Olivia Wilde Credits Walton Goggins With Saving Her Life During Terrifying On-Set Accident
Olivia Wilde recently opened up about a harrowing moment from her past, crediting co-star Walton Goggins with what she now describes as a genuinely heroic act that may have saved her from serious injury or worse during production of the 2011 film Cowboys and Aliens. The actress shared the story during an appearance on Dax Shepard's podcast, Armchair Expert, recounting in vivid detail an on-set accident that could have ended far more tragically had Goggins not intervened in the moment.
Cowboys and Aliens, directed by Jon Favreau and based on the graphic novel of the same name by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, brought together a sprawling cast led by Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, with Wilde, Goggins, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, and Noah Ringer rounding out supporting roles. The film, set in the American West in 1873, required its cast to perform demanding stunt work, including large-scale horseback sequences meant to simulate the chaos of battle. It was during one of these sequences that Wilde found herself in real danger.
Describing the scene, Wilde explained that she, Craig, and Ford were riding at a full sprint across the desert with roughly forty horses charging behind them, recreating what was meant to look like a unified charge against the film's alien antagonists. Though she grew up riding horses and felt confident in the saddle, Wilde noted that her experience was rooted in English-style riding, which differs significantly from the Western style required for the film. By that point in the shoot, she said, the cast had been filming for around two months and had grown increasingly comfortable, even competitive, with the horseback stunt work, a confidence that may have contributed to what happened next.
Wilde recalled spotting a deep ditch ahead, estimating it at roughly six feet across, and assuming her horse would simply jump it as part of the charge. Riding in a Western saddle without a helmet, in keeping with her period-appropriate costume, she had little protection when the horse instead bucked her off violently rather than clearing the obstacle. The fall sent her crashing to the ground, where she struck both her head and her back.
A small ridge of dirt initially blocked her from the view of the stampeding horses still charging in her direction, but she could hear them approaching, the sound resembling distant thunder as it grew louder through the dust and chaos around her. Lying with her ear pressed to the ground, Wilde admitted she briefly accepted what she believed was about to happen, bracing herself for the horses to trample over her.
Spotting Wilde on the ground just ahead of him, Goggins made a split-second decision to turn his horse sideways directly in front of her, positioning himself and his horse as a barrier that absorbed the impact of the other riders crashing into him. Wilde said the maneuver looked so unexpected that other riders scattered around the two of them, some assuming Goggins had simply lost control, unaware that he was deliberately shielding her body from the stampede.
Wilde shared the story while in the midst of promoting her latest project as a director, The Invite, her third feature film and an adaptation of the 2020 Spanish film The People Upstairs.
