Hollywood A-lister Jennifer Garner has revealed that she once bit off part of a stunt performer’s ear during a wild fight scene.
Speaking at an event to plug her new Apple TV show, The Last Thing He Told Me, she bemused her co-star Nicolaj Coster-Waldau with the chaotic tale.
She went into the story after a clip showed her in the new show engaged in a tussle with the actor and stunt performer Sala Baker. “Can I just say that the performer, Sal, the last time I fought him was in The Kingdom,” Garner said of the 2007 film.
Baker played a role credited as “The Kidnapper,” and, in one scene, the character came to attack Garner’s character. “Pete Berg, who was the director, told him to try to kill me. We did not have a lot of choreography, and he told me to do anything I could to survive. He did, and I did, and I ended up scrambling onto his back,” she explained.
“I bit his ear, and we have a picture of him missing a chunk of ear, because we were not kidding,” Garner added.
The pair reunited on the set of The Last Thing He Told Me, and they did battle once again. “We went for it in a way that the crew—this was maybe our first or second day of shooting—were like, ‘Can you be careful with her?’ I was like, ‘No, no, no, no, he’s not going to be careful,’" she told the crowd at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar.
“‘I’m not going to be careful. Just back out of the way. I have a score to settle here.’ And Sal was with us the entire season. So prepare yourselves,” she added.
“Can we just go over that again? You bit a piece of his ear off?” enquired a perplexed Coster-Waldau at the panel discussion.
Garner replied, “Like Mike Tyson.” Coster-Waldau then added jokingly, “Why are you all looking as if this is a great thing? What is wrong with you people?”
“Don’t make me mad. I seem nice. I’ve warned you before,” she quipped. Coster-Waldau then said, “Oh my god, no, I love you.”
