Stunt Performer Sues Game Of Thrones For $4.8m Over Career-Ending Injuries

A Game of Thrones stuntwoman is suing the hit's makers for $4.8million after claiming she suffered career-ending injuries in the show's climax. She sustained injury during the episode in which the Battle of Winterfell was filmed.

variety

The bloody fight scene proved brutal for many of the hit show's most popular characters. However, it turns out that the infamous battle claimed some victims off-screen as well.

dailymail

Casey Michaels, 32, suffered catastrophic leg injuries jumping off a rooftop as zombie member of undead army. Casey Michaels- who is also Catherine Zeta Jones' body double - had already made numerous appearances in the fantasy series in action roles and as a stunt double when she was hurt.

variety

She claimed that she suffered a "serious fraction dislocation to her left ankle" while playing a Wight - or zombie - in February 2018. Michaels initially filed a lawsuit in January 2021, suing HBO-owned production company Fire & Blood for almost $5 million according to filings obtained by Variety. If neither party settles, the case is likely to go to trial sometime next summer.

independent

Ms Michaels, 32, says the injuries she suffered whilst filming the show in Northern Ireland have ended her stunt career and any hopes she had of moving on to become a stunt coordinator and director. Her claim is mainly made up of lost future earnings due to her stunt career being ruined.

vox

Per court documents, Michaels was one of 28 stunt performers directed to walk off a 12 foot high roof "as if unaware of the drop, in keeping with the zombie-like nature of the Wights".

In theory, the actors would land safely on a box rig below. However, the court documents claim that, over time, the landing became less and less safe.

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"By their nature, however, the cardboard boxes are not durable and become damaged as each stunt performer lands on the box rig and also as each stunt performer climbs off of the box rig after landing," claims Michaels. She goes on to allege that because she was the last performer to walk off the roof she sustained a severe ankle injury when she landed. Since then, the performer has had to undergo multiple surgeries and had a plate and screws inserted into her foot.

justin kownacki

Even with these measures and a long course of intensive physiotherapy, Michaels still hasn't been able to return to work. Because of her injury, she claims she can no longer ski, skydive, do gymnastics or run, and still struggles with basic day-to-day tasks.

Fire & Blood Productions has denied the stunt performer's allegations, claiming that the box rig was "durable and not compressed when a stunt performer stepped off onto the mattress and rolled away."

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They have also argued that Michaels sustained her injury because she didn't walk off the roof correctly, dropping "like a pencil, in a rigid or verticle manner" rather than rolling as she fell.

The production company cites "the Claimant’s failure to execute the pleaded stunt properly and/or with the skill and care of a reasonably competent stunt performer" as the real reason for her injured ankle.

mashable

In papers lodged with London's High Court, lawyers for Ms Michaels say her accident occurred on 5 Feb 2018, 'during the course of the claimant's employment as a stunt performer by the defendant production company during the filming of Game of Thrones season eight, near Belfast, Northern Ireland.'

dailymail

During a pre-trial hearing at the High Court, judge Master Richard Davison was told by Stephen Friday, for Ms Michaels, that whilst there is 'considerable video footage' of Ms Michaels and her fellow undead 'walking down the roof and jumping or stepping off' that footage did 'not clearly show the landing area' where she suffered her injuries.

'The state of the landing area is in dispute,' Mr Friday said.

'This is a case that is pleaded in excess of £4m,' he added telling the judge:

'She was a young stunt performer of considerable potential. We say she had the potential to go on and be a stunt coordinator or a second unit director..'

dailymail

As well as regular appearances in Game of Thrones Ms Michaels, of Winkfield, Berks, had appeared in dozens of movies and TV series prior to her accident. She suffered her injury whilst filming a Game of Thrones season eight episode entitled 'The Long Night'.

She had played stunt roles in several Star Wars films and acted as a body double for stars including Catherine Zeta Jones, Rene Zellweiger and Julianne Moore, as well as enjoying high-adrenaline sports such as skydiving. Her older sister Carly is also a stuntwoman.

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'The Long Night' was directed by Miguel Sapochnik and reportedly filmed in 55 night shoots over 11 weeks, during harsh weather, at sets in Moneyglass, Saintfield and Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Cinematographer Fabian Wagner had publicly described the shoot as 'physically exhausting'.

The episode is said to contain the longest battle sequence in cinematic history, longer than the 40-minute Battle of Helm's Deep, as seen in The Lord of the Rings.

The case will now return to court at a later date, yet to be set.