When it comes to Netflix’s Project Power, there’s no shortage of amazing feats that are show on camera. While pieces of the film has fewer VFX shots than you’d think, there’s some bits that physically couldn’t be done. Like, say, generating a man that’s actively camouflaged and running through the streets of New Orleans. But strangely enough, that scene led to something very real, and very painful for actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as for the second time in his career, his own bike riding resulted in a hell of an accident.
During the chase scene where Levitt’s Detective Frank Shaver is chasing a bank robber who just happens to be using Project Power’s central narcotic/plot device. Part of this chase see another biker being knocked off their rental bike by this perp, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt picking the bike up and using it for his part of the pursuit. It’s this sequence in particular that the following remarks to THR pertain to:
I’m sure it would’ve been in the movie if it was on camera. It happened off-camera and after I passed the camera. In fact, they used the shot right before it happened. I was fucking around, and that’s part of why I fell. I was fucking around, looked right at the camera and came close to it. And I was going too fast. And then, when I hit the brakes, the brakes on that public bike were not good brakes, but again, I shouldn’t have been going that fast. The front wheel seized up and dumped me off the bike right into the concrete. I wish I could’ve seen it.
It's painful just reading the particulars surrounding that situation described by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as Project Power’s production saw him engaging in some very human, very vulnerable activity. But with his trademark wit and self-reflective nature both firmly in place, Levitt acknowledges that while he shouldn’t have been pushing the rental bike as hard as he did, the resulting accident is something he would have loved to see. Knowing that he walked away from that accident without any horrific damage, we’d be inclined to feel the same.
Of course, you’re probably wondering when that first freak bike accident happened. And if you’ve been struggling to remember the name of that movie you more than likely assumed the accident had taken place during, it’s director David Koepp’s thriller Premium Rush. In a scenario that saw him “going through the rear window of a taxi cab,” Joseph Gordon-Levitt laid out a story way back when he was promoting that thriller, talking about a diplomat who apparently didn’t get the memo, and used their immunity to drive through that particular blocked set.
You more superstitious readers are probably worried if Joseph Gordon-Levitt will get into a third bike accident or not. To that effect, we’d really like to urge stunt coordinators, prop masters, and writers/directors to be careful when writing a big bike scene for Mr. Levitt. As even with the utmost caution, life finds a way to spice things up. As for the footage that did make the film, you can see those results in Project Power, which is currently available on Netflix for streaming.
