When Dustin Hoffman was filming Marathon Man, one of his scenes required him to be out of breath so right before the first take, he ran around the building a few times and was legitimately winded. That’s when legendary actor Laurence Olivier came up to him and said, “You could also try acting, since that’s what you’re paid to do.”
I thought of that story when Halle Berry revealed her injuries from the set of Bruised, a mixed martial arts (MMA) flick that also stars UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. Not surprisingly, taking a real kick from “Bullet” can lead to some real damage.
“I broke some stuff on this one,” Berry told Jimmy Fallon (via MMA Fighting). “It’s okay, I always get hurt but I realized that when you go hard, you’re bound to get hurt. When you do your own stunts, you’re bound to get hurt. In this movie, I was fighting the real UFC flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko, and you know what? She had to throw some real kicks and I had to really take them and that really broke some bones. She’s a beast but I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher, a better scene mate, a better fight partner.”
Shevchenko (19-3) is undefeated since dropping to flyweight with three finishes and was last seen planishing Katlyn Chookagian at the UFC 247 pay-per-view (PPV) event last February in Houston, Texas, a fight that Berry attended in person.
“Bullet” was expected to make her next 125-pound title defense against Joanne Calderwood in June; however, that contest appears to be on hold for the time being. As for Berry, no word yet on a release date for Bruised.