‘Rebel Ridge’ Star Aaron Pierre Cut His Hand Filming That One-Handed Gun Unload: “You Need To Be Very Precise”

Netflix audiences are about to meet the next big action star: Aaron Pierre. Pierre is giving major John Wick vibes in his new Netflix thriller, Rebel Ridge, which is coming to the streamer this Friday. That’s especially true in the movie’s first big action scene, when Pierre’s character—an ex-Marine named Terry Richmond—deftly disarms a dirty cop. But, as the 30-year-old actor told Decider in a recent interview, that moment was not quite as painless to film as it looked on screen.

“The first time, I cut my hand doing it,” Pierre told Decider, when asked about perfecting his gun-unloading skills. “In order to do it efficiently, and in the right way, you need to be very specific and precise.”

“Specific and precise” is exactly how the character of Terry Richards comes across. Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, Rebel Ridge was originally slated to star John Boyega, before the Star Wars actor abruptly left the production mid-shoot. Four months later, Pierre—who starred in Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad and voices Mufusa in the upcoming Lion King prequel—was brought on to replace Boyega. If early social media reactions from critics are to be believed, Rebel Ridge might just be Pierre’s big breakout role.

As Terry Richmond, Pierre takes on corrupt, small-town cops, after they unjustly seize Terry’s cash, intended to bail out his cousin from jail. In the action scene in question, Terry oozes cool. He bests two armed cops in less than a minute, without getting so much as a scratch on him. “Let’s not do that,” Terry calmly tells the sheriff (played by Don Johnson), when he reaches for his gun.

Terry smoothly catches the sheriff’s gun before he can raise it, and yanks the weapon out of his hands. He quickly unloads it, and tackles a second armed cop to the ground. With Terry distracted, the sheriff grabs a second, smaller pistol from his boot. But Terry is too fast. Using one arm to restrain the sheriff, Terry proceeds to unload the sheriff’s second pistol—this time using only one hand.

“The first time, I didn’t quite do it the way I needed to,” Pierre explained to Decider. “The repercussion was that I cut my hand. I can’t remember what cut me, but it was a little cut, a graze. That was enough for me to go, ‘OK. Let’s zone in now. All the training that I’ve done? This is the moment to actually make it all happen, and bring it to life.’ So I did it the next time, and I got it, and I was thrilled.”

The actor added with a laugh, “Then for the rest of the scene, I thought I was actually Terry Richmond!”

Pierre did his own fight sequences in the film, after having a stunt performer test out the choreography, first. In an interview for the Rebel Ridge press notes, director Jeremy Saulnier noted, “Aaron fully embraced it, and dedicated himself to not only be up to the task, but to fully inhabit his character.”

For his part, Pierre was quick to acknowledge the stunt team and weapons experts who worked on the film. “I’m just so thankful to the stunt team and the weapons team, and everyone involved, for imparting their knowledge and wisdom,” Pierre told Decider. “I had tremendous teachers in every department.”