Filmmaker failures led to death of Deadpool 2 stuntwoman: WorksafeBC report
Credit to Author: Nick Eagland| Date: Thu, 03 Oct 2019 00:59:34 +0000
Sequana Joi Cooke Harris had been riding motorcycles for eight years when the career opportunity of a lifetime came along.
Deadpool 2 needed a stunt double for Domino, a character in the sequel played by actor Zazie Beetz, for a motorcycle scene. It required a double to ride a powerful Ducati Hyperstrada 939 through the Vancouver Convention Centre and down a set of stairs outside before coming to a stop.
An exception was made to bring in an American performer, Harris, from Brooklyn, N.Y., for the film, which stars Vancouver’s Ryan Reynolds as the titular Marvel Comics anti-hero.
Harris, 40, died after she lost control of the motorcycle and was thrown into a plate-glass window.
British Columbia’s workplace safety agency has released its incident investigation report into the death of “Deadpool 2” stunt double Joi Harris. Harris was thrown off a motorcycle and propelled through a plate glass window in Vancouver on Aug. 14, 2017.
According to her website, Harris received her racing licence in 2013 and began racing in 2014. She described herself as the first African-American woman to compete in an American Motorcyclist Association-sanctioned event.
The stunt, performed on a much more powerful motorcycle than those she raced on the track, was reportedly her first job in film.
A WorkSafeBC investigation report released Wednesday sheds light on how TCF Vancouver Productions Ltd. — a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox — failed to keep Harris safe. Information identifying crew members was redacted from the report.
According to WorkSafeBC, which has the legal authority in B.C. to set and enforce occupational health and safety standards, Harris arrived in Vancouver on Aug. 10, 2017, and met with a stunt coordinator at Mammoth Studios in Burnaby the next day. They spent the day discussing her motorcycle experience, signing paperwork and touring the studio. Harris was fitted with a padded costume.
The next day, the stunt coordinator assessed Harris’s motorcycle abilities at the studio, looking at her command of skidding, clutching, braking and throttling. She tested three Ducatis, all the same model, to determine which one she preferred.
Harris spent the Sunday before her death rehearsing a stunt inside the convention centre which required her to ride the Ducati up an escalator that had been covered with a wooden ramp. She also practised riding a dirt bike down the stairs outside.
The photo included in the Worksafe B.C. report shows the accident scene where Joi Harris during the filming of a stunt on Deadpool 2.
She arrived on set for hair and makeup just after 5 a.m. on Aug. 14, 2017 and at around 8 a.m. rehearsed the staircase stunt seven times, starting out slowly and not wearing a helmet.
Two stunt performers and a picture-car technician later told WorkSafeBC that they had observed Harris “grabbing” or “stabbing” the front brake on a transition ramp over the stairs, making the Ducati unstable. A second transition ramp was added to allow her more space to brake safely.
At 8:14 a.m. on Aug. 14, 2017, Harris was inside the Vancouver Convention Centre’s front doors preparing to do the staircase stunt.
When the crew called “action!” stunt performers began to walk around outside the convention centre. Harris rode the Ducati through its doors, narrowly missing a stuntman outside and causing him to drop an ice cream cone, as called for in the script.
Harris then turned left and approached the first of the two transition ramps. She had been directed to go down the stairs at between 20 and 25 kilometres an hour.
A police officer makes markings around a motorcycle after a stunt rider crashed and went through a window on the set of Deadpool 2 in Vancouver, BC, August, 14, 2017. The stunt rider succumbed to her injuries.
But when Harris transitioned onto the first ramp, the Ducati’s front wheel became airborne. As the rear wheel landed, Harris pulled on the throttle instead of stopping. She accelerated and lost control.
Harris continued to gain speed as she crossed the second ramp and the Ducati went airborne. She clung to the motorcycle’s handlebars but her body was bounced from the motorcycle, and her feet slipped from its foot pegs.
The Ducati shot into the street, striking a median and throwing Harris. She hit tree branches outside Shaw Tower before crashing through one of the tower’s plate-glass windows and striking her head against the window’s frame.
The motorcycle hit the curb and continued to slide across the sidewalk before hitting the building and stopping.
Vancouver police on set called 911. Paramedics arrived around 8:23 a.m. but Harris died at the scene. Police, coroners and WorkSafeBC launched investigations.
An forensic analysis of video of the stunt determined the Ducati was travelling about 28 kilometres an hour by the time Harris reached the first ramp. The final reading on the motorcycle’s on-board computer system said it had been travelling at 47 kilometres an hour, likely as it smashed into the curb.
WorkSafeBC investigators determined that TCF Vancouver Productions Ltd. failed Harris by not conducting proper risk assessments. It didn’t implement effective safety controls, determine a safe speed for the stunt or the limitations of the motorcycle, and complete checklists for stunt safety inspections and a production activity notification. It failed to provide Harris with a new worker orientation, which would have advised her that she was required to wear safety equipment for her job duties, such as headgear.
The company failed Harris with an inadequate workplace setup and planning, with no barriers in place that would prevent her and the Ducati from leaving the set.
And it failed Harris by not giving her proper safety headgear and not protecting her health and safety with adequate supervision during the stunt.
WorkSafeBC identified five violations of the Workers’ Compensation Act and Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. It is now considering an administrative penalty against the company.
Two makeup artists later told investigators that the wig she wore would have hidden safety headgear from the camera. She was not wearing a lanyard to pull either of two kill switches in case she was ejected from the Ducati.
For the remainder of Deadpool 2’s filming, TCF didn’t use Ducati motorcycles and all riders wore helmets.
The Hollywood Reporter said in April that Harris’ family settled out of court with 20th Century Fox for an undisclosed amount. Disney, 20th Century Fox’s new parent company, did not return a request for comment.
Deadpool 2 was released in May, 2018, and went on to gross US$785 million worldwide.
The movie contains a dedication in its credits: “In memory of Sequana Harris.”