Jessica Biel accidentally destroyed a camera, costing over $300,000, when she fired an arrow directly into the lens while shooting Blade: Trinity.
In the third installment of Wesley Snipes’ trilogy, Biel joined the cast as a vampire hunter who wielded a bow and arrow. But her role didn’t just require her to look the part, Biel became so skilled with a bow and arrow that her real-life aim ended up costing the production crew a pricey piece of camera equipment.
During a scene in the 2004 film Blade: Trinity, Biel had to shoot an arrow directly at the camera. To protect the crew, the camera was shielded with plexiglass, leaving only a small 2×2-inch square opening for the lens.
However, Biel’s aim was so precise that she landed her shot exactly through that tiny opening — destroying a camera reportedly worth $300,000.
The movie’s director David S. Goyer revealed the moment in a behind-the-scenes look at Blade Trinity.
“Jessica did all of her own archery work in the film. And we needed her to fire an arrow towards the camera,” Goyer says in the clip. “In order to protect the crew and the camera, we had everything walled with plexiglass so that everyone would be safe. And the only thing that wasn’t walled off was a little 2×2 square directly in front of the lens of the camera.”
Goyer also noted how Biel was 40 feet away from the camera, as well as 50 feet up in the air. However, Biel had been practicing her archery skills so much that her capabilities had improved greatly. Her archery skills improved so much that she was able to hit a bullseye and directly strike the camera lens from the distance.
“She hit a complete bullseye and the arrow embedded about six inches into the camera, went through the lens, and ended up destroying about a $300,000 camera,” Goyer says.
In the behind-the-scenes footage, a visibly shocked Biel laughs in disbelief as she watches the camera get obliterated by her shot. Goyer admits that filming Blade: Trinity turned out to be rough on the cameras, and they ruined several pieces of gear.
“We ended up destroying quite a few cameras over the course of the film, which I guess isn’t really a badge of honor,” Goyer says. “But these things happen sometimes. And we got our insurance’s worth of the cameras for the film.”
Biel’s crossbow coach Chuck Land was just as amazed by her pinpoint accuracy. Land claims her archery skills reached an elite level while filming Blade: Trinity, and that most professional bow hunters would not be able to destroy a camera like that.
“By the end of the film, she could have been a competitive archer,” Land says according to CheatSheet. “There was an opening for the lens, and she hit six inches to the right, and the director was thrilled, but we did it again, and the next arrow went straight through the lens. Most real bow hunters couldn’t do that. She’s the best bowman ever on the big screen.”
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