Olivia Wilde revealed on the Armchair Expert podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) that she was nearly trampled by horses on the set of Cowboys and Aliens, director Jon Favreau’s 2011 western based on the graphic novel of the same name. Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford lead the film, and the supporting roles include actors such as Wilde, Goggins, Sam Rockwell and Paul Dano.
“Walt Goggins saved my life in that movie,” Wilde said. “He did it. I got into a really bad horse accident and he saved me. It was me, Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, galloping through the desert with 40 horses behind us. And it was like we were leading the charge to fight aliens or something.”
Wilde said that during filming, a horse jumped over a “large ditch”, causing the actor to be accidentally thrown from his horse.
“Of course, this horse jumps and confuses me in the craziest way,” she said. “I fell. I hit my head and my back, and I was laying (on the ground), but unfortunately, I was on the other side of this edge of dirt, which meant all the horses behind me couldn’t see. And there was a lot of dust. I remember putting my ear to the ground and hearing it, and it sounded like thunder, like they were coming towards me. And I had a thought – this sounds so dramatic – but I thought, it’s going to be quick. It’s going to be like, crushed applesauce.
“Walt Goggins saw (me) in front of him and in a split second thought about turning the horse sideways right in front of me and letting everyone kind of run into him,” Wilde continued. “And he’s a great racer, so he was able to handle it. People around us were split into two sides, thinking he’d just lost his mind, but he protected my body on the ground. And that’s why I owe my life to him. It’s crazy. He’s a real hero.”
Cowboys & Aliens opened in July 2011 to a box office disappointment: $175 million worldwide against a production budget in the $160 million range. However, the reviews were positive. Diversity praising the film as a “rich, thoroughly satisfying yarn”.