Santa Clarita Diet is an original Netflix series in the American horror-comedy genre. Created by Victor Fresco, the show features Drew Barrymore as Sheila Hammond, a California real estate agent who becomes a zombie, relying on human meat to live. Her husband, Joel Hammond, is played by Timothy Olyphant; he does everything in his power to make their marriage work in light of this minor hiccup. The first season of the show has received relatively positive reviews despite some criticism for the number of vividly violent scenes.
Don't try this at home
The near fatal accident-in-question occurred during a scene in which Sheila Hammond jumps on the back of a man to kill him and munch on his flesh. During rehearsal, Barrymore attempted this feat and smacked her not-so-dead-head directly on the concrete. Victor Fresco told Us Weekly that the actress didn't get a very good grip when jumping on him because of the width of the actor. Fresco went on to describe that when she started slipping, the actor tried to save her, but in holding on to her legs, she rotated awkwardly on her head instead. Fresco remembered thinking, 'That's it. We've killed Drew Barrymore.'"
A scary reminder of human mortality
Paramedics arrived on set quickly after the accident and brought Barrymore to a nearby hospital.
There she spent two days receiving MRI's and CAT scans; the results revealed a concussion. Barrymore recalls feeling the freakiness of it, saying she had never experienced anything like that in her life. A week afterward, Barrymore returned to the set where she had to film the same scene again. A view reports mention Fresco didn't think about letting it go.
The atmosphere was tense, as described by Barrymore. Fortunately enough, her cast-mates worked collaboratively to ensure she made it through in one piece (unlike her fictional victim). Although the experience was an intense reminder of human mortality in a show that mocks it, Barrymore could only express admiration for the tremendous support given by the cast and crew. She calls them a family and looks forward to many days of filming a "head."
