A new report states that “Game of Thrones” stuntwoman Casey Michaels filed a lawsuit in January 2021 against Fire & Blood Productions, the HBO-owned U.K. subsidiary for the hit series.
Michaels alleges that she suffered a “serious fracture dislocation to her left ankle” while filming the climactic Battle of Winterfell scene during the eighth and final season of “Game of Thrones” in February 2018. Variety reported that the court documents list the legal claim as being worth almost $5 million in damages.
Michaels, along with a group of 28 stunt performers dressed as Wights, aka zombies controlled by White Walkers, were allegedly instructed by production to walk off a 12-foot high roof “as if unaware of the drop, in keeping with the zombie-like nature of the Wights” during Episode 3. The lawsuit lists that groups of stunt performers fell onto a box rig comprised of cardboard boxes and mats.
“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,” the claim alleges. Michaels was the last performer to step off the roof, landing feet-first while wearing shin, knee, elbow, hip, and back pads.
Fire & Blood Productions deny the allegations, saying the box rig was “durable and was not compressed when a stunt performer stepped off onto the mattress and rolled away.”
source indiewire.com
