Olivia Wilde says Walton Goggins saved her life after she was bucked off during filming of “Cowboys & Aliens” in 2011, describing the moment she believed she would be trampled by dozens of horses.
Olivia Wilde still remembers the dust—how it swallowed the desert around her—after Walton Goggins steered his horse sideways in front of her when she was thrown from the saddle.
Wilde recalled the incident on the Monday, June 29 episode of the “Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard” podcast. She said she had ridden horses her whole life and felt confident with riding. but the film’s Western style was different from what she was used to. “Cowboys & Aliens,” the 2011 sci-fi Western, starred Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Sam Rockwell and Paul Dano.
She described the scene that led to the fall: filming an intense sequence without a helmet. As she approached a nearly 6-foot ditch, she assumed her horse would clear it. “We were leading the charge to fight the aliens or whatever,” Wilde said. “Sure enough, this horse jumps and bucks me off in the craziest way, and I fell off.”.
After two months of filming, Wilde said the cast had become comfortable in the saddle, even competitive—naming the sprint across the desert alongside Craig and Harrison Ford with “like 40 horses behind us.” But the day of the accident quickly turned from confidence to crisis.
Wilde said she hit her head and back during the fall. She explained that she landed on the far side of a lip of dirt. meaning the horses behind her couldn’t see her—while dust blurred the scene. “I remember having my ear to the ground, and I could hear it, and it sounded like thunder,” she recalled. In that moment, she thought she was going to be trampled.
Wilde said the thought crossed her mind clearly: “It’ll be quick. It’ll be like pulverized applesauce out.” She said she remembers waiting for the horses to come.
Then, she said, Goggins changed what happened next. “And then Wal Goggins had seen it ahead of him and in a split-second thought to turn his horse sideways right in front of me and let everyone kind of bash into him. ” Wilde said. She added that people on the two sides of them split around the commotion, initially thinking he had gone insane. In her telling, he was protecting her body on the ground.
“So I owe him my life,” Wilde said. “It’s crazy. He’s a real-life hero.”
Despite the fall, Wilde said she still looks back on making the film with fondness, saying, “The experience was the most fun I’ve ever had.”
Olivia Wilde Walton Goggins Cowboys & Aliens Armchair Expert Dax Shepard horse accident Daniel Craig Harrison Ford Sam Rockwell Paul Dano
Walton Goggins really said “redirect” and saved her, damn.
Wait so she wasn’t wearing a helmet?? That’s wild. Hollywood risk tolerance is insane, like they just be like “we’ll be fine” until they aren’t.
I don’t get why they were “leading the charge” without helmets though, like okay even if your horse bucks you’re still in the blast zone. Also “horses couldn’t see her” sounds more like bad blocking than a fluke.
This just proves actors are basically stunt people with good PR. Like I’m sure the horses were trained but she still got bucked off and hit her head?? I mean kudos to Goggins, but also how did they have dozens of horses and not have a plan for the person on the ground.