Caught a bit of an interview on TV last night with actor Josh Hartnett, who apparently has a part in the upcoming "Black Hawk Down" which opens later this month IIRC. I wasn't concentrating fully while watching, but I believe the following to be accurate.
The interviewer asked if there were any times he felt in danger while filming on location in Morocco. Harnett replied that, yes, there was one instance. While sitting in the dirt between takes, he and another guy were relaxing. The other guy, who was carrying an unnamed weapon (I assume it was a rifle), sat across from him.
When the other guy sat down, the guy's weapon discharged, which surprised everyone in the area. Hartnett said the round landed in the dirt between his legs below his groin and he was glad it didn't hit a couple inches higher.
Excuse me, but I thought movie weapons were loaded with blanks. Granted, any AD, even with blanks, should be a wake-up call, but Hartnett made it sound like he was inches away from death--or at least loss of his precious male member.
If he did indeed escape a brush with death due to an AD with live ammo, that's one thing. What galls me is he made it sound almost like he took the same chances as the real soldiers he and his fellow actors portrayed. Forgive my rant. [pissed] (Again, if I didn't get the gist of the interview correctly, my apologies to Hartnett and his fans.)
Edited to add: Film slated for general release on 18 Jan 02; sorry I didn't remember correctly in my original post.
Second edit: Early release of 28 Dec 01 in L.A. and NYC according to TV commercial.