Taylor Hickson, 20, sues producers after suffering massive facial injuries on set

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Taylor Hickson is a 20 year-old Canadian actress whose breakout role was in Deadpool. She had a minor part in that, and you can see a still of her from Deadpool on IMDB. The up-and-coming actress had a major setback after suffering an accident on the set of a movie called Ghostland, out this April. Her director, Pascal Laugier, told her to pound a glass panel. Hickson fell on the panel, cutting her face and requiring immediate hospitalization, stitches and reconstructive work. Hickson still has a large visible scar. She’s suing the film’s production company for damages with the claim that her career and mental health have been affected.

The actress was filming “an emotionally charged scene” for her upcoming movie Ghostland during which her director Pascal Laugier, who is not a defendant in the suit, allegedly encouraged her to pound on a glass pane, according to a lawsuit obtained by Deadline.

Despite allegedly being assured by Laugier and a producer that it was safe to pound on the glass, “the glass shattered, causing [her] head and upper body to fall through the door and [on to] shards of glass,” the suit says. (Attempts to reach Laugier for comment were not immediately successful).

“As a result of the incident, [she] badly cut the left side of her face” and was rushed to the hospital, where she received about 70 stitches.

“She has since undergone treatment including laser treatment and silicone treatment, but over one year post-incident, has been left with permanent scarring on the left side of her face,” the suit claims. “It is unknown at this time if any further treatment, including plastic surgery, would reduce the visual appearance of the injury.”

Described in the suit as a “busy, up and coming actor” before the accident, the 20-year-old Canadian has since “struggled to find work as an actor and states that same is due to her injury. She states she has and will continue to suffer future financial losses in an amount to be proven at or before trial,” the suit says.

The court documents also note that “as a result of the injury, she has lost income [during] the period of time she was unable to act while she recovered from her injury.”

And the damage, she says, has been more than just physical. “It’s been mass amounts of insecurity, conflicted, confused, hurt, angry, and sad that this was my last day on set and no precautions were taken,” she told Deadline.

[From People]

The lawsuit goes on to state that safety glass, which is common in the movie industry, was not used for this scene. Hickson told Deadline that she feels too self conscious to do promotion for the film. This reminds me so much of Uma Thurman’s story of suffering life-changing injuries after Quentin Tarantino insisted she do her own car crash stunt on the set of Kill Bill. Uma was an in-demand actress at that point and felt pressured to bow to her director. Imagine how a younger actress trying to get established in the industry would feel. Eliza Dushku recently revealed that she was abused by a stunt director at age 12. She confided in an adult on set and her abuser retaliated against her by deliberately sabotaging her stunt harness, causing her to break her ribs. Hickson’s case sounds like a filmmaker eager to better shot. Imagine all the dangerous things actors are asked to do that we don’t hear about. Film sets can be toxic.

Here’s the film poster, which is terrible in light of Hickson’s injuries. They usually don’t make poster art until after a film is wrapped, so what is the excuse for this?
ghostlandart

Embed from Getty Images

oh my god i’m actually smiling

A post shared by taylor hickson (@taylor.hickson) on

Photos credit: WENN, Getty and Instagram/Taylor Hickson

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36 Responses to “Taylor Hickson, 20, sues producers after suffering massive facial injuries on set”

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  1. Tanguerita says:

    Go Taylor, sue these assholes for every penny they’ve got.

  2. Stacy Dresden says:

    Inexcusable.

    • CityGirl says:

      Completely!

    • TwoPac says:

      The duress by the movie poster can’t be covered by any amount of money- the beyond tone-deafness is just inconceivable! God speed this young girl, and may justice prevail!!

    • Tiffany :) says:

      It is totally inexcusable. They had a responsibility to provide a safe work environment, and they did not. My heart goes out to her. She was really victimized by their irresponsibility.

  3. Lela says:

    Where is ACTRA in all these cases? These actors are supposed to be protected by their union and it really seems like they are not, I would take a huge issue with that as well, I mean they pay a decent chunk of their salary to the union.

    • SugarMalone says:

      Speaking as someone who has worked for a union for film technicians, and also as someone who is unionized and has filed a work-related grievance, I can say with authority that entertainment unions are all talk when it comes to advocating for their members. It’s mainly performative protection.

  4. Lori says:

    Sounds like a solid case, I hope they pay her generously.

    Looking at her instagram that scar is quite visible.

    Health and safety is important, no matter the profession.

  5. JA says:

    She is still a beautiful girl BUT they did a horrible job sewing up that cut! She has a legitimate case and I hope she gets all she can from the studio. Awful that they didn’t bother having any precautions for her safety

    • Pinetree13 says:

      I don’t think that’s fair…we have no idea what the wound looked like Initially. This may have been amazing work for all we know since we don’t know how deep or anything, I wouldn’t have guessed 70 stitches from that scar

  6. India Rose says:

    Unbelievable film poster. Talk about using a trgedy to promote the movie. Shame on them. I hope her lawyers use that picture to increase her settlement.

    • kimbers says:

      i hope they argue the poster was in retaliation and emotional abuse.

