Evangeline Lilly Says a Stunt Coordinator Punished Her for Doing Her Own Stunt on Set of Lost
EntertainmentEvangeline Lilly alleges that a male stunt coordinator deliberately allowed her to get injured on the set of her former series Lost.
While speaking on a panel about stuntwomen in Hollywood—held on Wednesday at the Fox lot in Los Angeles—Lilly claimed the skin on both her forearms was ripped off during a stunt she performed while filming Lost. Lilly, who stars as the Wasp in the upcoming Marvel film Ant-Man and the Wasp, appeared on the panel with her stunt double from that movie, Ingrid Kleinig, and several other stuntwomen.
According to Deadline, Lilly said the Lost stunt coordinator was angry that she had asked to do the stunt herself instead of hiring a stuntwoman. She claims he then intentionally set out to harm her:
Lilly said she asked to have moleskin – a light fabric used to prevent abrasions – wrapped around her forearms, but the coordinator said no. “They’ll see it,” he said, though she was sure it wouldn’t show on screen. So she did the stunt bare-armed – over and over and over again. And each time the rough bark ripped off more of her skin. And after each take, New Skin – a liquid-bandage brand – was painfully applied to the wounds, and then the coordinator would send her back up the tree to do it again and again and again, each time more painful than the last.
Lilly called the coordinator (who she did not name) “misogynistic” and added that afterwards, her arms were covered in open wounds and pus, and that her mother was worried she’d have to cover her arms in the future. “I felt it was him saying, ‘I’m going to put you in your place for standing up to me,’” Lilly told the panel. “It was either cow to his power or hurt myself. I was in my 20s then. Now, I would probably back down.” Deadline notes:
Injuries are part of the job, though rarely are they intentional. A more common complaint by stuntwomen is the discrimination they face on the job – or not getting jobs at all.
Another stuntwoman on the panel, Sharon Shaffer, said she’d been “blackballed so many times” from sets for lodging complaints, though some productions have become more conscious of the issue.
Lilly’s story is reminiscent of Eliza Dushka’s more severe allegation earlier this year against stunt coordinator Joel Kramer. Dushka said he sexually assaulted her and allowed her to be injured during a stunt on the set of True Lies in supposed retaliation for telling her agent.