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"I got banged up a little, but I accidentally hurt one of the stunt guys," he says.
"In one scene, I had to stab at him with my helmet and clipped his ear.
"For days, I was waiting for him to retaliate. It certainly helped my character's motivation to look terrified."
Hounsou, who starred as the lead slave in Amistad, says it was almost a foregone conclusion that people would get hurt filming Gladiator's fight sequences.
"There were all those weapons and all those people rushing at each other and all the noise from the extras playing the spectators."
Hounsou discovered that "Russell Crowe likes to play tough. He's very passionate about his work, so that meant he went out swinging his sword with everything he could give it."
Hounsou scoffs at the suggestion the movie tigers were vicious maneaters.
"There were a couple of them that were really lazy, but then, so were many of our extras."