According to reports from the Deadpool 2 set, the tragic death of stuntwoman S.J. Harris was easily predictable, and fellow stunt crew warned producers about the high likelihood of an accident.
A report today in The Hollywood Reporter claims that 20th Century Fox ignored the warnings of crew, who were becoming increasingly agitated and nervous over the fact that Harris wasn’t experienced enough to pull off the stunt. Though Harris had raced professionally, this was her first movie.
It is implied by those who spoke to THR that the industry’s lack of diversity was a factor. Fox wanted a black stuntwoman to stand in for Zazie Beetz, who plays Domino in the film. The fact that the only black stuntwoman they could find actually had no on-set experience is obviously an issue. From THR:
And the crash occurred on the first live take. The accident has drawn outrage and tough questions from the Hollywood stunt community. “The producers put pressure to have somebody of the same sex and ethnicity in a position she wasn’t qualified to be in,” says Conrad Palmisano, a veteran stunt coordinator and second unit director with 47 years in the entertainment industry, including credits on Sleepless in Seattle and 21 Jump Street. Palmisano says he has been in close touch with several people who were on the Deadpool 2 set that day. “The stunt coordinators caved to the pressure. All the stunt people could do was take it to their higher-ups. They’re going to follow their chain of command.”
It is argued that the actual stunt – which required Harris to “exit a building, descend a ramp over three small stairs and stop on a nearby landing” – would have been very easy for an experienced driver.
“If the movie’s producers had to go outside of the normal stunt community to find someone who was both qualified and resembles the actress, that speaks to a problem of lack of diversity of stunt performers,” Darnell Hunt, the dean of Social Sciences at UCLA, told THR. Hunt produces an annual Hollywood diversity report which comes out before the Oscars each year.
The investigation into the incident continues.
