Game of Thrones became widely known for its massive war montages that consistently delivered some of the best action the fantasy action had to offer. Well, apparently the old adage, “no pain, no gain,” holds up for the HBO series, as a former stunt performer is currently suing the production team over injuries sustained during filming.
The plaintiff’s name is Casey Michaels, who worked on the Game of Thrones set in the show’s eighth and final season, shot back in 2018 to be released one year later, and which ended the highly-acclaimed series on a bit of a sour note for most fans. Per the plaintiff’s claim, the incident occurred while shooting footage for “The Long Night,” the episode in which the Battle for Winterfell takes place and the Night King and the army of the dead are defeated thanks to a clutch moment from Arya Stark.
According to court documents screened by Variety, Michaels suffered a “serious fracture-dislocation to her left ankle." The actual lawsuit was filed in January 2021, demanding compensatory damages for almost $5 million, and unless parties reach some form of settlement a judge will probably hear the case come summer. The lawsuit sees the HBO-owned Fire & Blood Productions as its defendant and blames the company for using a compromised “box rig” that stunt performers used to land in a scene where a group of undead Wights proceed to storm the wall of the Stark's Winterfell castle before jumping or dropping from a 12-foot-high roof.
Michaels, daughter of stunt veterans Wayne Michaels (Goldeneye) and Tracey Eddon (Star Wars: Return of the Jedi), has since had several surgeries on the affected foot, as well as physiotherapy, but is still unable to “ski, skydive, do gymnastics or run." According to her lawyers, all of these are essential tasks for a stunt professional. In their defence, Fire & Blood Productions' counsel claims Casey Michaels failed to execute the stunt as instructed by the stunt coordinator and the injury was either attributable to Michaels or caused by pure accident. At the time of writing, neither Michaels' legal team nor HBO had commented on the issue.
Stunt actors are an essential part of the movie industry and they often go unnoticed by many, though they often face serious dangers that sometimes result in their tragic deaths. Besides infamous moments such as Alec Baldwin's Rust tragedy, the likes of Top Gun, Deadpool 2, and The Walking Dead have all claimed the life of stunt professionals.
“The Long Night” holds a 74% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, one of the series' lowest scores, and at the time was criticized for its extremely dark scenarios. Game of Thrones last season was heavily panned by fans, and even franchise mastermind and Elden Ring writer George R. R. Martin had his qualms with it.
Game of Thrones is now available on HBO Max.
Source: Variety