Olivia Wilde reveals extraordinary way Walton Goggins 'saved her life'

Olivia Wilde has revealed how Walton Goggins once saved her life while the pair were filming a movie together over a decade ago.

Think you couldn’t love the Goul any more than you already do? Think again.

Way back when in 2011, the duo starred alongside each other in Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens flick, which was about... cowboys and aliens.

Anyway, it’s safe to say there was a lot of horse riding involved, but unlike her co-star, Wilde says she wasn’t as adept at the task of riding like a wild Western outlaw.

Sadly, this would lead to a near-death experience. One she says was only stopped by Goggins and his quick thinking on set.

If he hadn’t intervened, Wilde says she would have been ‘applesauce’ on the ground.

The actress and director appeared on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, where she was promoting her new film, The Invite.

There, she explained how her life changed in just one moment.

“Walt Goggins saved my life on that movie,” Wilde told Shepard and Monica Padman.

“I had a very bad horse accident and he saved me,” Wilde explained. “Basically, we were galloping across — I’ve ridden horses my whole life — I have a lot of confidence with riding English style; this was Western, different.”

“And it was me and Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford galloping like full sprint across the desert. With like 40 horses behind us,” she said. “And it was like we were like leading the charge to fight the aliens or whatever — whatever we were doing in that movie.

“We got to a part where I could see ahead of us that there was a large ditch, like a six-foot ditch. And I was like, this horse is going to jump that ditch. And I’m on this western saddle, no helmet, because I'm playing like an old-timey lady.

“So sure enough, this horse jumps and bucks me off in the craziest way,” she explained, noting that she landed in a ‘lip’ where the other horses charging behind her wouldn’t have been able to detect her body – meaning they’d run right over her without sensing anything was wrong.

“And there was also a lot of dust,” she continued.

“And I remember having my ear to the ground and I could hear it. And it sounded like thunder, like they were coming towards me.

“And I had the thought — it sounds so dramatic — but I thought it’ll be quick. It’ll be like pulverized applesauce. Out. And I was waiting for it to happen.

“Then Walt 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 bash into him. And he’s a great rider, so he was able to handle that."

“And people split the two sides around us, thinking he had just like gone insane. But he was protecting my body on the ground. And so I owe him my life,” Wilde told the hosts.