J.J. Abrams Broke His Back Helping Harrison Ford After Star Wars Set Accident

Posted on August 4, 2015

J.J. Abrams was a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to talk about the new Mission Impossible movie starring Tom Cruise. So, naturally, all they talked about was Star Wars. Jon told JJ., "This is the fifth Mission Impossible movie you've produced...so let's talk Star Wars. Tell me, right now, everything that happens. And if there are hobbits in it."

J.J. talked about the accident on set in London in which Harrison Ford suffered a terrible injury while filming a scene in the Millennium Falcon. A door fell on Harrison's leg and his foot was at a 90 degree angle. J.J. said, "He's down there and he's toughing it out. He’s a super human being. He’s literally lying there making jokes."

Horrified at the accident J.J. ran over to assist and tried to move the door off Harrison's leg. This proved to be a mistake. He explained, "This door had gone down, and I’m trying to help lift it up – because that’s the kind of guy I am. I'm trying to lift up this door and I feel this pop in my back. I'm like 'Uh, that’s weird.'" It turns out that he broke the L4 vertebra in his back and had to wear a back brace under his clothes for four months. He didn't tell anyone about the injury.

J.J. complained that Harrison rebounded quickly from his injuries while J.J. was still stuck in a back brace. He said he felt very nebbishy and broke into a pretty decent Woody Allen impersonation which was really funny. He did note that there was one upside. He says the back brace acted like Spanx and sucked his gut in, so he felt great on set. J.J. says Harrison Ford is real life superhero who should have "Marvel" tattooed on his forehead.

So it turns out that on set injury took out the star of the film and the director. Star Wars is on track for a December 18th release and we can't wait.

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