Olivia Wilde has praised actor Walton Goggins for saving her life after a serious accident on the set of Cowboys & Aliens.
The 2011 sci-fi western saw Wilde filming high-speed horseback scenes alongside stars including Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, when a dangerous moment nearly turned tragic.
Walt Goggins. Fred Duval, Shutterstock
Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Shepard, Wilde recalled being thrown from her horse while filming a desert gallop sequence, leaving her injured and vulnerable on the ground.
She said: “Walt Goggins saved my life on that movie. I had a very bad horse accident, and he saved me.”
Wilde explained that the scene involved a large group of horses charging across the desert when she spotted a ditch ahead. Believing her horse would clear it, she was instead violently thrown from the saddle.
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She said she hit her head and back and ended up lying out of sight of the other riders, as the remaining horses continued racing forward.
Recalling the moment in detail, she said she could hear the sound of the approaching horses like “thunder” and feared she would be trampled.
It was at that point, Wilde said, that Walton Goggins reacted instantly, steering his horse into position to shield her from the oncoming group.
She explained that he deliberately placed himself between her and the other riders, forcing the rest of the horses to split around him, preventing what could have been a far more serious outcome.
Olivia Wilde. DFree, Shutterstock
Wilde described him as “a real-life hero,” adding: “So I owe him my life. It’s crazy.”
Alongside the story, Wilde also discussed her latest project The Invite, an indie drama that premiered at Sundance Film Festival, where it received a strong reception and sparked a bidding war eventually won by A24.
Seth Rogen. The Invite. A24
The film, an English-language remake of the Spanish movie The People Upstairs, follows a long-married couple whose dinner with their upstairs neighbours takes a dramatic turn.
Wilde said the project reflects a more confident stage in her directing career, with critics already drawing comparisons to classic relationship dramas like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Edward Norton, Penelope Cruz and Olivia Wilde. The Invite, A24
She also told Variety at the premiere of the movie that it’s “obviously bullshit” Gen Z doesn’t want to go to movie theaters after the success of Obsession and Backrooms.
“They are the ones driving the box office right now. They are driving this enthusiasm for authorship in filmmaking. They love ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession.’ They’re here for it. They want people to take risks in movies because they appreciate that risk. The audience has never been the problem, and I think now we’re seeing studios recognize that.”
