Rebel Wilson says the happiest day on the Savannah set of Bride Hard ended with an ambulance ride, recounting how a prop gun’s butt slammed into her face during a climactic fight scene, splitting her nose and leaving what she describes as “a pool of blood” on the floor.
The Australian actor told Entertainment Weekly that the freak impact came after five weeks of stunt training and forced emergency plastic surgery to prevent what doctors warned could be permanent disfigurement.
ABC News affiliate WBMA reported that surgeons worked against the clock so Wilson could board an overseas flight the same night, stitching her on site before she departed. Early images posted to Instagram in August 2023 showed the aftermath and three stitches across the bridge of her nose; Wilson reassured followers then that she was “healing very well.”
The mishap came on the final evening of principal photography, which wrapped in August 2023 after director Simon West staged wedding-day shoot-outs inside historic squares and along the Georgia coast. West praised his star’s “wild” fighting style but admitted even rubber weapons “still hurt and still draw blood.”
Co-star Anna Camp, who spent production tearing around in a wedding dress, called the accident “terrifying” yet said the bridal combat concept remains the film’s comic engine. PinkNews quoted Wilson saying the swift call for a plastic surgeon spared her face and that the scar all but vanished after six weeks of laser treatment.
Set injuries are drawing heightened scrutiny across the industry: The Wrap recently highlighted a campaign by on-set medics for stricter stunt protocols following a rise in hospitalisations over the past decade. Wilson’s mishap echoes a broader list of accidents catalogued by safety researchers, underscoring the risks even non-lethal props can pose.
Independent coverage at the time noted that her trip to hospital came hours before cameras wrapped, forcing crew to reschedule close-ups once swelling subsided. IMDb’s production log confirms Bride Hard secured a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement during the 2023 strike, allowing the Savannah shoot to continue despite union walkouts.
Now in post-production, the $20 million action-comedy is slated for a 20 June theatrical release via Magenta Light Studios, with Wilson playing a maid-of-honour-turned-secret-agent who battles mercenaries at her best friend’s wedding. Publicists stress that all stunts were supervised by veteran coordinators, yet Wilson’s candid retelling has revived debate over whether low-budget action hybrids are cutting safety corners to compete with franchise blockbusters.
