Kat Dennings has had her fair share of action in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having played Darcy Lewis in two of the Thor films. However, it would seem that she also had an interesting moment on the set of the upcoming WandaVision when an old injury reared its head right before she had to possibly perform a stunt.
It turns out Kat Dennings injured her ankle a few years back so, early on, she and the producers discussed the idea of a stunt woman possibly coming in to fill in for her. Though when she arrived for the night shoot, she didn't see any stunt person on the call sheet, leading her to wonder if she would have to perform the action herself:
So, just before this, I was doing something, and I had hurt my ankle a couple years ago real bad, and I was in a boot for twelve weeks. There was a scene where I’m running through a field, and I get to the night shoot, and there’s no stunt on the call sheet, and I’m like ‘I wonder if they don’t have a stunt cause we talked about this months ago and it’s probably forgotten.’ So, I brought it up. They’re like ‘Oh, hmmm.’ I was like ‘hmmm.’ Well, I was like, ‘here is the thing. I’ll do it. I can’t guarantee my ankle will make it to tomorrow.’ [laughs] But they were like ‘no problem.’ They got someone to come in. We shot other stuff first, and then they got a stunt woman to come in, and she did it, and it was great. That’s the first time I’ve said that only because I was like, ‘You guys don’t know what’s going to happen.’
Based on her comments during her Good for You with Whitney Cummings appearance, Kat Dennings was definitely worried, but all's well that ends well, I suppose. It's good to hear the WandaVision crew did end up bringing in a stunt actor to run in that field so Kat Dennings wouldn't have to do it on her bad ankle. Kudos should also go to Dennings for being honest and alerting those in charge that her doing the stunt could lead to injury.
Still, I think many who are anxiously awaiting the Disney+ series’ premiere are also curious as to why Darcy would need to be running in a field in the first place. And fans are going to need more than that crazy first bit of footage to learn a little more about what's going down.
I have to say that whenever I see a stunt credit, I always assume it has to do with going through windows or falling long distances. An actor having to run through a field is not what usually springs to mind. However, in this instance, Kat Dennings was arguably in as much physical danger executing an intense run through an area as she would've been getting thrown through a window.
It is worth mentioning that studios are typically very good about keeping their actors safe when it comes to stunt work. Although some actors like Tom Holland want to do as much of their own work as possible, the studio has to ensure the safety of its talent.
Filming on WandaVision officially wrapped earlier this year and, as a result, it was one of the few shows not to be stopped due to the global health crisis. However, we still have some time to wait before we might eventually see Kat Dennings’ stunt double making that run eventually. And I say “might” because, as Dennings pointed out in the interview, a lot of stuff can get cut in post-production.
WandaVision is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ in December, so it'll be quite a bit after this summer’s premieres make their entrance.
