NEED TO KNOW
Jennifer Garner is revealing she once pulled off a feat more commonly associated with boxer Mike Tyson.
Garner, 53, told reporters at a Tuesday, Feb. 3 press day for her Apple TV series The Last Thing He Told Me in Santa Monica, Calif. that she once bit a portion of a stunt performer’s ear off while filming a fight sequence for her 2007 movie The Kingdom, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
After Garner and her costar Nicolaj Coster-Waldau presented a scene from The Last Thing He Told Me’s upcoming season, in which Garner performs a fight sequence with actor and stunt performer Sala Baker, the actress noted that she previously worked with Baker on The Kingdom.
“Pete Berg, who was the director, told him to try to kill me. We did not have a lot of choreography, and he told me to do anything I could to survive,” she recalled. “He did, and I did, and I ended up scrambling onto his back. I bit his ear, and we have a picture of him missing a chunk of ear, because we were not kidding.”
Garner also noted that when she and Baker reunited for The Last Thing He Told Me, the series’ crew asked him, ” ‘Can you be careful with her?’ ” “I was like, ‘No, no, no, no, he’s not going to be careful. I’m not going to be careful. Just back out of the way. I have a score to settle here.’ And Sal was with us the entire season,” she said. “So prepare yourselves.”
Alamy Stock Photo
Garner specifically said that she bit Baker’s ear “like Mike Tyson,” when Coster-Waldau asked her further about the incident. Tyson, 59, was famously disqualified from a boxing match against Evander Holyfield in 1997 after he bit off a portion of Holyfield’s ear. “Why are you all looking as if this is a great thing? What is wrong with you people?” Coster-Waldau jested.
“Don’t make me mad. I seem nice. I’ve warned you before,” Garner responded with a smile, per THR.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Garner costarred with Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper and Jason Bateman in The Kingdom, an action-thriller that follows a group of FBI agents who travel to Saudi Arabia to investigate terror attacks on American and Saudi citizens in the country.
The Last Thing He Told Me’s second season begins streaming on Apple TV Feb. 20.
