Actors Who Passed Out While Filming Movies
For many audiences, there may be the impression that Hollywood is a world of glitz and glamor, where big stars have it easy. Often pampered and well-paid, the biggest stars may indeed be treated like royalty on the set of their biggest productions, but that doesn't always mean their jobs are entirely without stress or anxiety. Whether it's intense scenes that require a deep emotional investment that can be more taxing than one might think, or the rigors of jaw-dropping stunts, actors do much more than simply read their lines. Sometimes, those more strenuous performances can take a toll physically.
On even rarer occasions, actors are so affected that their bodies give out on them, collapsing on set and even losing consciousness in what surely must be an unsettling moment of distress. Though it's rarely hazardous, it's nevertheless troubling when a major movie star passes out during filming, requiring medical attention that ultimately halts production. It might be due to physical exhaustion, extreme conditions, or even the simple bubbling over of physical or emotional distress, but you might be surprised by some of the big names who've blacked out while shooting a film.
Ryan Reynolds in Buried
Years before he was the "Merc with the Mouth," Ryan Reynolds starred in a Spanish survivalist thriller titled "Buried." Praised for its unique story, the film was entirely set in one space — the cramped interior of a wooden coffin. Reynolds stars in the film as Paul Conroy, an American in Iraq who wakes up and discovers he's been buried alive and must find a way to escape while also trying to figure out what happened to him.
As you can imagine, filming an entire story trapped in the claustrophobic confines of a coffin took a toll on Reynolds, and at one point it proved too much for the actor. "Almost everything you see in the movie was one take with the exception of a couple moments where I passed out," Reynolds told former late-night talk show host David Letterman (via Insider). "The thing I wasn't ready for or realized when I was shooting is when you're out of breath, and you're not moving to accommodate the increased oxygen in your blood, you pass out."
According to Reynolds, he was forced to breathe into a paper bag to get the higher oxygen levels he needed, in between and even during takes. "Somewhere in the middle of the take I would grab it, breathe, breathe, we'd wait for a beat and then keep going," he said.
Jennifer Garner in The Kingdom
Unfortunately, perhaps due to inherent sexism in the industry, the headlines regarding Jennifer Garner losing consciousness and being hospitalized on the set of the 2006 film "The Kingdom" were centered on her then-boyfriend Ben Affleck. This may be due to the fact that it was major news in Tinseltown when Affleck — praised by the trades for his gallantry — left his home in Massachusetts and flew across the country to be by his partner's bedside after the incident.
As reported, Garner was filming the 2006 Jamie Foxx-led action movie on location in Arizona. With temperatures soaring as high as 110 degrees, the actress became fatigued by the extreme heat and passed out during filming. Sources from the set — including Garner's own rep — described it as a simple problem of the actress overexerting herself. "Jennifer wasn't feeling well after working all day Friday [August 4] in the Arizona heat, went to the hospital and was released the next morning," the representative told Access Hollywood (via Gawker). Thankfully, after a short stay in a hospital bed, and a few days relaxing with her famous beau, Ben, Garner was back in action without missing a beat and proceeded to shoot the remainder of the film without further complications.
Joaquin Phoenix in Beau is Afraid
Actor Joaquin Phoenix is known for his uncanny ability to slip into just about any role, and his obsessive approach to immersing himself in the life of his different characters. He's even talked about taking this approach to method acting too far, telling the Detroit Free Press, "I'm guilty of trying too hard to make sure you understand." That may have led to problems when filming the 2023 drama "Beau is Afraid," because the actor threw himself so totally into the part of Beau Wasserman, whose acute anxiety boils over after the death of his mother (Patti LuPone).
Writer-director Ari Aster spoke about the production of "Beau is Afraid" and described how Phoenix was so invested in the role that he became as overwhelmed as his character, even in moments focused on other characters. "There was a scene that was very intense for Patti, and it was a shot that was on Patti, it was not on [Phoenix] and all of a sudden he fell out of frame," Aster said during a Q&A (via Fox News). Consumed by raw emotion, Phoenix collapsed and lost consciousness. But Aster quickly realized it was a serious situation because the notoriously insular actor was suddenly allowing crew members to get up close and help him to his feet. "The point is that he fainted in somebody else's take," Aster said. "It's very poetic that he collapsed in somebody else's shot."
Jennifer Aniston in The Break-Up
In 2006, Jennifer Aniston led the romantic comedy "The Break-Up" where she starred alongside Vince Vaughn as a couple who ended their relationship and found themselves unwilling to move out of their jointly-owned apartment. The story of a romance gone wrong, we can all empathize with the sickening feeling of ending a relationship, but for Aniston, those feelings became all too real, and culimanted in an on-set collapse.
Suffering from an apparent heatstroke, Aniston had complained of nausea and headaches before passing out during filming in Chicago. Rumors swirled, however, that the incident was also partially influenced by her own recent break-up with Brad Pitt, who it had just been reported was now dating Angelina Jolie. British gossip rag The Daily Mail (via the Irish Examiner) spoke with an insider who claimed Aniston had been deeply affected by the news about her ex-boyfriend, and that while the fainting spell was officially blamed on heatstroke, it may have in fact been caused by the stress of her romantic revelations.
