‘It’s Always Sunny’ Star Kaitlin Olson Recalls Getting Injured on Set and Taken to the ER — ‘It Was a Lot of Blood’
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia isn’t your typical comedy. “The Gang,” as they’re called, is full of morally bankrupt characters who conduct awful schemes to get ahead. Twins Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Deandra “Sweet Dee” Reynolds (Kaitlin Olson) along with their friends Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day) and Ronald “Mac” McDonald (Rob McElhenney) run the fictional bar Paddy’s Pub in Philadelphia.
All four friends plus Frank Reynolds (Danny Devito) display shocking selfishness and egotism, stooping lower than most people for financial gain, vengeance, or other petty motivations. Sometimes, their hijinks even lead to real-life injuries, like the time Olson got hurt so badly she had to call 911.
There are no loyalties on ‘It’s Always Sunny’
Though the friends have a common interest in running Paddy’s Pub, deep down none of them are true, loyal friends. Depending on the situation, alliances are formed and betrayed between the castmates. The group seems to have no threshold for depravity and constantly make cutting remarks, perform dangerous pranks, and hurt themselves and each other.
It’s not hard to imagine real injuries in an environment as harsh as It’s Always Sunny. Especially considering how much physical comedy everyone engages in.
Kaitlin Olson cut her leg so badly she had to visit the ER
It happened during filming in 2013. She and real-life husband McElhenney were filming in an abandoned warehouse when Olson slipped on a steel grate and cut her leg badly.
“I ripped my leg completely wide open on a steel grate that we were running on. It was a mess. Poor Glenn [Howerton] was like, ‘I’m sorry, I have to walk away. I can’t see this.’ It was a lot of blood,” Olson told Yahoo news.
“But I’ve had two babies, so I was extremely calm. I was like, ‘Alright, well, this is a real problem, but let’s get the ambulance here, and I’ll apply pressure, and we’ll figure this out. Don’t worry, everyone. It’s just a skin thing.’ You could see my bone, though… my shin bone.”
Olson was injured on ‘It’s Always Sunny’ more than once
Olson’s grate incident wasn’t the only painful incident that occurred during filming. During the same interview, the 45-year-old actress discussed another injury she sustained on set while banging her head against a car door.
“That was my head,” Olson said of the season 4 scene.
“They had a stunt double there, and I was like, ‘Yeah, but you’re going to watch [me] all the way out and then [the double] throw her body.’ I think that’s part of the acting. I don’t want someone else to do it for me. So, yeah, I needed to see a chiropractor many times afterwards, but whatever, it worked out.”
It’s all part of the actress’s devotion to her craft and cementing herself as an equal to her male counterparts. When the role was originally written, writers wanted to make Sweet Dee the voice of reason. Olson refused.
“I’m definitely proud of the female character that we’ve created together,” she said. “I think it’s a really strong one.”
Fans love Dee too. The new season of It’s Always Sunny is scheduled to premiere in 2021.
