Josh Duhamel had a "near-death" experience while filming "Shotgun Wedding" in the Dominican Republic alongside Jennifer Lopez last month, and now the actor is sharing details of that frightening day.
During an appearance on Wednesday's episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," Duhamel explained that he decided to visit a familiar cove, but, instead of finding the “calm, turquoise" ocean, he was greeted with rough surf and towering waves.
"The waves were crashing like 30 feet in the air," he said, explaining that he had his phone in his hand and was filming it, according to USA Today. "This rogue wave comes up as I'm videotaping this thing and literally washed me almost over the edge of this cliff."
After the wave broke, Duhamel was snagged in "razor-sharp coral," which ultimately saved his life, but still cut him up and turned him into a "hamburger.”
"It was one of the near-death experiences of my life, for sure," Duhamel said.
He showed Fallon the footage he managed to record of the incident, explaining that not many people had seen it.
"If I would've shown it to (production company) Lionsgate while we were shooting it, they probably would've kicked me off the movie," he said.
Duhamel joins a growing list of actors to have near-death experiences on the set of their films. Last year Emma Corrin revealed to Glamour UK that she ended up in the hospital while filming "The Crown" in Spain.
"I’m asthmatic and I had been ill for a while with a bad cough," she recalled. "I had to film a scene in a freezing-cold swimming pool, with the kids playing William and Harry. It was honestly the hardest scene to film because I was genuinely keeping myself alive treading water, and also keeping 5-year-old 'Harry' alive, as we found out he couldn’t swim!"
Corrin explained that she was meant to fly back to the U.K. that evening and decided to make a stop at the hospital to pick up antibiotics before her flight, but doctors refused to let her leave.
"The doctors gave me an oxygen test and said, 'We cannot let you go because your oxygen levels are so low,' so I was hospitalized," she explained. Thankfully the staff was friendly enough to make her stay pleasant.
George Clooney also recently opened up about a harrowing experience that nearly took his life. The incident took place in 2018 while filming for the miniseries "Catch-22." Clooney was riding his motorcycle at 70 mph when he collided with another vehicle. Recounting the near-death experience to The Independent, "The Midnight Sky" actor said he "thought that was it" for him.
"I got lucky there," he said. "I flipped through the air and ended up landing on my knees. I could have landed on any other part of my body and been dead."
Clooney was taken to the hospital but discharged hours later after it was determined that his injuries were not serious. He said there was a lesson in the experience.
"You learn you're not allowed to ride motorcycles. My wife said 'That's enough.'"
Clooney said this was not his first near-death experience. He had another close call in South Sudan.
"I had one time in South Sudan where we got pulled over and had guns stuck to our heads," he said. "They wanted to rob our truck."
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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