Timothy Olyphant Got Caught In A Shootout Filming Justified Revival
Acting is often physically demanding, and sometimes dangerous.
As a general rule, danger comes from doing your stunts personally, instead of employing a double. However, exceptions sometimes occur. For example, the crew and the cast of the "modern western" crime drama TV series Justified once got caught in the middle of a real-life shoot-out, matching anything that is likely to occur on the screen in their work, during filming of the revival series, Justified: City Primeval.
Timothy Olyphant, who played the main character, Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, and also served as one of executive producers of the series, described the incident in a Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend podcast episode.
Well, to be fair, they should have known better than filming in Chicago, in a bad neighborhood, at night.
A locale which looks like a hotbed of criminal activity actually being a hotbed of criminal activity should not be a surprise. But nobody expected the set to suddenly turn into a battleground, as people in two cars, chasing each other, broke through barricades, spraying fire from submachine guns in a rolling firefight.
Yes, Timothy Oliphant tells about the events humorously, and Conan O'Brien does his best to play the second half of their comedy duo. But it is clear that the cast and the crew were in real danger.
They had to dive behind cars to avoid getting hit by bullets. Timothy Olyphant (in Raylan Givens garb at the moment) did whatever he could to emulate his character, pushing a PA to safety, while another PA nearly got killed. Someone got a bullet hole in their shirt. Thankfully, nobody got hurt, but filming had to stop for several days, because everyone understandably was in shock.
There is some irony in criminal drama intruding on the set of a criminal drama TV series. However, while on the screen criminals typically get caught after starting a firefight in the middle of the streets, there was no information about the culprits being arrested or even identified in fresh reports on this incident.
In any case, despite that big scare, filming of Justified: City Primeval resumed eventually, and the series is expected to air on FX in mid-2023.