Tom Hanks nearly lost more than time on Cast Away, developing a staph infection that spread so fast doctors worried it could kill him. He barely noticed the wound at first, too focused on the physical toll of playing a stranded castaway. By the time he sought treatment, the infection had reached dangerous levels and needed immediate surgery. He has said the injury scared him more than any stunt on the film ever did. | © 20th Century Fox
Brendan Fraser paid a heavy physical price for The Mummy, and it wasn't just one bad day on set. A stunt harness malfunctioned, choking him nearly unconscious before crew members noticed and cut him down. That accident alone required neck surgery, adding to a long list of injuries he racked up doing his own stunts. Fraser has said the physical toll from that franchise changed how he approached acting for years afterwards. | © Universal Pictures
Dylan O'Brien's injury on Maze Runner: The Death Cure wasn't a minor scrape, it shut the whole production down. A stunt involving a cable pull went wrong and slammed him into a car, leaving him with a concussion, facial fractures, and a torn ligament. Filming paused for months while he recovered, and O'Brien has been open about how long the physical and mental recovery actually took. The franchise's final chapter almost cost him a lot more than screen time. | © 20th Century Fox
Zac Efron faced a life-threatening medical emergency while filming his survival reality series Killing Zac Efron in Papua New Guinea. Efron contracted a severe bacterial infection, believed to be typhoid, while navigating remote terrain. An air ambulance team evacuated him to a hospital in Australia for emergency treatment before production resumed. | © Quibi
Jackie Chan does not really have one near-death story, but Armour of God gave him the scariest. He jumped from a wall to a tree branch, missed, and fell straight onto his head, cracking his skull and pushing bone fragments toward his brain. Doctors had to operate immediately, and Chan still has a hole in his skull covered by a small plastic plug. He kept the actual footage of the fall in the movie, so audiences watched the accident that almost killed him. | © 88 Films
Halle Berry sustained broken ribs while directing and starring in the MMA drama Bruised. During a fight scene with professional fighter Valentina Shevchenko, an accidental strike fractured Berry's ribs. Refusing to halt production, Berry concealed the injury and continued filming fight sequences through physical therapy. | © Netflix
Tom Cruise broke his ankle jumping between buildings for Mission: Impossible – Fallout, and the footage made it into the final cut. You can actually see the moment his leg gives out, followed by him limping away before crawling back to finish the shot. That kind of commitment is exactly why insurance companies reportedly dread working with him. Most actors would call for a stunt double after that. Cruise called for a cast and a shorter recovery time. | © Paramount Pictures
Daniel Day-Lewis takes method acting to another level, and Gangs of New York almost made him pay for it. He caught pneumonia after insisting on wearing period-accurate thin clothing in freezing conditions, refusing modern gear that would have broken the illusion. The illness got serious enough that he reportedly turned down treatment for a while, staying in character even as his health tanked. Bill the Butcher nearly cost the actor playing him a lot more than an Oscar nomination. | © Miramax Films
Jason Statham almost drowned on the set of The Expendables 3 when a stunt went wrong. The truck he was driving was supposed to stop near a bridge, but it smashed through a barrier and plunged into the water below. Statham had to swim out through a shattered window before the vehicle sank completely. Costars said he came up gasping, seconds away from being trapped underwater for good. | © Lionsgate
Movie sets can be far more dangerous than the glamour suggests, and some actors came terrifyingly close to losing their lives in pursuit of the perfect shot. From stunts gone wrong to freak on-set accidents, these are moments that could have ended in tragedy. Here are 15 actors who nearly died filming a scene.
