Adam McKay Reveals Near-Deadly Will Ferrell Accident on Anchorman Set

The director and producer was speaking about on-set safety with THR, following the "Rust" tragedy, when he recalled two scary incidents involving Anchorman and its followup sequel.

He began by saying, "We're always really careful. I always give an extra speech at the beginning."

McKay then recalled his own brushes with things going terribly awry on set, "We had like a near accident on the set of Anchorman 2. It was involving Will, and it was really scary. It was a scene where Ron Burgundy was going to hang himself. It was a silly joke. For a half a second, the rig didn't operate properly and there was actual tension on the rope, but then it gave way and Will was OK. Thank God no one was hurt."

"We were sick about it for two days," he continued. "We said, 'All right, let's stop. Let's have a meeting.'"

The "Don't Look Up" director then revealed they'd previously had another near-accident while filming the franchise, one which changed how he approached working with large animals in the future.

"We also had something with a bear in the first Anchorman," he reflected, "The bear did a hint of a bluff charge for a second. From that moment on, I said, 'I will never put a live animal in a shot with an actor ever again.' So every time I do it, it’s a composite shot because it’s not worth it."

Incidentally, another bear that worked with Ferrell in 2008's "Semi-Pro" killed a trainer two months after the movie hit theaters.

The grizzly fatally bit 39-year-old Stephan Miller on the neck at Randy Miller's Predators in Action facility, per Fox News.