No doubt about it, 2009 was a rough year for action stars who suffered broken limbs, heart attacks, reoccurring injuries, mental breakdowns, and even death. Added to a growing list of casualties is Sylvester Stallone, 63, who revealed to FHM Magazine that he suffered a serious neck injury while shooting a fight scene with pro-wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin in THE EXPENDABLES.
“I haven’t told anyone this, but I had to have a very serious operation,” said Stallone.
The operation involved the insertion of a metal plate in his neck.
“Man, it was seven guys, kicking each other’s ass, one guy tougher than the next,” he said. “No joke, our stunt guys were begging for mercy.”
Stallone also recalled a injury he suffered at the hands of another EXPENDABLES co-star, Dolph Lundgren, except this one happened years earlier while on the set of ROCKY IV. In that film, Lundgren played Ivan Drago, a Russian boxer whose lethal punches onscreen nearly turned lethal in real life.
“I gave him orders to try to knock me out while the cameras were rolling,” Stallone said. “At one point, he hit me so hard on the top of the head I felt my spine compress. He then hit me with an almighty uppercut.
“That night my chest and heart started to swell, and I had to be helicopter-ambulanced from my hotel to a nearby emergency room. I was told that Dolph had punched my rib cage into my chest, compressing my heart. If it had swollen any more, I would have died. After that, I was like, ‘Dolph, it’s only a movie, bro’.”
Injury and action movies go hand in hand, despite the best efforts of professional stunt crews and trainers to minimize damage to stars and themselves. Stallone was certainly not alone in his suffering last year.
• Tony Leung Chiu-wai broke his left arm while training for Wong Kar-wai’s Yip Man biopic THE GRAND MASTER.
• The other Tony Leung (Ka Fai) tore a knee ligament while shooting BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS.
• Andy Lau suffered a gash to his chin during a wire stunt on DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME.
• During a fight scene re-shoot for BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS, Donnie Yen seriously aggravated an old injury.
In addition to injuries, other more odd and troubling incidents plagued action stars. Tony Jaa suffered a mental and/or emotional breakdown during the filming of ONG BAK 2. While filming IP MAN 2, Sammo Hung suffered a heart attack and was rushed to hospital for surgery where he fully recovered. The biggest tragedy befell actor David Carradine who was found dead in a Thai hotel room from apparent accidental asphyxiation.
Then there is Korean pop star and actor Rain who managed to somehow survive NINJA ASSASSIN relatively unharmed despite doing many of his own stunts but subsequently suffered a knee injury during a concert in Japan.
If you know of other prominent injuries suffered by action film stars in 2009, feel free to post them in the comments below.
Related Topics:Sylvester Stallone • The Expendables (2010)
