Stuntperson Casey Michaels is suing “Game of Thrones” producers over a serious ankle injury sustained during the filming of the eighth season Battle of Winterfell scene in 2018.
Michaels, who is seeking nearly $5 million, suffered a “serious fracture dislocation to her left ankle” after jumping from a height of approximately 12 feet, according to court documents seen by Variety.
The lawsuit, which was originally filed in January 2021, names Fire & Blood Productions, an HBO-owned subsidiary based in London. HBO did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Michaels was dressed as a Wight — undead pawns controlled by White Walkers — and was filming a scene in the episode “The Long Night” that required her to climb the castle battlements and walk off a roof along with her fellow Wights.
According to court documents, a group of 28 stunt performers were instructed to walk off the roof, which was around 12 feet high, “as if unaware of the drop, in keeping with the zombie-like nature of the Wights.” The performers stepped off in groups of four to five, falling onto a box rig made of cardboard boxes and mats.
“By their nature, however, the cardboard boxes are not durable and become damaged as each stunt performer lands on the box rig and also as each stunt performer climbs off of the box rig after landing,” Michaels alleges, noting that she was the last to perform the stunt and landed feet-first.
Fire & Blood Productions insisted that the box rig did its job and that Michaels failed to “execute the pleaded stunt properly.”
She has since had multiple surgeries on her foot, including having a metal plate and screws inserted, and undergone “lengthy, intensive” physiotherapy and has been treated for depression and trauma. She claims in the suit that she is no longer able to work or perform basic tasks such as shopping, cooking and gardening.