Actors Who Passed Out While Filming Movies

Years before he made a name for himself playing mutant leader Charles Xavier in the revived «X-Men» films, British actor James McAvoy starred in «The Last King of Scotland,» a historical drama recounting the dictatorship of Ugandan President Idi Amin, played by Forest Whitaker. Amin was infamous for his brutal reign of terror, and McAvoy played fictional Scottish doctor Nicholas Garragin, who became a close ally of the Ugandan despot, and eventually one of his victims. For McAvoy, creating some of Amin’s worst moments on-screen proved too much to stomach.

«The torture scene was the hardest day of the shoot,» McAvoy said in an interview with Artisan News Service, referring to a moment where his character is physically tormented on screen. For McAvoy, it wasn’t just the realistic recreation of violence that had him brought to the brink, but real-life events as well, in particular the 2005 London bombings. «We had a bombing in London, and nobody could get through to family and friends and loved ones. It was terrifying,» McAvoy said. 

As McAvoy described it, the script called for Garragin to remain silent while being tortured, and the only way he could make that make sense was that his character was holding his breath to endure the pain. Unfortunately, between the emotions of the real-life terror attacks and a lack of oxygen, McAvoy couldn’t hold it together and collapsed during the scene.