Featured Image Credit: Columbia Pictures.
Topics: Vin Diesel, Film and TV
Emily Brown
A stunt double for Vin Diesel tragically lost his life on set after one action-packed scene for a 2002 movie went horribly wrong.
Having worked on numerous disaster and action projects, including Charlie's Angels, Soldier, and The Perfect Storm, stuntman Harry O'Connor had gained a lot of experience in the business.
O'Connor was born in Michigan in 1957 and went on to earn his first acting credit in the 1998 movie Firestorm, but sadly it was only a few years later that his life was cut short after he landed a role in Diesel's 2002 movie xXx.
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The movie stars Diesel alongside Asia Argento and Samuel L. Jackson, and follows extreme sports athlete Xander Cage (Diesel) as he's recruited by the US government to try and infiltrate a Russian criminal ring.
While Diesel himself is no stranger to action movies, O'Connor worked as a stunt double for the flick as well as being credited as an 'aerial stunt coordinator'.
One scene of O'Connor's took place near a bridge as he had to zip-line down from a paraglider - but the scene did not go as planned.
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According to Entertainment Tonight, O'Connor hit the bridge at 'high speed', sadly resulting in his death at the age of 45.
At the time, Iva Knolova of the Prague police said: "He was being pulled at high speed on a paraglider and hit a pillar of the Palacky bridge. He died on the spot due to heavy injuries."
xXx director Rob Cohen discussed the scene while offering commentary on the movie, which you can check out below:
Diesel later opened up about the incident in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, explaining it prompted him to focus more on preparation and rehearsal for stunt scenes.
He said: “There was a bad experience early on, where we lost one of the stunt guys; a guy named Harry O’Connor, who was a great guy, on xXx.
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“That was a big eye opener for me and that probably more than anything has made me that focused on safety and rehearsal. I probably take it — take the rehearsal of action sequences and choreography — that much more serious because of it.”
As per the website Ain't It Cool, O'Connor was a retired former Navy SEAL who had been passionate about skydiving and flying.
In a tribute section attached to xXx, O'Connor is described by those behind the movie as a 'beloved friend'.