British movie hunk James Purefoy almost lost his head on the set of new action movie SOLOMON KANE when director MICHAEL BASSETT decided to use real blades for battle scenes.
The Resident Evil star needed stitches to help heal a wound when a little sword play almost became deadly.
Purefoy, who plays a brutally efficient 16th Century killing machine in the film, tells WENN, "There were a lot of injuries on this movie. Somebody hit me across the forehead with a sword and I needed seven stitches; no big deal.
"I gave as good as I got... I stabbed a stuntman in the face the week before. He moved his head into a place where my sword was always going to be. If he hadn't moved his head, he would've been fine."
The Brit admits he's pretty handy with a sword but felt the pressure not to kill anyone: "I had to learn the choreography of the fights. I had a lot of fights with 12 stuntmen coming at me. They only had to remember three moves but I'd have to remember 60, 70 moves. This job fell on my shoulders more than most."