Brad Pitt Suffered A Painfully Ironic Injury While Shooting 2004's Troy

Wolfgang Petersen's 2004 peplum film "Troy" told the age-old tale of the Trojan War but with a realistic sheen. In Homer's worn old rendition of "The Iliad," the gods played a major role in the outcome of the war between Troy and the Achaeans, and they regularly appeared on the battlefield alongside the story's many human warriors. The bulk of "The Iliad," as any 10th grader can tell you, focuses on the wrathful Achilles, the greatest Achaean warrior who refused to fight after his lover, Patroclus, was killed. His participation was key, as the war was drawing to a close, and the Achaeans were close to victory. As we all know, they ultimately infiltrated the walls of Troy using a large wooden horse with soldiers hidden inside. 

Achilles was said to be invulnerable after his mother, Thetis, dipped him in the waters of the River Styx when he was an infant. When Thetis dipped him, however, she had to hold him by the heel, leaving that part of his body untouched by the river. The magic of the waters made his skin impenetrable to weapons, but that one tiny spot on his heel was still vulnerable to harm. Naturally, during "The Iliad," an ambitious archer named Paris shoots him in the heel, killing him instantly. 

In the movie version of "Troy," a lot of the magical conceits aren't present, and Achilles, as played by Brad Pitt, is depicted merely as a capable fighter. The movie was made, it seems, to oil up attractive actors and have them pose in sexy, ancient armor. At this, "Troy" does an exemplary job. 

Back in 2004, Pitt talked with McCall Magazine, and he recalled that "Troy" was difficult to shoot, largely because he — in a bit of irony — injured his Achilles tendon.

"Troy," some might recall, began its production in Morocco, but had to relocate to Mexico when the Iraq War began. The walls of Troy were ultimately filmed in Cabo San Lucas. Sadly, Mexico was hit by Hurricane Marty in 2003, causing even further production delays. The longest delay took several weeks, as Pitt injured his Achilles tendon. Pitt was laid up in bed for the better part of two months. As Pitt stated in McCall:

"In a bout of stupid irony, I tweaked my Achilles' tendon. Which is bizarre."

Petersen recalled the injury in more detail in a 2004 interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. It seems Pitt injured himself during a well-choreographed fight scene with Australian wrestler Nathan Jones, playing a warrior named Boagrius. Pitt, Petersen said, gave a flying leap — the most balletic one might see in Ancient Greece — and proceeded to land on his foot badly. The resulting injury led to, as Petersen recalled, an unusual bit of filmic timing, forcing Pitt and his co-star Eric Bana, who played Hector, to eyeball each other in one month, and then actually fight nearly three months later. The director said: 

"Look at his face when he lands. There's a second you can see something's wrong. Great for the scene, terrible for the movie. Brad was hobbling around for months and we had to come back later to finish the last scene — which, ironically, was another big one-on-one combat scene, the one between Brad and Eric. We shot the first few frames, when they size each other up, in September. But it wasn't 'til December we shot the rest." 

Pitt made a full recovery, and "Troy" made over $497 million worldwide. Everything shook out.