, marking her second appearance on this particular list. | © Netflix
Decades after his brutal Rocky IV experience, Sylvester Stallone found himself on the receiving end of another serious on-set injury, this time on The Expendables. During a fight scene with wrestler-turned-actor Steve Austin, Stallone fractured his neck. The damage was severe enough to require major surgery, leaving him with a metal plate in his neck and a second entry in the unfortunate club of action stars hurt by their own commitment to realism. | © Fox
Behind the charm and wit of The Princess Bride was a shoot that left more than one cast member worse for wear. Christopher Guest accidentally struck Cary Elwes in the head with a heavy sword, hitting him hard enough to knock him unconscious. Elwes was rushed to the hospital but made a full recovery, returning to finish a film that fans would come to adore despite the bumps along the way. | © 20th Century Studios
The video game adaptation Mortal Kombat called for plenty of martial arts choreography, and not all of it landed where it was supposed to. During one fight scene, Chris Casamassa kicked Linden Ashby in the kidneys, with his heel slipping right between the protective pads. Ashby recalled the aftermath being genuinely alarming, including peeing blood and a good deal of pain, a harsh consequence of a single mistimed kick. | © New Line Cinema
The two played wrestling brothers in Foxcatcher, a role that required plenty of close physical contact and grappling. During one scene, Mark Ruffalo slapped Channing Tatum hard enough to pop his eardrum. It was an accidental bit of overcommitment in a film built around the bruising intimacy of the sport, and a painful reminder of how easily choreography can go wrong. | © Sony Pictures Classics
According to Norman Reedus, his Walking Dead co-star Andrew Lincoln liked to load up on caffeine before shooting the show's most intense scenes, which apparently came with a side of clumsiness. In one moment, Lincoln was supposed to jump into an airbag, but the dismount didn't go as planned. He ended up bringing down both fists straight into Reedus's face, an accidental double punch that turned a stunt into a genuine injury. | © AMC
The grimy, chaotic shoot of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre produced plenty of misery for its cast, including one self-inflicted injury born of pure frustration. Gunnar Hansen, playing Leatherface, was supposed to fake cutting Marilyn Burns' finger using a taped-over blade and a tube of fake blood, but the tube kept clogging take after take. Fed up, Hansen peeled the tape off the knife and cut Burns' finger for real, adding some genuine blood to one of horror's most notoriously unpleasant productions. | © New Line Cinema
Before Jackie Chan became a household name, he worked as a stuntman, including an early role in Bruce Lee's classic Enter the Dragon. During a fight scene, Chan was supposed to fake being struck and fall to the ground, but Lee accidentally connected for real, hitting him in the head with a stick. Lee reportedly felt terrible about it and rushed to check on the young stuntman, an early brush between two of martial arts cinema's biggest legend. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
While filming a struggle scene in Gothika, Robert Downey Jr. was meant to restrain Halle Berry, but she came into the moment with so much intensity that something went wrong. Downey ended up breaking a bone in her forearm, an injury both of them apparently heard happen as they grappled. Berry recalled how high the adrenaline was running and what a challenge it became for the production to disguise her resulting cast for the rest of the shoot. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
For the climactic fight in Rocky IV, Sylvester Stallone made the questionable decision to ask Dolph Lundgren to hit him for real. Lundgren obliged with a chest blow so powerful that Stallone's heart swelled against his ribs, the kind of injury usually seen in car accidents. Stallone ended up in intensive care and had to be flown from Canada back to the U.S. for treatment, a brutal reminder that some method choices aren't worth the trouble. | © MGM
The brutal train fight in Spectre looked painful on screen, and as it turned out, it was painful off-screen too. During the choreographed brawl, Dave Bautista threw Daniel Craig, who landed badly enough to tear the meniscus in his knee. Craig needed surgery and had to take two weeks off filming, proving that playing James Bond comes with some very real occupational hazards. | © Sony Pictures Releasing
Joe Pesci played one of the bumbling burglars in Home Alone and reportedly kept his distance from a young Macaulay Culkin off camera, hoping the unease would make their scenes feel more genuine. During a rehearsal for a scene where his character threatens to bite Kevin's finger, Pesci actually bit down on Culkin's finger for real. Culkin has said he still has the scar to show for it, making it one of the more memorable on-set injuries in a beloved family film. | © 20th Century Fox
Filmmaking is more dangerous than it looks, and even carefully choreographed scenes can go wrong in a hurry. These 15 actors ended up injuring their co-stars, sometimes by accident, sometimes through a little too much commitment, and at least once just by being too funny for anyone's good.
