You may not instantly recognise Taylor Hickson’s face, but the 20-year-old was on the cusp of becoming the next ‘big thing’ in Hollywood.
The Canadian actress has made appearances in Deadpool, alongside Ryan Reynolds, and feel-good teen flick Everything, Everything.
But an on-set injury she sustained while filming horror film Ghostland, due for release later this year, has been “debilitating” for her career, and she’s now suing the production company responsible.
According to Deadline, during filming in December 2016, Taylor was encouraged to pound on a door, her face right next to a glass pane.
“In the course of shooting the scene, the director [Pascal Laugier], consistently told [Hickson] to pound harder on the glass with her fists,” Taylor’s lawsuit, filed last week, states.
"At one point during the filming of the scene, and after being asked to increase the strength with which [she] pounded on the glass, [she] asked one of the producers and the director if it was safe to do so. That producer and the director both replied in the affirmative."
But during another take, the glass Taylor was pounding on shattered, causing the actress' "head and upper body to fall through the door and shards of glass".
Taylor was rushed to hospital, where she received 70 stitches to the left side of her face.
An accident on the set of '#GhostLand' has left actress @taylorhickson with a face disfiguring scar https://t.co/kVhX3spUsm pic.twitter.com/2ZCqI1XTvj
— NY Daily News Video (@NYDNVideo) March 8, 2018
"The crafts services lady held my face together with napkins in her hands," Taylor told Deadline in an interview about the lawsuit.
"She went through so many napkins, there was so much blood."
Over the next year, Taylor underwent laser and silicone treatment for her injuries, but has been left with permanent scarring on her face as a result of the incident.
Ironically, the poster for the film features a woman with a broken, slashed and scarred face.
"It is unknown at this time if any further treatment, including plastic surgery, would reduce the visual appearance of the injury," the suit states.
Taylor told Deadline she was "confused, hurt, angry and sad that this was my last day on set and no precautions were taken".
"I never worked so hard on a production in my life, and now it's a bittersweet way to end this piece of art that we worked so hard on," she said.
The film is set to premiere in France next month, but Taylor said it would be too "uncomfortable" and "emotional" for her to attend.
Taylor is suing the production company of the film, with her lawsuit stating she has struggled to find work as an actor since her injury. The suit also states Taylor lost her ability to earn income while she was recovering from the accident, and claims that reasonable steps to prevent the accident from occurring - like the use of safety glass or stunt doubles - were not taken.
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