Olivia Wilde revealed her co-star “saved” her life from a horrifying accident while filming 2011 Western, Cowboys and Aliens.
“Walton Goggins saved my life on that movie,” the 42-year-old told host Dax Shepard on his Armchair Expert podcast. “I remember having my ear to the ground and… I thought, it’ll be quick,” she said of the near-death experience.
Olivia Wilde said she “owes” her life to Walton Goggins after he saved her from a terrifying horse accident. Amy Sussman
The two were filming an action scene for Cowboys and Aliens alongside co-stars Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford.
“[We were] galloping like full, full, full sprint across the desert with like 40 horses behind us.”
“We got to a part where I could see ahead of us that there was a large ditch, like a six-foot ditch, and I was like, ‘This horse is going to jump that ditch’.”
Wilde admitted they were two months into filming and so “got real cocky” and “competitive” with their horse riding.
The Don’t Worry Darling actress wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time because it was an “old-timey” Western movie.
She recalled the horse suddenly jumped and bucked her off “in the craziest way”.
Wilde fell off and hit her head and her back. She said she was laying on the other side of a dirt lip, hidden from the stampede fast approaching her.
Oscar winner Walton Goggins made a split second decision to shield his co-star. Michael Loccisano
“There was also a lot of dust,” she remembered, revealing the ground sounded like “thunder”.
“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 pulverised, applesauce. Out.’”
Fallout star Walton Goggins saw what happened ahead of him and acted fast. She said in a split second, he turned his horse sideways right in front of her and let everyone “bash into him” instead.
The rest of the cast split and rode around them with no idea of what had just happened.
“But he was protecting my body on the ground, and so I owe him my life.”
Host Dax Sheppard was mind blown hearing the story for the first time.
Wilde returns to screens for upcoming comedy The Invite, where she takes on both the lead role and steps behind the camera to direct.
Seth Rogan, Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz star alongside Wilde in the project that she revealed, turned out in a way she “could have never dreamed”.