Olivia Wilde revealed on the “Armchair Expert” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) that she was nearly stampeded to death by horses on the set of “Cowboys & Aliens,” director Jon Favreau’s 2011 Western action movie based on the graphic novel of the same name. Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford headlined the tentpole, with the likes of Wilde, Goggins, Sam Rockwell and Paul Dano in supporting roles.
“Walt Goggins saved my life on that movie,” Wilde said. “He did. I had a very bad horse accident, and he saved me. It was me and Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford galloping, like, full sprint across the desert with 40 horses behind us. And it was like we were leading the charge to fight the aliens or whatever.”
Wilde said there was a “large ditch” that horse jumped over during the take, inadvertently causing the actor to be throw off the horse.
“So sure enough, this horse jumps and bucks me off in the craziest way,” she said. “I fell off. I hit my head and my back, and I was laying [on the ground] but, unfortunately, I was on the other side of this kind of lip of dirt, meaning that all horses behind couldn’t see me. And there was also a lot of dust. I remember having my ear to the ground and I could hear it and it sounded like thunder, like they were coming towards me. And I had the thought — it sounds so dramatic — but I thought, it’ll be quick. It’ll be like, pulverized applesauce. Out.”
“Walt Goggins had seen [me] ahead of him and in a split second thought to turn his horse sideways right in front of me and let everyone kind of bash into him,” Wilde continued. “And he’s a great rider, so he was able to handle that. People split the two sides around us thinking he had just gone insane, but he was protecting my body on the ground. And so I owe him my life. It’s crazy. He’s a real-life hero.”
“Cowboys & Aliens” opened in July 2011 and was a box office disappointment with $175 million worldwide on a production budget in the $160 million range. Reviews were positive, however, with Variety praising the movie as “a full-bodied, roundly satisfying yarn.”