Cowboys & Aliens wasn’t a superhero movie, but it turns out there was a real-life superhero on set.

“Walt Goggins saved my life on that movie,” said Olivia Wilde of the 2011 sci-fi western. “I had a very bad horse accident, and he saved me. It was me and Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford galloping, like, full sprint across the desert with 40 horses behind us. And it was like we were leading the charge to fight the aliens or whatever.” 

Wilde, speaking on Armchair Expert podcast, continued with the story.

“So sure enough, this horse jumps and bucks me off in the craziest way. I fell off. I hit my head and my back, and I was laying [on the ground] but, unfortunately, I was on the other side of this kind of lip of dirt, meaning that all horses behind couldn’t see me. And there was also a lot of dust. I remember having my ear to the ground and I could hear it and it sounded like thunder, like they were coming towards me. And I had the thought — it sounds so dramatic — but I thought, ‘It’ll be quick. It’ll be like, pulverized applesauce. Out.’”

Then, out of nowhere, came Goggins.

“Walt Goggins had seen [me] ahead of him and in a split second thought to turn his horse sideways right in front of me and let everyone kind of bash into him. And he’s a great rider, so he was able to handle that. People split the two sides around us thinking he had just gone insane, but he was protecting my body on the ground. And so I owe him my life. It’s crazy. He’s a real-life hero.”

Watch the podcast below.