On 'Star Wars VII' Set, Director J.J. Abrams Broke His Back, Harrison Ford Was Injured
While J.J. Abrams was promoting Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (starring Tom Cruise) on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the director, producer and writer revealed that he actually broke his back on the set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. When the Millennium Falcon door came down and very famously broke Harrison Ford's ankle, Abrams attempted to get the door off of Ford. Abrams says that he marveled at Ford's reaction, which was to laugh it off and make jokes. Abrams referred to Ford as a "real-life superhero" and a "miracle man." He went as far to say that Ford should have a Marvel Comics logo above his name in movie credits and posters because the man is amazing. Entertainment Weekly reports, "'[Ford is] down there and he's toughing it out. He's a super human being. He's literally lying there making jokes,' Abrams said. '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.'" The director actually broke his back trying to help Ford!
It turns out that when Abrams went to the doctor a couple of weeks later, he found out that he broke his back! "I broke my L4 trying to lift this door," Yahoo! News quotes Abrams saying in the video. He jokes about it even more though to Stewart in saying he thinks he's the most "nebbishly Jewish director" because he said that he was still wearing the back brace from the incident and Ford's ankle completely healed and he "sprinted faster" towards Abrams more than Abrams could ever run.
Clearly Abrams isn't only a brilliant and talented entertainment professional, but he will break his back for his actors as well!