A stunt woman died on the set of the Deadpool 2 movie on Monday after crashing a motorcycle through the windows of a skyscraper.
Witnesses say the stunt driver lost control of her bike while filming a stunt at around 8 a.m. The motorcycle jumped the curb and crashed into the windows of Shaw Tower, a landmark skyscraper in Vancouver, Canada, Page Six reported.
First responders treated the woman, but she died at the scene, according to police.
“We are deeply saddened by the accident that occurred on the set of Deadpool 2 this morning,” a representative for 20th Century Fox said.
“Our hearts and prayers are with the family, friends and colleagues of our crew member during this difficult time.”
The stunt was performed successfully twice on Monday before the fatal accident, according to Nathan Kramchynski, an eyewitness who spoke to Toronto’s Metro.
“We were kind of shocked,” Kramchynski said. “We didn’t know if there was padding, if there was a reason why that happened.”
One local told Metro she was in a nearby Starbucks when she heard a loud crash. When she ran outside she saw a woman inside the Shaw Tower building with her head hanging outside and glass still falling on her body.
The woman’s name has not yet been released. She was performing a stunt for actress Zazie Beetz, who was playing the role of Domino in the movie.
Beetz was seen riding a black Ducati motorcycle in Vancouver last week—the same motorcycle model as the one seen lying on the sidewalk following the crash on Monday.
Witnesses did not hear any breaks before the crash.
“People were running on the sidewalk, the motorcycle comes flying across the street, looks like from a ramp because it was in the air,” a witness told Global News.
“(She) standing on the bike, slams into that building, clearly hit and out-of-control and clearly not planned.”
The Vancouver Police Department and the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia are investigating the crash.
Deadpool 2 is the sequel to a blockbuster released in 2016 produced by Marvel Comics. The movie is set to release on June 1 next year. The crew has been filming scenes with scooters and motorcycles in downtown Vancouver since June 26.
Vancouver is the hometown of Deadpool’s star, Ryan Reynolds. Last week, the actor tweeted a photo of himself with about two dozen Vancouver police officers, thanking them “for putting up with road closures and traffic delays.”
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The Women of Deadpool: There Are No Small Roles
“Deadpool” is all about that dangerous, dorky, deviant dude, but here are a few fun facts about the women of Deadpool:
Morena Baccarin
(Vanessa Carlyle: Deadpool’s girlfriend)
She’s Brazillian-American, and her full name is Morena Silva de Vaz Setta Baccarin. Known mostly for her character Jessica Brody in the Showtime’s “Homeland,” she moved on to the Fox TV series “Gotham.”
Born in Rio de Janiero, she moved to New York’s Greenwich Village at age 7, and attended high school with her future “Homeland” co-star, Claire Danes. Then, on to the famed Juillard School, after which, classically-trained, she became Natalie Portman’s understudy in “The Seagull.”
Billed in the “Deadpool” intro credits as “The Hot Chick,” she plays a prostitute with a dark, snarky humor that matches Deadpool’s. Though tough and gritty, she’s basically the damsel in distress.
Having done a fair amount of sci-fi shows, Baccarin is used to fans geeking out when they meet her. In an interview with Express’s Simon Button, she said, “I’ve had some strange fan encounters, that’s for sure. Nothing threatening or terrible but sometimes people ask me to marry them, which is a little odd.”
She relates, furthermore, that Brazil is still very much in her blood. “I grew up in the States, but I go back to Brazil quite often and a big part of me is very Brazilian, so there’s a constant struggle between the two cultures within me.”
Now, with the record-breaking success of “Deadpool,” Morena Silva de Vaz Setta Baccarin should become a solid A-lister.
Gina Carano
(Angel Dust)
Gina Carano’s an American actress, fitness model, and former mixed martial artist (MMA), who first trained straight Muay Thai, then segued into competitive MMA.
She was called the “Face of women’s MMA” (a title she rejected) and compiled a competitive record of 12–1–1 in Muay Thai, and 7–1 in MMA.
On TV, Carano performed on the revamped “American Gladiators.” Her film acting debut was in Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 action flick “Haywire,” after which came “Fast & Furious 6” (2013). Now, she plays the very formidable Angel Dust in “Deadpool.”
Carano has a “small percentage” of Italian ancestry, and sports runs in her ancestry as well—her dad played for the Dallas Cowboys as a backup quarterback.
Brianna Hildebrand
(Negasonic Teenage Warhead)
The brand-new-to-the-Biz, 5′ 3″ Brianna Hildebrand is 19 years old and from Texas. She’s primarily known for the web series “Annie Undocumented.” This is her superhero film debut, and she already landed the character with the coolest name ever—Negasonic Teenage Warhead—since her supernormal ability is sort of electric and atomic at the same time. Kind of how surly teenagers feel when life is at its gloomiest and uncoolest.
Leslie Uggams
(Blind Al)
Leslie Uggams plays the hilarious role of “Blind Al,” Deadpool’s landlady, who has a thing for IKEA and the proper Swedish pronunciations of that furniture line.
She was born in 1943 in New York City. She’s an actress with a long showbiz resume and trained, like Morena Baccarin, at the Julliard School. Also a board member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Uggams made her national television debut at age 6 on the TV series “Beulah,” (Beulah was played by Ethel Waters) portraying Beulah’s niece.
Qualified, Much?
The art of acting is the least understood, most underrated, and most underestimated of the seven great arts. If you see Jimi Hendrix play the guitar you say, “That’s hard.” If you see the Bolshoi Ballet, you say, “That’s hard.” If you see Clint Eastwood sitting on a horse, squinting into the distance and saying nothing, you say, “That’s easy, I could do that.”
But as Clint Eastwood’s acting coach used to tell him, “Don’t just do something—stand there!” Sounds easy, but under the scrutiny of cameras, or an audience, that’s a highly difficult thing to pull off believably. It’s easy to forget how trained and qualified one has to be, to play even minor roles on the big screen.