Game of Thrones stunt performer sues show for £4m over 'career-ending injuries'

A stunt performer who worked on Game of Thrones is suing the show for £4 million after allegedly suffering “career-ending injuries”.

Stuntwoman Casey Michaels appeared in the fan-favourite series a few times but claims the injuries were sustained while performing as an acrobatic zombie in an undead army.

Michaels was 28 at the time and says a catastrophic leg injury occurred when she was tasked with jumping off a rooftop as part of a scene where the undead group was on the attack.

The scene took place in the season eight episode “The Long Night”. It was filmed on 5 February 2018 in Northern Ireland, The Daily Mail reports.

Now 32, Michaels says the injury has ended her career as a stuntwoman as her claim is mostly made up of lost future earnings. She now hopes to become a stunt coordinator and director.

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She is suing the show maker Fire and Blood Productions Ltd and blames her injuries on the claim that the “landing area” they provided was unsafe.

Michaels and 28 other stunt performers were dressed as Wights and asked to walk directly off a 12-foot high roof “as if unaware of the drop, in keeping with the zombie-like nature of the Wights”.

Season eight episode The Long Night aired in 2019HBO

According to details provided in the lawsuit, performers fell onto a box rig made of cardboard boxes and mats.

Fire and Blood Productions Ltd say the landing area was “durable and was not compressed when a stunt performer stepped off onto the mattress and rolled away”.

Lawyers for the production company have denied blame and are taking it to the High Court.

At a pre-trial hearing, High Court judge Master Richard Davison was told Michael is claiming that the landing area was unsafe.

Michaels’ lawyer, Stephen Friday, said there is video footage of the stuntwoman “walking down the roof and jumping or stepping off” but it didn't “clearly show the landing area”.

Fire and Blood’s lawyer, Jonathan Bellamy, denied liability and said the company wished to contest the size of the claim.

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