New York, clear skies.
The entire crew of Spider-Man 2 was hard at work on the streets of Manhattan. Everyone was silent and focused, all eyes directed in one place.
Sean Graham's palms were slightly sweaty as he gripped the safety wire in his hand, repeatedly checking the harness around his waist and the support under his feet. His face was tense.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the wire, standing on the roof of a three-story building, Anson appeared remarkably calm. He smiled at Sean and the other riggers.
"Relax, hey, relax!"
"No need to be scared. Facing mistakes head-on is the only way to move forward. I'm ready, and I trust you all are too."
"Don't worry. If anything goes wrong again, I won't come after you guys. After all, even if I sued you, I wouldn't get much. I'd definitely go after Sony Columbia instead."
With that bit of humor, the tense atmosphere lightened up a bit.
Sitting behind the monitor, director Sam wasn't entirely sure. "Anson, are you sure?"
Anson gave an "OK" hand signal, easing some of the anxiety lingering over the set, though no one dared to completely let their guard down.
After taking a deep breath, Sam regained his composure and raised his hand.
"Action!"
At this moment, Anson, dressed in a nerdy outfit—T-shirt, hoodie, and jeans, wearing black-framed glasses—was back in his Peter Parker persona, no costume, no mask. Clearly, this wasn't Spider-Man.
Because of that, instead of using a stunt double, Anson had to do this scene himself since his face would be in the shot.
Holding onto a clothesline with his right hand, Anson stood at the edge of the three-story building like a trapeze artist preparing to perform a mid-air stunt. The only difference was he had the safety of the wire rig.
As the camera rolled, Anson took a deep breath, grabbed the clothesline with one hand, and jumped off the roof.
"Ahhh..."
Peter continued to fall, crashing into the wall like a comic book character.
"Oof!"
With a sudden thud, Peter let go of the clothesline, bounced off, and dropped straight onto the roof of a dark blue sedan, then bounced again like a ball before rolling onto the ground.
Splat.
He landed face-first, arms and legs sprawled out, right into a puddle. The comedic timing was perfect.
Then, like a spring-loaded toy, Peter popped back up, only to wince as his body creaked and cracked.
Supporting his back with one hand, his face contorted in pain as he groaned, "My back... Oh, my back..."
He spasmed, struggled, twisted, and limped away painfully, stumbling.
The set remained silent, everyone holding their breath as they watched him limp away. Though Peter didn't keep moaning, his defeated, pitiful posture spoke volumes.
"Cut!"
The entire crew erupted into laughter, whistling and clapping as the set became lively. One by one, people joined in, the air buzzing with energy.
Even Sam, who was usually stone-faced, couldn't help but smile and call out, "That's a wrap!"
The atmosphere was now buzzing even more.
They were filming an impromptu scene.
In the movie, Peter, overwhelmed by stress, begins to doubt himself, losing his powers temporarily, sometimes working, sometimes not. He even has several moments where his powers fail him while swinging between buildings, causing him to fall.
This scene was exactly that.
Peter thought his powers had returned, so he jumped off the building, only to realize too late that his powers hadn't come back. Like any normal person, he fell flat on his face.
To film this scene, Anson had to perform the "falling" sequence himself. Although the full fall would be filmed with a stunt double in wide shots, close-ups required Anson to step in.
The whole crew was on edge.
Not long ago, Anson had an accident on set, leading to a series of complications. And now, they were filming another falling scene with him.
Though this was a "controlled" fall, the crew was still tense.
The wire team, in particular, was feeling immense pressure, running drills over and over, trying to relax but failing to smile, rehearsing repeatedly to ensure every detail was right. The tension was palpable.
Seeing this, Anson made a suggestion:
Why not break the fourth wall? After Peter falls, he could add a line, "My back," referencing Anson's real-life injury.
The idea came from the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind set, where Anson and Kirsten Dunst had added an Easter egg in one of their first scenes together.
Now, it was the same.
Anson's on-set injury had made headlines across North America. By making a joke about it in the film, they figured audiences would get a kick out of it when the movie premiered.
The crew was shocked. They couldn't believe Anson had made such a proposal.
But, on the other hand, they had to admit it was a brilliant way to defuse the fear and tension, allowing everyone to relax a bit.
Sam couldn't help but admire Anson's courage and unique charisma.
Judging by the results, it was a resounding success.
The cloud of tension hanging over the set vanished without a trace.
Even Sam, who was usually stoic, couldn't help but whistle, leading the crew in a wave of excitement.
Sam knew that Anson's gesture was, at its core, for the sake of the entire crew, and he didn't want to let Anson's efforts go to waste. So, he kept the momentum going.
There was no doubt, this was a moment to remember.
Sean Graham looked down at his hands, noticing his fingers were trembling.
He had been forcing himself to stay calm, calm, calm—even if he got hurt, he couldn't let Anson get hurt. He had been so focused on his work that it wasn't until the scene was over that he realized his hands were shaking.
"...Still nervous?"
A voice snapped him back to reality. Sean reflexively clenched his fists, standing up straight, trying to hide his emotions, unaware that his stiff posture had already given everything away.
When he looked up, there was Anson.
Sean tried to say something, but his throat was too dry.
Anson smiled. "It's over now. You can relax. If you stay this tense, something's bound to snap."
Sean swallowed hard, studying Anson closely. "You... You're okay?" he asked, unable to hide his concern.
Anson laughed. "I'm fine, really. I've never felt better. The crew's treating this like some huge action scene, layering me with protection on protection. What could go wrong?"
The wall had a layer of foam to cushion the impact.
The car roof had an air cushion.
The ground was covered with mats for additional cushioning.
With all these layers of protection, it was like Anson was falling onto a cloud, not to mention the safety wire for extra security. It was foolproof.