A stuntwoman who lost her arm in a motorcycle accident while filming Hollywood blockbuster Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is suing producers.
Olivia Jackson was working as actress Milla Jovovich’s stunt double in 2015 when she suffered life-changing injuries when an action scene went wrong, it is alleged.
According to a lawsuit filed in California, Ms Jackson was set to shoot a fight scene but director Paul Anderson changed the schedule at the last minute due to rain.
Instead, Ms Jackson was tasked with performing a “dangerous and technically complex motorcycle scene in adverse weather”, the lawsuit says.
The stunt, shot on location in South Africa, required Ms Jackson to speed towards a camera which was supposed to be lifted by a crane before she reached it.
However, it is alleged there were “last minute” changes to the stunt, the most important of which meant the camera was lifted a second later on the final run.
As a result, the lawsuit says, the camera sliced Ms Jackson’s forearm, “obliterating the bone” before “tearing her cheek flesh back leaving her teeth exposed”.
The legal documents go into further graphic detail, alleging she sustained injuries to her spine, eye socket, ribs, shoulder girdle, humerus and her forearm.
As a result, Ms Jackson will never be able to work as a stuntwoman again, the lawsuit says.
She says producers misled her over the extent of her insurance covering injuries sustained during filming and it only paid out 33,000 dollars (£26,000).
Ms Jackson also said she later found out there was no liability coverage for her claim.
The lawsuit said: “Had such facts been known to Plaintiff, she never would have agreed to perform The Final Chapter, or alternatively, would have secured additional insurance on her own.
“She had already secured the role of stunt double for a leading cast member in Wonder Woman, and didn’t need the work.”
Ms Jackson said producers promised to pay for her medical costs, an offer she says is yet to be fulfilled.
She is suing Mr Anderson, Bolt Pictures, Tannhauser Gate and Jeremy Bolt for breach of contract and misrepresentation.
Ms Jackson, who says Resident Evil: The Final Chapter grossed more than 300 million dollars (£243 million) worldwide, is seeking unspecified damages.
Ms Jackson said: “I miss my old face. I miss my old body. I miss my old life. It really hurts that I have to live with the aftermath of other people’s mistakes.
“I wish I had realised that there would be wholly inadequate protection for me before I ever took the role.”
The defendants are yet to respond to the lawsuit.
