The On-Set Injury That Left Sophia Bush In Pain For Weeks On Chicago P.D.

It's perhaps not stunning to learn that bringing the rough-and-tumble world of NBC's "Chicago P.D." to life sometimes leaves the program's actors with bumps and bruises. That's the risk that comes with performing physical stunts, which can include trying to make high-speed chases, perp captures, and other police activities look realistic for the camera.

This is a show that seems to pride itself on being a gritty, realistic portrayal of police life in a major American city; any character can seemingly die at any time, and it's quite important to make sure that everything that ends up on screen looks like it might actually happen during an arrest, raid, or other police task. No matter how many stunt people a show might employ, the show's main actors may need to get in on the action for close shots where a double might be obvious to viewers.

"Chicago P.D." thankfully hasn't had a lot of major, shoot-delaying injuries, but sometimes the actors involved find themselves nursing some long-lasting ailments. Take the case of Sophia Bush, who portrayed Erin Lindsay for the show's first four seasons. While Erin was transferred to a New York unit and subsequently left the program years ago, Bush alleges that she was left with a physical injury that took a while to heal. What was it that left her in pain for weeks?

In a 2014 interview with Young Hollywood archived on YouTube, Sophia Bush explained that she was required to tackle a man on a patch of ice. "I hit the ground and everything was frozen and suddenly I could see my feet in front of my eyes, and I knew that that was a bad thing." The actress admitted that she cracked her neck and back up "pretty badly," but was "all right" afterward. "For about a week, I had to look at everyone like this," she said, imitating a stiff-necked posture with her eyes staring straight ahead. "But now I can turn my head again. I'm doing pretty good."

It's worth noting that this interview took place before the actress left the show. Since leaving "Chicago P.D.," Bush has become publicly critical of the program's shooting conditions. During an appearance on the podcast Armchair Expert, she was vocal about her reasons for leaving the show behind, stating that she was subjected to "a consistent onslaught barrage of abusive behavior." She alleged that she was forced to work in freezing conditions and accused someone connected with the show of assaulting her. "You start to lose your way when someone assaults you in a room full of people and everyone literally looks away, looks at the floor, looks at the ceiling," she explained to host Dax Shepard. "You go, 'Oh, that wasn't worth defending? I'm not worth defending?'"