"She can't have escaped all the stories about Brad and Angelina and it looks like the situation has taken its toll on her," the source claimed. Given the yellow nature of the Daily Mail's journalists and its reputation for stirring controversy, though, it's far more likely that the incident was simply a medical issue.
Brendan Fraser in The Mummy
Decades before he was winning Academy Awards, Brendan Fraser was a bonafide action hero starring in "The Mummy" and its sequels, where he played intrepid adventurer Rick O'Connell. It was a role that saw him doing big Hollywood stunts, and in the years since, he's been open about the toll the trilogy of films took on him physically, with one long-lasting injury that ultimately required spinal surgery.
It was during the production of the very first films in the series that Fraser endured a stunt so perilous that he passed out during shooting. It came during the movie's infamous hanging scene that saw O'Connell on the wrong end of a noose. "I was standing on my toes [with the rope around my neck], and you only got so far to go," Fraser said during a 2023 interview with Kelly Clarkson. The director, Stephen Sommers, wanted a bit more realism, and asked his star to sell the strain of hanging from the rope a little better. Fraser really went for it.
"The next thing I knew, my elbow was in my ear, the world was sideways, there was gravel in my teeth, and everyone was really quiet," Fraser said. Sommers admitted to Entertainment Weekly that he'd pushed his star a little too far, acknowledging that he inadvertently strangled him for real. "I guess it cut off his carotid artery, or whatever, and knocked him out," Sommers said.
Veronica Cartwright in Alien
A groundbreaking sci-fi classic, Ridley Scott's "Alien" redefined multiple genres. Its production was also nearly as compelling as the film itself, with behind-the-scenes stories that made the making of the film as terrifying as the Xenomorph. Rather famously, the debut of the alien on the set — first bursting from the chest of actor John Hurt — was unannounced in an effort to get real, horrified reactions from the rest of the cast as blood spewed from the actor's mouth. But what is somewhat less known is that the impromptu gut-bust left co-star Veronica Cartwright unable to remain conscious.
"They have four cameras going. You see this [alien] start to come out, so we all get sucked in, we lean forward to check it out," Cartwright revealed in a 2009 oral history interview with The Guardian regarding the "chestburster scene." "I tell you, none of us expected it. It came out and twisted round." She also revealed that the first sight of the creature was so shocking and disturbing that she fainted. Executive producer Ron Shusett said it wasn't just the creature, but the totally unexpected explosion of fake blood. "When the blood hit her, she passed out," Shusett said.
James McAvoy in The Last King of Scotland
Years before he made a name for himself playing mutant leader Charles Xavier in the revived "X-Men" films, British actor James McAvoy starred in "The Last King of Scotland," a historical drama recounting the dictatorship of Ugandan President Idi Amin, played by Forest Whitaker. Amin was infamous for his brutal reign of terror, and McAvoy played fictional Scottish doctor Nicholas Garragin, who became a close ally of the Ugandan despot, and eventually one of his victims. For McAvoy, creating some of Amin's worst moments on-screen proved too much to stomach.
"The torture scene was the hardest day of the shoot," McAvoy said in an interview with Artisan News Service, referring to a moment where his character is physically tormented on screen. For McAvoy, it wasn't just the realistic recreation of violence that had him brought to the brink, but real-life events as well, in particular the 2005 London bombings. "We had a bombing in London, and nobody could get through to family and friends and loved ones. It was terrifying," McAvoy said.
As McAvoy described it, the script called for Garragin to remain silent while being tortured, and the only way he could make that make sense was that his character was holding his breath to endure the pain. Unfortunately, between the emotions of the real-life terror attacks and a lack of oxygen, McAvoy couldn't hold it together and collapsed during the scene.
Bryce Dallas Howard in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
There are many reasons an actor might pass out while filming a movie, from overwork and poor health to extreme environmental conditions. For Bryce Dallas Howard, it was something else entirely on the set of "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom": the adrenaline-fuelled fright of doing her own stuntwork. Howard's collapse happened during a scene where her character was to fall from a cliff, for which director J.A. Bayona had a rollercoaster of sorts constructed to achieve a zero-gravity descent.
"I was so scared," Howard told Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on "The Tonight Show" in 2018 (relayed by Times of India). "Normally with stunts, with each take you get more and more confident," the actress explained, before admitting that something very different happened to her on this occasion. "With each take my panic increased substantially. And by the fifth or sixth take, you know there's so much fear, and I just blacked out."
Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave
James McAvoy wasn't the only "X-Men" reboot alum to succumb on the set, as his "First Class" co-star Michael Fassbender did the same. In fact, like McAvoy, Fassbender passed out due to the stress of recreating a historically horrific moment, this time during the production of the Academy Award-winning drama "12 Years a Slave." But while McAvoy's incident was the result of a lack of oxygen, Fassbender's occurred thanks to the sheer emotional toll the scene took on him while playing real-life Souther slave owner Edwin Epps in the critically acclaimed 2013 film.
