The Magnificent Seven: Stuntman fainted from heat during shoot

The cast of The Magnificent Seven learned the hard way that making a western isn’t easy, especially when it’s close to 110 degrees.

During a recent SiriusXM Town Hall interview with the director and cast of The Magnificent Seven, in theaters Friday, Denzel Washington was asked if being together at one location brought the cast together. The veteran actor said it did have them all hanging out in the on-set saloon, but not for bonding purposes. “That’s where the air conditioning was, so we definitely hung out there,” he laughed.

Washington continued to discuss how miserably hot it was during the summer shoot in Louisiana and added that director Antoine Fuqua and the costume department didn’t do him any favors. “I’m a black man, I had a black hat, black shirt, black vest, black pants, black socks, black boots on a black horse, and I wore black underwear,” he joked. “It just drew heat and I just wanted to be still. It was like 100 and whatever everyday.”

The excruciating temperatures had more than just a mental effect on the cast and crew. Ethan Hawke, who said he’d have to change clothes up to four times a day, recalled Vincent D’Onofrio’s stuntman succumbing to the heat.

“Do you remember his stuntman passed out from the heat?” asked Hawke. “They are both just standing there in the heat and the stunt guy goes [gestures that he falls over]. And Vincent goes, ‘Get on up.’”

Watch the video above and listen to the full SiriusXM Town Hall on EW Radio (ch. 105) all weekend.