The Now You See Me Scene That Went Too Far
"Now You See Me" is one of the most memorable heist flicks to come out of the 2010s. Its blend of larger-than-life personalities coupled with magic tricks made for some serious bank at the box office, warranting a sequel in the form of 2016's "Now You See Me 2."
For the first film, the plot follows FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), who's hot on the trail of a group of magicians known as the Four Horsemen. They've made quite the reputation for themselves for their epic performances, which involve stealing money from prominent banks and then handing it out to audience members at shows. It's a fun film that will make you see magicians in a whole new light, but not everything about the flick is rainbows and sunshine.
There's a certain level of darkness hiding within the plot that you'll know only if you're familiar with the behind-the-scenes story involving Isla Fisher and one traumatic stunt.
Isla Fisher almost drowned during a stunt
From fight scenes to jumping off tall structures, plenty of actors do their own stunts, but in one example of this, it almost cost an actor their life. That was the case with Isla Fisher, who plays Henley Reeves in "Now You See Me." during her introductory scene.
In the sequence, Henley proves herself to be an adept escape artist. However, as Fisher revealed in an interview after the movie came out, she experienced a real-life problem while shooting the stunt. As she explained in an interview with On Demand Entertainment, "Whilst in there — we shot it over three-and-a-half days — even though I had a quick-release magnetic thing on my handcuffs, the chain that went between my ankles and my wrists was not able to be broken, and it got stuck underneath the slat, and I was trapped."
She goes on to elaborate how things became even more precarious when the cast and crew thought it was all part of the act. Luckily, they managed to stop the take just in time for her to get out safely. While the story may be horrific, at least everything worked out in the end, and it just goes to show the importance of having proper safety protocols on a film set. After all, no film is worth an actor's life.