Kate Beckinsale has launched legal action against the producers of her 2024 action film Canary Black, claiming she was left with “severe and debilitating injuries” after being forced to work under dangerous conditions.
The 51-year-old British actor is suing production company Anton Entertainment and producer John Zois in Los Angeles Superior Court, accusing them of negligence, battery, and the intentional infliction of emotional distress.
According to legal documents obtained by The Independent, Beckinsale alleges that the set was plagued by safety concerns, including grueling 15-hour shoot days, a lack of appropriate medical support, and last-minute stunt demands.
The lawsuit claims that Beckinsale and her representatives repeatedly raised red flags about the conditions, warning of the risk of injury. Despite this, she says the production failed to address the concerns — and on 15 December 2022, she sustained a serious knee injury described as a “complex meniscus tear” during a stunt.
The injury, she alleges, was later made worse when producers allegedly pressured her to return to physically demanding scenes against doctors’ advice.
During filming, which extended into 2024, Beckinsale sparked concern among fans after sharing photos on social media showing painful-looking bruises, grazed knees, and damaged fingers — injuries she attributed to performing her own stunts for the movie. She was also spotted wearing a rib brace in one photo, while others revealed extensive bruising across her torso and limbs. Beckinsale shared footage of herself performing challenging stunts, including a backwards wall climb using a harness.
In messages cited in the complaint, Beckinsale expressed frustration over the lack of communication and planning around stunt work, claiming she was sometimes only told what she was expected to perform moments before filming. “Not really knowing what is coming up and performing it for the first time off guard, on camera and under a time crunch are just loading the dice for unnecessary injury,” she wrote in one note to Zois.
The Underworld star claimed that being misled about whether sequences would involve practical stunts or green screen effects created unnecessary risk, calling the situation out of step with her past experiences on other film sets.
Her agent, Shani Rosenzweig, also raised concerns in messages to the producer, claiming that Beckinsale was often the only person unaware she was about to face 15-hour shoot days. “If you’re trying to kill a person, you’re doing a great job,” she wrote.
Zois appeared to acknowledge the issue in a reply, stating: “I don’t know what else to say other than you’re right… The days are too packed for the pace we are moving and it’s CLEARLY not sustainable.”
The Standard has contacted Anton Entertainment for comment.
