Action films let us live exciting experiences vicariously through our favorite actors. Some actors take things up a notch, performing their own dangerous stunts.
Here’s a list of 10 actors who have been injured in the name of entertainment.
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise (Eyes Wide Shut) is well known for doing his own stunts. During Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018), Cruise broke his ankle jumping over the tops of buildings. That’s not the only stunt Cruise performed during the Mission Impossible series. The list seems endless. One extraordinary feat occurred during the filming of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011). Cruise willingly dangled roughly 1,700 feet above the ground as the character Ethan Hunt (Cruise) scaled Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) is another big name known for performing her own stunts. In an interview with Yahoo News, Jolie said:
Either I don’t scare easy or when I’m working I’m in a different headspace. You’re so lucky as an actor. Even if you’re doing a big crazy stunt and you’re on top of a truck on a freeway doing your thing, you have your rig, it’s been tested, so you get to be pretty brave and have a lot of people looking after you.
Jolie injured herself during a stunt for the movie Salt (2010) and wound up with a cut on her head.
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan is another film legend known for taking on his own stunts. He’s also sustained a lengthy list of injuries doing them. On the set of Drunken Master (1978), Chan took an injury to the face, sustaining damage to his eye. Later on in the set of Police Story (1985), Chan dislocated his pelvis during a scene. The worst injury may be the metal plate he had implanted in his skull following a head injury during Armor of God II (1991).
Ruby Rose
Ruby Rose (The Meg) became popular after her role as Stella Carlin in Orange is the New Black (2013). Since her rise to fame, she’s participated in several action films and television series. One series Rose where performed her own stunts was the CW’s Batwoman (2019). During filming, Rose herniated discs in her spine. She underwent emergency surgery and could have been paralyzed.
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves (The Matrix) has used stunt doubles in the past. Many of his modern films, however, have taken a different turn. In John Wick 4 (2023), Reeves said he did 90% to 95% of his own stunts. Reeves has become something of an inspiration in the action film industry and even spurred his own martial arts movement called “Gun Fu,” a play on guns and Kung Fu. It’s no surprise Lionsgate president Joe Drake says there may be a John Wick 5 in the cards.
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron (Monster) is another big believer in realistic stunts. She’s performed many of her own over the years. During a scene in Aeon Flux (2004), Theron injured her neck during a flip on a trampoline. She had surgery later to fix the broken vertebrae. During an interview with Jimmy Kimmel in 2019, Theron appeared with a bandaged hand. She told Kimmel it was from a fight stunt on the set of The Old Guard (2020).
Jason Statham
Jason Statham (Crank) has played good and bad guys across a range of action films, including The Expendables. He’s known for doing his own stunts and taking things to extremes. In one stunt during the filming of The Transporter 2 (2005), Statham jumped from a jet ski to a bus without a wire. Over the years, he’s torn his bicep and injured his neck doing stunts.
Margot Robbie
People are gushing over Margot Robbie (I, Tonya) in Barbie, but Robbie is also a celebrated action hero. During her role as Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey, Robbie performed her own stunts. Surprisingly, it was Robbie’s role as Naomi Lapaglia in The Wolf of Wall Street that caused her an injury. During a love scene with co-star Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic), she cut her back on prop money.
Dylan O’Brien
Dylan O’Brien (Love and Monsters) is younger than some of the actors listed here, but that doesn’t minimize his stunt contribution. During the filming of Maze Runner: The Death Cure, O’Brien was injured in a driving scene. He was riding a motorcycle, and it flipped over, going into a slide. O’Brien suffered a facial fracture and concussion.
Tom Holland
Another young action hero is Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Homecoming). Holland has performed several of his own stunts. He also uses a stunt double. The severity of the stunt dictates whether he attempts it himself. During the filming of Uncharted (2023), Holland walked away with a few injuries after attempting his own stunts. The actor fell on some roof tiles, hurting his hip and leaving him extremely bruised.
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