Olivia Wilde has revealed how Walton Goggins once saved her life while the pair were filming Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens.
Wilde, who is currently promoting her third directorial feature film, The Invite, recalled the terrifying on-set incident on Monday’s episode of Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast.
“Walt Goggins saved my life on that movie,” Wilde told hosts Shepard and Monica Padman of the 2011 space Western.
In the film, set in 1873 Arizona, Wilde played a mysterious woman who joins the cowboys, while Goggins portrayed one of the outlaws drawn into battle.
“I had a very bad horse accident and he saved me,” Wilde explained. “Basically, we were galloping across — I’ve ridden horses my whole life — I have a lot of confidence with riding English style; this was Western, different.
“And we were at that point, like two months in, and we got real cocky with it. And we were pretty competitive.
“And it was me and Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford galloping like full sprint across the desert. With like 40 horses behind us,” she said. “And it was like we were like leading the charge to fight the aliens or whatever — whatever we were doing in that movie.
“We got to a part where I could see ahead of us that there was a large ditch, like a six-foot ditch. And I was like, this horse is going to jump that ditch. And I’m on this western saddle, no helmet, because I'm playing like an old-timey lady.
“Spoiler: I was actually an alien,” she added. “Oh, I know everyone's seen it, but still. So sure enough, this horse jumps and bucks me off in the craziest way.
Wilde said she hit her head and back on impact and was left lying on the ground, hidden behind a “lip of dirt” that obscured her from the charging horses behind her.
“And there was also a lot of dust,” she continued. “And I remember having my ear to the ground and I could hear it. And it sounded like thunder, like they were coming towards me.
“And I had the thought — it sounds so dramatic — but I thought it’ll be quick,” she said of her impending doom. “It’ll be like pulverized applesauce. Out. And I was waiting for it to happen.
“Then Walt Goggins had seen it ahead of him. And in a split second, thought to turn his horse sideways, right in front of me and let everyone bash into him. And he’s a great rider, so he was able to handle that.
“And people split the two sides around us, thinking he had just like gone insane. But he was protecting my body on the ground. And so I owe him my life,” Wilde concluded.
“Wow. He's a real-life hero,” an astounded Shepard finally responded.
“He didn't even bring that up when he was on the show,” Padman added.
Cowboys & Aliens was one of the most high-profile releases of summer 2011, boasting a blockbuster cast and arriving just three years after Favreau’s success with Iron Man. However, it failed to meet expectations, earning $174.8 million worldwide against a reported $163 million production budget.
It also holds a less-than-flattering 44 percent critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Fortunately for Wilde, The Invite — starring Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton — appears to be fairing much better, boasting a 93 percent score following it’s June 26 release.
