Warning, mild spoilers for Dexter ahead
The National Enquirer reports in this week’s issue that actor Jimmy Smits, who plays district attorney Miguel Prado, stabbed an actor in the chest several times during a scene in which he accidentally picked up a real knife that was inexplicably put right next to a fake prop knife on set. Smits stabbed actor Jeff Chase in the chest with a knife he assumed was a prop. He easily could have killed him, but as luck had it Chase was wearing a chest plate, which saved his life:
Dexter star Michael C. Hall screamed in horror “Stop! Stop! Stop!” as fellow actor Jimmy Smits stabbed another actor repeatedly in the chest with a real knife on the set of their hit show.
The shocking September 5 incident occurred after a real knife was mistakenly placed next to a theatrical prop knife.
“During a horrific execution scene with actor Jeff Chase, Smits was so into the part he kept stabbing Chase ferociously with what he thought was a fake knife,” a shaken eyewitness told the Enquirer…
Smits was so caught up in the emotionally charged scene, it took him about 16 seconds to stop. “By a miracle, Chase escaped without a cut because he had a protective chest plate on underneath his clothes,” said the source.
[From The National Enquirer, print edition, September 28, 2008]
I left out a key detail in The Enquirer’s story which would make this even more of a spoiler. I’m a Dexter fan and have seen most every episode, and that detail about the incident might give too much away. If you want the full story you can pick up the Enquirer.
It’s a good thing that the actor was fine after that ordeal. A crew member might looking for a new job after this.
Several actors have been killed in stunts that involved props. The most well known is Brandon Lee, who was killed in 1993 by a stunt bullet on the set of The Crow. The gun was supposed to contain blanks, but a bullet that was accidentally lodged in the barrel from an earlier scene was fired at him later during filming, and hit him in the stomach. The bullet became lodged in his spine and he later died at the hospital.
Jon-Erik Hexum died in 1984 after he put a prop gun loaded with blanks to his head on the set of television show Cover Up and pulled the trigger as a joke.
This story has a much less tragic ending and it is likely that Dexter staff have learned their lesson and will be more careful in the future.
Header photo via IGN
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