Actors getting injured while filming an action scene is not an uncommon theme in the film industry. One such incident occurred with the renowned actor Ryan Reynolds while filming the 2012 film Safe House, when he accidentally hit his co-star Denzel Washington so hard in his eyes, that he feared it would ruin his career.
Although it has been more than a decade since this incident occurred, the actor is still embarrassed about his deed. Reynolds’ anxiety about his career grew more when he repeated the same mistake, giving Washington two black eyes.
Ryan Reynolds feared for his career after hitting Denzel Washington in his eyes
Ryan Reynolds once collaborated with action star Denzel Washington for the 2012 film Safe House. Although both the actors get along well, there is one incident shared between them that Reynolds regards as the most embarrassing moment of his life.
While filming a scene from the film, Reynolds accidentally hit Washington so hard that he thought his punch broke his eye. During an appearance on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman (via Insider), the Deadpool actor narrated the incident which left him anxious about his career.
Reynolds who played the role of a CIA agent was tasked to interrogate Tobin Frost, played by Washington. Reynolds explained to the host of the show that on the second day of the shoot, they were filming a scene inside a moving car, where they were indulged in a fight. The actor also revealed that no body double artists were used to film the scene, hence all the consequences of an action scene were borne by the two actors. The actor said,
“There’s a scene in the movie … where he crawls through the trunk in the back and he grabs me and chokes me. We were really driving a car at top speed. He and I are in this out-of-control car, and my corner of my head — I felt it hit his eye so hard I was sure that it split wide open.”
Acknowledging the intensity of his punch, all Reynolds could see was a dark future as he realized that he had mistakenly injured his co-star’s eye quite badly. The actor said,
“I’m thinking I’m going to be sent home via crematorium — like, it’s over right now, this is it, not only my career but my actual pulse will cease.”
Well, Reynolds’ fear is quite understandable in this case, after all the one who got struck was none other than the Oscar-winning legend Denzel Washington. However, all of Reynolds’ worries came to an end when Washington graciously handled the situation. But not for a very long time as while filming the next shot, Reynolds repeated the same mistake.
Denzel Washington gave a calm response to Ryan Reynolds’ hard hit
Even after being struck quite hard, Denzel Washington didn’t lose his calm and maintained a sportsman spirit. During the same interview, Reynolds recalled Washington saying,
“He was fine. He was like, ‘Hey, accidents happen. Let’s do it again. We’ll shoot it from the other side so we can keep shooting so we don’t see this.'”
However, little did Washington know was the day was quite hard for him, as while filming the next shot, he once again got hit on the other eye. Reynolds said,
“We did it again. I got the other eye, Dave. For a minute he looked like a Christmas ornament.”
Despite all this chaos, both actors finally filmed the scene and it came out pretty clean on the big screen. Directed by Daniel Espinosa, Safe House was a big hit both commercially and critically.
Source: Insider
