The scene, which was shot in Atlanta, involved the actor having to take a knee to the chest by Chadwick Boseman, who hit him a lot harder than expected.
- December 24, 2018
AceShowbiz - Actor Andy Serkis was convinced he had broken his ribs after taking a knee to the chest from his "Black Panther" co-star Chadwick Boseman during a big fight scene.
The Brit played Marvel villain Ulysses Klaue opposite Boseman as the masked titular superhero in the movie blockbuster, in which their characters clash while in South Korea.
The scene, which was actually shot in Atlanta, Georgia, involved Serkis having to take a knee to the chest, but Boseman almost knocked the wind out of the 54-year-old because he was hit a lot harder than expected.
"(The) very, very first take, he (Boseman) kneed me so hard in the chest, 'cause he couldn't really see with his mask on. I thought like, he broke my ribs on the very first take!" Andy told PeopleTV's "Couch Surfing" series.
Serkis was already jet-lagged having just arrived in Atlanta for the shoot shortly before filming the night battle, and to make matters worse, they had to redo the sequence 30 more times, complete with the flipping and crashing of his car on camera.
By the end of the night, the "War for the Planet of the Apes" star was so battered and bruised, he was sure the movie would cause his early demise.
"(I was convinced) I'm going to die. I thought, 'I am literally going to die here,'" Serkis said.
There's no doubt #BlackPanther had some epic fight scenes! So epic that @chadwickboseman almost snapped @andyserkis’ ribs while filming 😬 Watch more on #CouchSurfing: https://t.co/AU13JgpY7lpic.twitter.com/RYMgniC88i
— PeopleTV (@peopletv) December 24, 2018
The actor won't have to put his body through such strenuous work for his portrayal of Klaue in the planned sequel, because the black market weapons dealer, who also featured in 2015's "Avengers: Age of Ultron", was killed off in "Black Panther" - a plot decision director Ryan Coogler has since started to regret.
"I like Klaue," Coogler told The Toronto Sun back in May. "I was bugged by having to do that. It's tough when you have to kill characters off and I really did love that character. I love Andy, he's a lovely person. But again, it's one of those things where when you've got so many people in a movie, some of them have to go."
"Klaue in this movie, he's just having a good time. Every scene he's in, he's walking in like it's the best day of his life," Coogler added. "He's got a swagger to him that's interesting and for me it was cool to see Andy act like that. It was a real pleasure."