    • Tiffany :) says:

      It seems that part of the film’s plot revolves around women/girls with these weird alterations to their faces. What a really horrible coincidence. I wonder if she had to film any of the scenes with the prosthetics after her injury.

  7. Regina Phalange says:

    That poster is shocking. What a bunch of a-holes. The crack in the poster features the worst damage in the same place she has her scar. There is no way her injury did not come up during the approval of that poster. TAKE EM TO THE CLEANERS.

  8. savu says:

    Go girl. Get that money, get punitive damages to discourage them from doing this again.

    That poster is so wrong. Ugh. How disgusting.

  9. littlemissnaughty says:

    Oh my god, sue them into the ground. There is no reason to not use safety glass.

  10. Larry says:

    Between her and Uma Thurman what the hell is wrong with these director’s are they trying to kill the actresses or what?

    • VirgiliaCoriolanus says:

      IMO, I think they are literally only thinking of their “art”, and don’t consider the possible aftermath. It’s like you and your friends thinking it would be amazing to dive off a bridge into the water below. Obviously, if you do it correctly, then it becomes this great story years later about how you almost could have died because your idiot friend who’s been your best friend since you were 2 and is always getting you into trouble, had this great idea to jump off a bridge and go swimming. But if someone died……..well that’s an entirely different story. I think it’s the same thing for some of these directors, etc. They want a great story. X actress did all of her own stunts, even the super dangerous one that broke her arm!!! I don’t think it’s malicious, but very short sighted.

  11. Cherryl says:

    That poor girl. Ugh, there are so many cases of reckless directors, especially pushing their female actors into dangerous situations. I can imagine she’s been struggeling with getting jobs due to the scar considering how superficial Hollywood is.

  12. ellieohara says:

    The picture of the injuries is horrific. They deserve jail. 100%.

  13. ChillyWilly says:

    Holy hell!! I cannot imagine the horror of this and I don’t make a living from my looks (or I’d be broke! Lol)! Poor girl. Hope she gets ALL their money. And that poster art is insensitive and disturbing. 😕

  14. Abby says:

    Yeah the pics are really graphic (Deadline) posted a few. But really has anything changed from the death of Sarah Jones , the crew member from Midnight Rider? Unlikely.

    • Kelly says:

      Is she the one hit by the train?

      • abby says:

        Yes, Sarah Jones from Midnight Rider was hit by the train.

        Anyone not familiar with that tragedy can read here -https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/midnight-rider-accident-sarah-jones-death-gregg-allman-685976

  15. Jess says:

    I hope she gets millions, there’s no excuse for this. She expected to be safe on set and trusted her employers, they failed her and they should pay. And that poster, my god.

  16. PPP says:

    Also remember Tarantino strangling Diane Kruger. Even hardcore BDSM peeps won’t do breath play because it’s so dangerous. Depriving the brain of oxygen to the point that your face changes color does damage that might not manifest until MUCH later. If Kruger dies of an aneurysm in the future, we know it is attributable to that incident.

  17. Cee says:

    Why, WHY, did her director think it was OK to ask her to do that? Where were the stunt coordinators? She could have gotten seriously hurt beyond a scar and reconstructive surgery.

    This story is making me nauceous as it is similar to an accident I had when I was 15, in my own room. I fell on top of my desk, in my room (I was doing homework). I was trying to take down posters and I slipped from the ladder, and fell on top of the desk’s glass surface. This desk was expensive because it had industrial glass (it’s meant to shatter into little pieces) – well, my parents were esentially scammed and instead of shatteting into a million pieces of harmless material, it broke into massive spikes. I cut open one of my legs, and had superficial cuts across my chest and feet. My head landed 1 cm (this was measured) away from a spike that would have killed me. I had reconstructive surgery on both of my legs and was in rehad for a while because I could hardly walk. It took me 10 years to be able to walk on see-through surfaces sometimes found at shopping malls and hotels. It took me 6 months to be able to put my legs under a table.

    • Aren says:

      Sorry to hear about what happened to you. Accidents can become really traumatic, even after injuries heal.

  18. lucy2 says:

    Oh that’s terrible. I can’t even imagine dealing with that, and at only 20. I hope she is well compensated in this case.
    I get that accidents can happen, but that seems completely preventable. These people who half-ass the safety on these sets really need to go.

  19. Littlestar says:

    Ugh cringed thinking about the moment of impact for that type of injury. Hope she gets compensated.

  20. khaveman says:

    That poster. Just wow. She has a very strong case IMO. I thought by law that safety glass was required. This was workplace safety gone wrong all the way. Poor woman. I hope she gets just compensation for current and future work loss.

  21. Dahlia6 says:

    I fell through a glass window when I was 4. I’m almost 40 and I still have scars from it. Poor kid.

  22. Aren says:

    Oh for the love of god, what a gang of psychopaths they are to do and authorize that poster.

  23. kwallio says:

    Given where her scar is a piece of glass could have easily pierced an artery in her neck and could have killed her. Between this and the Uma Thurman story I’m in disbelief at how reckless directors are regarding their actors. Basic safety like using safety glass? A car with a seat that is actually attached to the car? WTF.

  24. Jay says:

    Poor baby! 🙁 I hope she gets a generous settlement or a huge jury verdict.