A Game of Thrones actor is suing the show’s makers for £4 million over ‘career-ending’ injuries she sustained during filming.
Casey Michaels was playing a zombie – a ‘wight’, to those in the know – in an episode of the hit series when she was asked to walk off a rooftop.
The stunt performer, who was 28 at the time, claims that she was told to walk off a platform as if she didn’t know there was a drop, and land on some mats and boxes down below, which would break her fall.
She was filming an episode called ‘The Long Night’ in Northern Ireland back in 2018 ahead of the release of the final series of GOT.
However, the 32-year-old says the ‘landing area’ was not safe and caused her to sustain injuries that have forced her to stop performing.
She is now suing Fire and Blood Productions Ltd, who made the series, over the incident.
According to the lawsuit, Casey walked off the platform and onto a box rig made of cardboard boxes and mats.
Fire and Blood Production claims that there was no issue with the box rig.
The firm’s lawyers say that it was “durable and was not compressed when a stunt performer stepped off onto the mattress and rolled away”.
And the company denies any wrongdoing or blame, and is set to fight the allegations in the High Court in London.
During a pre-trial hearing at the High Court, Stephen Friday, representing Casey, claimed there was video footage of the stuntwoman and extras ‘walking down the roof and jumping or stepping off’.
However, he admitted that the video does not ‘clearly show the landing area’.
Mr Friday told the court: “The state of the landing area is in dispute. This is a case that is pleaded in excess of £4m.
“She was a young stunt performer of considerable potential. We say she had the potential to go on and be a stunt coordinator or a second unit director.”
Casey argues that the injuries caused her a significant loss of earnings and badly affected her career.
Representing Fire and Blood, Jonathan Bellamy denied any liability.
He told the court that his client disputes the allegations that the future “employment prospects of the claimant” due to injuries allegedly sustained.
The case is set to be heard at a later date.
