I am a fan of much maligned dramatic actor Jimmy Smits. He was great on LA LAw, The West Wing, the abymissal Cane and even carried it off in Star Wars.
I was really enjoying him on Dexter, until I found out, HE TRIED TO KILL A GUY.
Courtesy Contact Music.com
A TV stuntman is lucky to be alive after actor JIMMY SMITS stabbed him for real during a fight scene for TV show DEXTER.
Smits grabbed a real knife instead of a prop knife during shooting and plunged it into action man Jeff Chase.
Chase was only saved by a piece of plastic placed over his heart - which Smits miraculously hit.
He says, "For the scene, I was bound in Saran Wrap, duct tape over my mouth. I couldn't say a thing as I saw Jimmy grab at the knife. He picked up the real one by pure mistake. It was a mean looking knife.
"I heard fellow actor Michael C. Hall yelling at Jimmy to stop - but it was too late. I felt the thud in my chest. I didn't have on a metal breast plate like a lot of actors do in a scene like that.
"Instead I had a piece of acrylic clear plastic about the size of a Post-it note over my heart. It was a quarter of an inch thick and not attacked. In eight out of 10 takes with the prop knife, Jimmy had missed the plastic. But by a miracle, an act of God, the knife landed at the very edge of the plastic.
"I really thought I'd been stabbed in the heart, but I didn't have a scratch. Jimmy was devastated and couldn't stop apologising. I told him, I felt more sorry for him than me."
