The cast and crew of Deadpool 2, and indeed the wider film industry at large, were left in a state of shock on Monday afternoon following the sudden death of stuntwoman Joi “SJ” Harris in Vancouver, Canada, who was killed when an on-set motorcycle stunt went horribly, horribly wrong.
Ryan Reynolds, a Vancouver native and the title star of David Leitch’s 2018 sequel, expressed his condolences in a heartfelt statement, stating that Joi’s passing had left him “heartbroken, shocked and devastated.” It’s believed that Joi Harris, an experienced road racer, was doubling for Domino (Zazie Beetz) at the time of the accident, and came off her motorcycle after multiple takes of the same scene. Investigations are still underway, but Deadline’s now obtained a pretty detailed account of what exactly happened to Harris and according to them, it was a “freak accident.”
The outlet managed to get their hands on a report from WorkSafeBC this week and it reads as follows:
“The worker had been rehearsing a stunt scene that involved driving a motorcycle, Dictate 939 Hyperstrada, out of the open doors of a building, across a concrete pad and down a ramp that had been built over three stairs and coming to a stop on the stair landing. During the first shooting of the scene the stunt driver continued driving beyond the planned stopping spot on the stairway landing, and continued to drive down a second ramp built over the bottom stairs and across the roadway. The motorcycle struck the concrete sidewalk curb, the worker was thrown off the motorcycle and propelled through a plate glass window of a building.”
Deadline also notes that the accident occurred during Harris’ sixth take of the stunt, meaning she’d already completed it five times successfully. A source close to the production confirmed the initial report as well, saying that she was thrown from her bike after hitting a curb.
“In the maneuver, which was never more than 15 kilometers per hour – about 10 miles an hour – she rode on a flat surface through two open doors and then turned left and went out of camera range. Her exit was a safety ramp to a big platform where the bike was supposed to stop, but she overshot the platform, hit a curb, and was thrown from the bike through a glass window.”
It’s been a trying week for the cast and crew, but Deadpool 2 has already resumed production in anticipation of its release on June 1st, 2018. As for Harris, investigations are still taking place, but as soon as we hear anything further on the situation, we’ll be sure to let you know.
