‘Bird Box’s Lil Rel Howery Did One of His Own Stunts by Accident

Fans of Netflix’s Bird Box have been out there doing the “Bird Box Challenge,” but they aren’t the only people taking risks because of the movie. It turns out, some of the film’s stars had their own brushes with adventure during filming.

Lil Rey Howery, best known for playing Rod in Get Out, played Charlie in Bird Box and revealed to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that he accidentally performed his own stunts.

“I heard you did your own stunts in Bird Box,” Fallon asked.

“Yeah, I did a stunt,” he clarified. “But you know what’s funny? I wasn’t supposed to. It was— it was crazy. There was a dude dressed just like me.”

“I don’t know why I didn’t put two and two together,” he explained. “I don’t know why he’s here. He’s not taking my job. Maybe that’s what I felt like. He trying to take my job. And I end up doing the, you know, my big scene where, you know, I’m out of there. I fully ran and tackled that dude myself. I hurt my elbow and everything. I wasn’t supposed to do that.”

When it came time to go in for the big moment, no one behind the camera stopped him!

“And nobody said nothing. That’s the weird thing. They didn’t say ‘stop’ or ‘Rel, maybe you shouldn’t do this.’”

“I thought I was Tom Cruise for like ten minutes,” he joked. Cruise, of course, is well known for doing his own stunts during the Mission: Impossible films.

“There’s something cool about doing your own stunts,” Howery added.

Now that the actor has made his mark in the horror genre, he has a request for his future directors.

“I hope my new character knows karate or something,” he joked.

“You wanna be the dude to kick open the door,” Fallon said.

“I want a sword,” Howery clarified.

Whether or not he gets to kick some butt in the next movie, Howery at least has the success of this one to celebrate. Recently, Netflix announced that the film had been viewed by more than 80 million households. Howery’s interview also included an important message, which will hopefully reach all fans of the film.

“Stop with these Bird Box challenges,” he pleaded. “Don’t drive with a blindfold, don’t walk with a blindfold. Don’t wake your kids up and put a blindfold on them. Alright? It’s just a movie!”

In addition to his sitcom, Rel, Howery is currently in production for Free Guy, the upcoming action/adventure/comedy/sci-fi film set to star Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool 2), Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), and Joe Keery (Stranger Things).

Bird Box is currently streaming on Netflix.