A stuntman lost his thumb when filming a scene for Star Wars: Starfighter went wrong.
Director Shawn Levy had been working on his upcoming sci-fi story — which stars Ryan Gosling in the lead role — in England between August and December last year, but filming had to be halted briefly during the final month after the unnamed performer required medical attention following the accident.
According to The Sun newspaper, the accomplished stuntman got his hand caught and pressed against some machinery, resulting in him losing his thumb but otherwise making a full recovery.
A source told the publication: “The stunt performer has worked in the industry on some of the globe’s most high-profile films and no one would have expected this incident to go down.
“Other crew members on set were left shocked when it quickly became apparent that the planned stunt had gone awry.
“There was a mad scramble to help the performer as soon as other crew members realised but it left many of those on-set really shaken up.
“Filming was briefly paused but was resumed shortly after in order to meet the very-nearing deadline for completion on the film.”
Meanwhile, Shawn recently praised Ryan for being a “true partner” in the making of Star Wars: Starfighter, with their partnership helping him cope with the “pressure” of working on a movie in the legendary space franchise.
He told Collider: “Ryan is a generational talent.
“He’s someone I have admired and loved on screen for so many years and across so many genres, but as a collaborator and true partner, Ryan and I first from script development, through the prep, through the shoot and even now in post-production, I constantly check in with him and lean on him, and we stumbled onto this powerful, creative flow and that will make Starfighter better.
“Maybe, what’s of extra value, making Star Wars, you never forget the pressure, it’s daily, and it’s global. And so, having a touchstone, so you can just focus on the next shot and scene, so you focus on the minutiae, that got me through.”
Ryan is joined in the cast by the teenage Irish actor Flynn Gray and the 57-year-old filmmaker is confident that the youngster will be able to handle the expectation that comes with appearing in Star Wars — likening the 15-year-old star to many of the child stars he worked with on the Netflix series Stranger Things.
The Deadpool and Wolverine helmer said: “If you cast someone in a big part in Star Wars opposite Ryan Gosling, you need them to be more than good, you need them to have poise, you need them to have enough internal solidity that they can handle these competing forces and all the noise that comes with it.
“And Flynn Gray has that inner, solid sense of self, and frankly, not unlike Gaten (Materazzo), Finn (Wolfhard), Caleb (McLaughlin), Sadie (Sink), Millie (Bobby Brown) and the other young actors on Stranger Things, Carmen (Cuba) — with Nina Gold as her collaborator — they found this young actor who had never been in a movie before but approached every day with preparation and grace.”
Meanwhile, Ryan previously hailed Star Wars: Starfighter — which is slated for release in May 2027 — as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” that made him reverse his usual policy of turning down franchise films.
Speaking to io9 earlier this year, the 45-year-old star said: “It was Shawn’s enthusiasm and his vision and the script.
“And I just avoided these things because they never felt right. And I’m glad I did because I feel like, [similar to] a book like this, [it was] worth waiting for. And it is like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
[[nid:738382]]
Read the full article here
