Game of Thrones has had a ton of deaths, but there’s no saying which was the best. However, there was a lot that took place behind and in front of the camera to make these scenes look credible. Some actors and extras often took a step further to make their performance look more believable, often hurting themselves in the process. One Game of Thrones stunt performer, Casey Michaels, who appeared as a wight in the Battle of Winterfell in Season 8, recently sued Fire & Blood Productions, an HBO-owned U.K. subsidiary for Game of Thrones.
According to court documents seen by Variety, while filming for the final season of the show in February 2018, she suffered a “serious fracture-dislocation to her left ankle.” The claim, which was filed in January 2021, is worth almost $5 million. If the parties do not settle, the case is likely to be heard before a judge sometime next summer.
Michaels got injured in episode 3 in a scene that required her and fellow wights to climb the castle battlements, jump onto a sloped roof inside and walk off the edge to continue fighting below. All the 28 stunt performers were instructed to walk off the roof, which was around 12 feet high (possibly lower) “as if unaware of the drop, in keeping with the zombie-like nature of the Wights.” They stepped off in groups of four to five, falling onto a box rig below, which was comprised of cardboard boxes and mats.
“By their nature, however, the cardboard boxes are not durable and become damaged as each stunt performer lands on the box rig and also as each stunt performer climbs off of the box rig after landing,” Michaels alleges in her claim. Fire & Blood Productions, however, have denied these claims, saying she did not walk off the roof as instructed by the stunt coordinator but rather ‘like a pencil,’ in a rigid or vertical manner.
According to Michaels, ever since the incident, she has had multiple surgeries on her foot, which has also required a plate and screws to be inserted, has undergone “lengthy, intensive” physiotherapy and has been treated for depression and trauma.
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