9 Times Actors Genuinely Bled In Movie Scenes

4. Cary Elwes - The Princess Bride

In a lot of these cases, the injuries captured on film are the result of actors pushing themselves further than might be sensible in order to get a good shot. Whether that's an intense explosion or capturing realism, it's usually because they suspended the usual protection afforded to them and accidentally messed up.

But in the case of Cary Elwes, he sort of brought his bloody injury on himself while shooting The Princess Bride. In one scene, his Westley is hit with the butt of a sword and knicked out by Christopher Guest's Count Tyrone Rugen. You'd think they'd use a fake prop sword for this, but no -Elwes later revealed he had been hit with a real one and not only that, he's told Guest to just tap him on the head to get the shot.

Guest's idea of a "tap" was obviously a little removed from reality and he hit him so hard he knocked him out instantly and split his head open. The take was used in the final film because it looked so good (and possibly because they didn't want Elwes to suffer more bumps).