A near-tragedy was avoided on the set of Dexter through a miracle of fate after Jimmy Smits accidentally stabbed a stuntman for real during a fight scene.
Smits grabbed a real knife instead of a prop during shooting.
The stuntman was only saved by a piece of plastic placed over his heart – which Smits miraculously hit.
Smits recently joined the third series, which has seen a boost in its US ratings, up 21% from last season’s premiere and 20% from the season two finale.
No doubt that’s thanks to its screening on CBS during the Writers’ Strike and a host of award nominations.
Some spoilers follow…
During the scene in question, Smits was required to stab stuntman Jeff Chase.
Chase says, “For the scene, I was bound in Saran Wrap, duct tape over my mouth. I couldn’t say a thing as I saw Jimmy grab at the knife. He picked up the real one by pure mistake. It was a mean looking knife.
“I heard fellow actor Michael C. Hall yelling at Jimmy to stop – but it was too late. I felt the thud in my chest. I didn’t have on a metal breast plate like a lot of actors do in a scene like that.
“Instead I had a piece of acrylic clear plastic about the size of a Post-it note over my heart. It was a quarter of an inch thick and not attacked. In eight out of 10 takes with the prop knife, Jimmy had missed the plastic. But by a miracle, an act of God, the knife landed at the very edge of the plastic.
“I really thought I’d been stabbed in the heart, but I didn’t have a scratch. Jimmy was devastated and couldn’t stop apologising. I told him, I felt more sorry for him than me.”
Source: JAM
any ideas when Showcase will start airing season 3?
Imagine if he had killed the stunt man. Just Imagine!
You’d think they’d be able to tell the difference??
No real knives should be anywhere near the set.
And lets all watch the ratings go up.
I would assume that they have a real knife around for when they need to do close ups on it, and use a fake knife for all the stabbing. This was a really close call though D:
Yeah what fool after the crow and the needless death of Brandon Lee takes real knives on to a set like this one. Glad it all turned out well. Poor Jimmy he must have felt terrible!
How does a real knife end up on a set anyway? Shouldn’t they all be props to avoid terrible moments like this?? After The Crow and all…. hmmm.
Oh, my… that’s horrible!
I can only imagine how devastated Jimmy must feel.
Ouch!