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Jake Gyllenhaal contracted staph infection while filming Road House fight scenes

Jake Gyllenhaal cut his hand on a piece of glass while shooting the fight scene.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s “whole arm swelled up” after he contracted a staph infection on the set of Road House.

The Donnie Darko actor revealed on the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast that he cut his hand on a piece of glass while fighting his co-star, Irish boxer Conor McGregor, in a bar.

Setting the scene, Jake explained that he jumped over the bar, pretended to be disorientated as he got back up, put his hand on the bar and onto “f**king straight glass”.

However, he didn’t say anything immediately because he didn’t want to ruin the take.

“The take, I know, was good because we were cutting right before and they didn’t cut. So I was like, ‘We’re not doing it again,'” he shared. “I felt the glass going in my hand… I remember the feeling (and) went, ‘That’s a lot of glass.’ And I just finished the f**king take.”

Jake went on to note that he could have contracted the infection from the glass incident or from other injuries he sustained during the fight scenes.

“I thought it came from, remember that scene where you come with a piece of wood?” Jake asked Conor. “I was on the ground… I grabbed your arm and I thought, ‘Oh, maybe I’m injured.’ But my whole arm swelled up. It ended up being staph.”

Staph infections are caused by bacteria coming into contact with open wounds. Symptoms include hot, swollen skin, sores or blisters, or a painful red lump on the skin.

Reflecting on his injuries, the Nightcrawler star said, “There were things like that that happened all the time. Gratefully, I was really, really trying to take care of everything that we did and my body while we were doing it. I didn’t sustain any major injuries, which is a testament to the team I was working with.”

Road House, a reimagining of the 1989 film, will premiere on Prime Video on Friday.

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