Swank Sidelined by On-Set Injury

Hilary Swank suffering an eye injury and temporarily halting production on her drama P.S., I Love You after getting whacked with an errant suspender Friday

By Gina Serpe Nov 06, 2006 3:02 PMTags

Hilary Swank's costars have her in stitches on the set of her new film. Unfortunately, she's not making a comedy.

The two-time Oscar winner was injured Friday on the set of P.S., I Love You, suffering a gash above her eye and temporarily halting production, E! Online senior editor Marc Malkin reports.

The Black Dahlia thesp was sidelined while filming a scene in which her costar, Phantom of the Opera's Gerard Butler, was performing a striptease. While making his way to a state of undress, he got caught up in a wardrobe malfunction with an errant suspender snapping off and whacking Swank right above the eye.

"It was close," an on-set source told Malkin. "If she was hit just a bit lower, it would have been a major eye injury."

As it is, production on the New York City film set was closed down over the weekend and Swank will likely be out of commission through the end of Monday.

P.S., I Love You is the big-screen adaptation of Cecilia Ahern's same-named bestselling novel and stars Swank as a recently widowed woman whose late husband has left her a list of 10 messages, all of which are meant to ease her back into enjoying life again.

The flick reunites Swank with director Richard LaGravenese, with whom she worked  earlier this year on Freedom Writers, as a teacher who inspires her at-risk students to pursue their dreams.

The injury-inducing drama is Swank's third film of the year—she also completed work on the thriller The Reaping—and her second since announcing her divorce from husband of eight-plus years, Chad Lowe, in May.

The temporarily sidelined actress won't be on the bench for long. The 32-year-old recently signed on to star in Labyrinth, a thriller centering on an institutionalized woman who may be the key to identifying a serial killer.

P.S., I Love You is slated for release in 2008.