10 Actors Who Paid Terrible Prices For Movie Roles

Brandon Lee, the son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, was himself a talented actor and martial artist and looked set to follow in his father’s footsteps with a successful career in the film industry. But what should’ve been a breakthrough role that flying kicked him into stardom instead cut his life and career short at the tragically young age of 28.

While filming a scene for Alex Proyas’ big screen adaptation of James O’Barr’s graphic novel The Crow in which his character is gunned down by a thug, Lee was accidentally shot for real when a fragment of a dummy bullet the prop department failed to remove from a prop gun was fired at him with practically the same force as a live bullet and struck him in the abdomen.

Although he was rushed to hospital the mortally wounded Lee died the following day after six hours of surgery. With the help of CGI and a stunt double, Proyas was able to complete the few remaining scenes his star still had left to shoot and when the finished film was released Lee was posthumously praised for his performance.

The Crow today is a poignant taster of what could’ve been for Lee – an actor who truly paid the most terrible price for his art.