LL Cool J says he almost drowned to death on the set of Deep Blue Sea

LL Cool J has revealed that he once almost drowned on the set of a film when a crew member 'bailed' on him.

The rapper had appeared in the 1999 sci-fi horror flick Deep Blue Sea, a film about a team of researchers looking for the cure of Alzheimer's disease by genetically modifying sharks.

Of course, it isn't long before the genetically modified sharks hunt down and kill their creators.

LL Cool J played the research facility cook, Sherman 'Preacher' Dudley, alongside Samuel L Jackson as Russell Franklin.

Despite the smaller role, Preacher was definitely a badass, and even got to deliver the first blow to the nightmarish super sharks.

REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

While (spoiler alert) Sherman Preacher Dudley manages to survive the shark attack in the film, LL Cool J almost wasn't as lucky when a day on the film set went horribly wrong.

Speaking to Hot Ones this week, the 'Luv U Better' rapper explained how it all went down.

During the interview, host Sean Evans asked LL Cool J, real name James Todd Smith, if it was true that 'an animatronic shark's grasp on [his] left leg almost caused [him] to drown on the set of Deep Blue Sea."

LL Cool J replied: "A thousand per cent true. Facts. One hundred percent facts."

Everett Collection Inc / Alamy Stock Photo

He explained: "I was on the set - I was probably number 479 on the call sheet - I was in the middle of a take and then [they called] 'Lunch!', and the guy holding the little [shark] joystick goes..." - the rapper mimicked the crew member suddenly letting go of the equipment and dashing for lunch.

"They just bailed on me, and there I was. It was, like, real!"

When the rapper tried to get himself out of a sticky situation, he only made things worse.

"They gave me this little breathing apparatus, like something you blow out and then breathe in.

TCD/Prod.DB / Alamy Stock Photo

"I blew out, breathed in, all water! Took it to another level. I ended up struggling getting out."

Eventually, though, the rapper managed to free himself from the clutches of the mechanical shark's jaw and climb out of the tank.

"When I got out, climbed out, and there was one dude sitting there with a cigarette, like, 'I saw what happened.' So it was cool."

This experience sounds like a lot of things: Terrifying, deadly, genuinely concerning.

What it doesn't sound like, is cool.