Phantom of the Opera film actor Gerard Butler was really close to being on next year’s In Memoriam at the Oscar ceremonies. Butler recently revealed that he was nearly shot and killed by a blank bullet on the set of this Olympus has Fallen sequel, London Has Fallen.
Recently, Gerard Butler released a statement to the press about how he narrowly escaped an on set death, saying (via https://economictimes.indiatimes.com)
"I actually almost got shot in the face this one day at shoot, by a blank. It was a mistake as he was supposed to be firing at the dummy and when we turned he still had an extra bullet in his gun and he fired right past me. It was like a blast and a punch in the face but thank god, I was fine."
We here at Classicalite are currently glad that Gerard Butler was unharmed.
Safety on film sets is in no way guaranteed.
In 2014 Sarah Jones, a regular crew member on The Vampire Diaries, was struck and killed by a train on the set of Midnight Rider.
TVD Executive Producer Caroline Dries opened up to Hollywood Life about Sarah’s death and the call for more safety measures:
“Yes, [the cast and crew] would like to have her name at the Oscars’ ‘In Memoriam’ section. But more so, [the campaign] is about awareness about Sarah specifically… and also, more awareness about set safety. [It's about] having the leadership roles on set really step up and say ‘no.’ What we said to the crew the day after we learned [about Sarah's death] was ‘no shot will ever be as important as you, as your friends, as your family… as you are as people. This is not the end of the world. This job will never be the end of the world. You are always the most important person; the most important thing.’”
