In a shocking, roughly English-translated update from Expendables Premiere forwarded from Bulgarian website, Skandalno.net, The Expendables 3 co-star Jason Statham nearly faced certain death while filming a dangerous stunt for the upcoming summer 2014 release.
The report indicates that Statham was rushed to the Emergency Room after refusing to use a double to perform a stunt involving his character diving into a pond. When the actor did not re-emerge, the actor was rescued and taken to the hospital where he later regained conciousness and returned to work a while after the doctor reported his condition as non-threatening.
Unfortunately, stunt risks are nothing new to the franchise, particularly for lead actor and action veteran Sylvester Stallone who received much-needed surgery for a hairline fracture in his neck after a walloping stunt during a fight with former wrestler turned action star Steve Austin on the set of The Expendables (2010). The 2012 sequel, The Expendables 2, also endured further injuries for Sly and co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger, but also took a tragic on-set turn in Bulgaria back in 2011 for two of its stuntmen, with one stuntman dying from his injuries.
There’s a huge demand for a lot of actors to be able to perform their own stunts, particularly with all the craze and popularity stemming from the rise of action heroes like Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Iko Uwais, Scott Adkins and Cyril Raffaelli to name a few. I don’t work in the industry, but I do know that decisions like using doubles are up to the actors who hire these professionals to do dangerous things on screen that they’re trained to do. The downside is that injuries do come with the territory, and we clearly see this when we look at behind the scenes clips and hear reports like the ones above this sentence. As fans, we all want the best out of an action movie from the actors we look up to as examples of heroism and death-defying tenacity. But I also grant that we all want to see these people alive to tell the tale, and live happy and healthy lives doing what they love, and the stunt performers who go through great lengths to please action fans.
Personally, I wish Statham all the best. He walks a fine line for his fans, but I certainly hope he uses his better judgement as filming continues and his career maintains its flourishing status.
Statham, 45, is also a martial artist and former diver, best known for performing his own stunts in films like The One, The Mechanic, Redemption and The Transporter Trilogy. The action star is also set to appear in the upcoming Thanksgiving release, Homefront, from director Gary Fleder, in addition to the July 2014 release of Fast And Furious 7.
Statham is also set to star in the August 6, 2014 release of the Simon West-directed Heat, one week from the release of The Expendables 3. The film currently stars Stallone, Statham and Schwarzenegger reprising their roles from the first two films, along with Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li and Randy Couture, in addition to Wesley Snipes, Harrison Ford, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Victor Ortiz, Mel Gibson and Robert Davi. The film is directed by Patrick Hughes.
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