Directed by Steve McQueen, "12 Years a Slave" was an uncompromising look at the horrors of slavery, and proved so unsettling that there were reports of audience members leaving theaters mid-movie in tears. Well, filming it proved just as difficult for Fassbender, whose character perpetuated some of the film's most despicable moments. During a scene where he is sexually assaulting Lupita Nyong'o's character Patsey, Fassbender was so disturbed that he passed out.
"You are doing things that are quite challenging, I guess mentally and physically," Fassbender told Express UK. "I just blacked out and came to sort of in the middle of the scene. That has never happened to me."
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Jada Pinkett Smith in The Nutty Professor
We've seen actors who couldn't handle the stress of carrying out a despicable act on-screen or whose health failed at a critical moment during filming due to exhaustion. None of these instances were the case for Jada Pinkett Smith, however, who suffered a disturbing fainting spell on the set of "The Nutty Professor" thanks to a troubling personal issue. In what she described as "an eye-opening" experience, Smith has been open about how her struggles with drug addiction led to health problems on the set of the Eddie Murphy comedy that culminated in her passing out during filming.
"I went to work high," she told Entertainment Weekly years later. "It was a bad batch of ecstasy. And I passed out." Unwilling to admit to her problem with addiction, she admitted that she lied to the cast and crew about the real reasons. "I told everybody that I must have had old medication in a vitamin bottle. I tell you what I did though," Smith added. "[I] got my a– together and got on that set. That was the last time."
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Mikey Madison in Scream
"Scream" introduced movie-goers to Ghostface, one of the most terrifying villains in horror. The villainous appeal of Ghostface comes from not only his status as a violent killer, but also because one never knows their true identity from film to film. Each movie has a different man or woman behind the mask, each with their own motives. The idea that the killer could be anyone only adds to the appeal. In the 2022 relaunch of the franchise — SPOILER ALERT — Ghostface turned out to be the unassuming teen Amber Freeman, played by Mikey Madison. But Madison wasn't quite as unflappable as the character she portrayed, and during production, the actress fainted while under the mask.
"It's kind of embarrassing, but I actually fainted in the Ghostface costume from heat exhaustion and trying to get my adrenaline up before each take," she told the Hollywood Reporter. According to Madison, her collapse was the result of trying to psych herself up for a pivotal scene, which led to her getting a little too pumped up. "I was jumping up and down and listening to heavy metal, trying to get my adrenaline up, and all of a sudden, I was in a tent and on the ground."
Dwanye 'The Rock' Johnson in Hercules
Emerging in Hollywood from the world of professional wrestling, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has built himself one of the most distinguished personas in the movie business. Notorious for signing contracts that require that his characters can never lose a fight, Johnson's image as an unflappable tough guy is paramount. Perhaps that's why it's somewhat ironic that he once passed out while performing a scene on the set of his 2014 adventure, "Hercules."
Directed by Brett Ratner, "Hercules" was strangely one of two 2014 movies about the Greek legend (the other starred Kellan Lutz), and was marginally the better of the two. Like Johnson himself, the action was bigger, bolder, and more intense, but on at least one occasion it may have been a little too intense. During a particularly brutal sequence where Hercules is held in chains, Johnson insisted on doing the stunt himself, using actual solid metal chains. "I asked the prop department to lock me in with real steel chains that I couldn't break, so the performance would be real," he posted to social media. "We shot this scene [eight] times – I blacked out every time. Down to my knees."
Some stars may have been loathe to admit it, for fear of how it might affect their tough-guy image, but Johnson had no problems readily acknowledging the difficulty of the shoot. "Well worth the fun pain," Johnson added. "This moment is iconic."
Amanda Seyfried in Les Miserables
In 2012, Amanda Seyfried starred with Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Anne Hathaway on a big-budget big screen adaptation of the iconic Broadway musical "Les Miserables." With elaborate costumes and a meticulously designed period setting, Seyfried found herself decked out in a heavy wardrobe that put her under an intense physical strain. To deal with an increasingly torturous neck pain, Seyfried sought out medical help, which led to a series of acupuncture sessions. Unfortunately, the treatment seemed to have made things worse.
"There was a physiotherapist on the set, and my neck had been hurting for four days," Seyfried said, per the Hollywood Reporter. "I asked if she could work on it, and she said, 'I have needles.' She put two needles in my neck and two in my hand." Called back to set immediately thereafter, the actress felt unexpectedly light-headed before passing out amid her A-list co-stars. "I woke with Russell [Crowe] holding my feet and Hugh [Jackman] massaging my neck." When relaying the story to late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien, though, she didn't sound too perturbed about being handled with care by two of Hollywood's best-looking male stars. "I'm telling you, I could do that again," she remarked.