Robin Williams explained how he broke Robert De Niro’s nose on the set of “Awakenings” during an interview with Australian TV presenter Ray Martin. As Williams recalled, De Niro’s character was having a seizure and Robins, playing the doctor, stepped in to restrain him. “And my elbow went ‘BAM!’ and it made a noise like a chicken bone breaking,” Williams said.

I grew up watching professional wrestling (WWE to be specific), and the one thing that ground my gears was hearing teachers, grown-ups and other detractors constantly point out that pro wrestling was fake. Even today, I despise the f-word; I prefer the terms scripted and choreographed — much like action movies and TV shows. Actors, just like pro wrestlers, put their bodies on the line to entertain us. And unfortunately, mistakes on set happen, which sometimes lead to injuries, or even worse. We received a grim reminder of that in 2021 with the fatal “Rust” shooting incident involving Alec Baldwin.

Thankfully, most of the mishaps that occur on set don’t result in tragedy, but they do sometimes lead to serious injuries that require hospitalization. Around the time of the “Rust” tragedy, production on the “Black Panther 2” went on hiatus after Letitia Wright suffered injuries while filming an action scene for the movie. Williams inadvertently clocking De Niro in the muzzle shows how actors risk injuries in even the most innocuous, minimum contact scenes.