Eleanor Lee often shares about her glamorous and exciting life in show business on social media.
But the Singaporean actress recently recalled an on-set accident she experienced in 2018, when she fell off a moving truck and hit her head.
The 26-year-old, who is based in China, shared on Chinese social platform Xiaohongshu on July 7 behind-the-scenes footage from the Chinese drama Overseas Security Officer. The series, reportedly filmed from May 2017 to January 2018 in Morocco and China, has not been aired.
The footage showed Lee and her co-star, Chinese actor Yang Le, walking to the back of a truck and trying to climb on. However, before she could fully board the vehicle, it started to drive off, causing her to lose her footing and fall off. Yang, 39, who was holding onto Lee, was also thrown off.
In the video’s caption, she recalled Yang fell “trying to protect” her.
She said: “I landed on my head and back, while Teacher Yang landed on his arm. At that moment, everything went black and I could not breathe.”
Filming was immediately halted, with crew members and actors rushing forward to help. Five people lifted Lee and placed her on a platform so she could lie on her back, while others brought a box for Yang to rest on.
Lee appeared to hyperventilate, while Yang sat crouched over.
In the caption, she wrote: “What touched me was that the extras around me immediately picked me up, held my hand and helped me breathe. I was also afraid of delaying the filming schedule and hurting other actors.”
She continued: “After I recovered, I immediately stood up and refused to go to the hospital, insisting on finishing the scene first. Thank you to the crew for giving me a day to rest. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured.”
She reflected: “Accidents always happen, but I think many of my accidents will go unrecorded. The entertainment industry always shows us its most glamorous side, but I believe every actor’s hard work deserves to be recorded.”
Overseas Security Officer stars Hong Kong singer-actor Leon Lai, who was not involved in the scene, as a former police officer who founded an agency providing security services to overseas Chinese and Chinese businesses against the backdrop of the Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure and economic development strategy that involves projects such as ports and railways in more than 150 countries.
Lee had previously revealed other challenges she faced on set.
In 2023, she shared behind-the-scenes clips taken during the filming of the Chinese fantasy movie The Enchanting Phantom (2020) on Instagram.
In one sequence, she and Chinese actor Chen Xingxu were supposed to “fly” through the air while hooked onto a system of wires and pulleys. However, during the shot, a mechanical failure led to Lee being jerked backwards while mid-air. Both of them were lowered to the ground for staff to assess their condition, before filming resumed. – The Straits Times/ANN
