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Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt Gets Arm Gash in Taxi Crash While Shooting Film

By Nicole Bode | August 4, 2010 12:59pm
Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives a thumbs up to the camera after crashing into the back of a yellow cab.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives a thumbs up to the camera after crashing into the back of a yellow cab.
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Joseph Gordon-Levitt

By Nicole Bode

DNAinfo Senior Editor

MANHATTAN — Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt encountered a little more action than he anticipated during a recent film shoot for his upcoming bike messenger flick “Premium Rush,” leaving the baby-faced star with a massive gash on his arm that needed 31 stitches to close up.

In a case of life imitating art, Gordon-Levitt was speeding around the streets of Manhattan in his role as a bike deliveryman when he accidentally crashed his bike into the back of a New York City taxicab Sunday, according to his website.

Gordon-Levitt then smashed through the back window of the cab, arms first, he said on his site.

“My first real wreck today. Busted through the rear window of a cab. Luckily got my elbows up. Coulda been way worse,” Gordon-Levitt wrote on his website.

Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt shows off the bloody gash he sustained during a stunt scene for the film
Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt shows off the bloody gash he sustained during a stunt scene for the film "Premium Rush."
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Joseph Gordon-Levitt

The star, who’s been in “Inception” and “500 Days of Summer,” said the crash was “my fault, I was going too fast,” and added that he asked his director to film the post-crash scene in a video he posted on his blog.

The video shows Gordon-Levitt, blood streaming down his right arm, sitting on the side of the street, his helmet intact.

He laughs off the injury, and takes director David Koepp on a video tour of the scene, where a NYC yellow taxi’s back window glass is almost completely smashed out, with his bike laying in the street behind it. A NYPD police car is shown parked alongside.

While the actor never identifies the mystery intersection where the crash happened, the cross streets appear to be Sixth Avenue near 38th Street.

The crew was set to film additional scenes on the Upper West Side on Columbus between 79th and 81st streets Tuesday and Wednesday, according to MyUpperWest.com.

Gordon-Levitt was taken to the hospital for the wounds, but found time to plug his movie online, urging his fans to check out the film in which he stars as a bike messenger who falls into the clutches of a crooked police officer while picking up a package at Columbia University.

“Anyway, Premium Rush is gonna be awesome. Gratuitous ER footage to follow, stay tuned…,” Gordon-Levitt promised.

Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt got a nasty gash during a run-in with a taxicab while filming his new movie on the streets of Manhattan.
Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt got a nasty gash during a run-in with a taxicab while filming his new movie on the streets of Manhattan.
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Joseph Gordon-Levitt