When Sydney Sweeney first revealed she was bitten by “a real spider” on the set of Anyone But You in Australia, her anecdote raised a few eyebrows.
Not because she was bitten by a spider. But because said spider was a huntsman, and the 26-year-old actress exclaimed “anything can kill you” while telling the story.
“It was a huntsman, for God’s sake, it doesn’t mean a thing,” her Aussie co-star Bryan Brown tells 9honey Celebrity on the red carpet at the Australian premiere of Anyone But You.
“We get bitten by huntsmen every day,” he joked.
Director Will Gluck says he hadn’t realised Sweeney had actually been bitten at first. But when the actress turned around and faced the camera, Gluck said those on set realised what had happened – and “everyone kind of just got really scared”.
“Once the handler took the spider safely away, then were worried about her. But she was fine.”
READ MORE: We review the $500 hairstyler that TikTok loves
It was something the cast and crew couldn’t quite believe had happened – they’d actually made it through 15 takes with no dramas. Sweeney herself was quite shocked.
“It definitely was a panic reaction,” she tells 9honey Celebrity in Sydney of the now-viral set footage. “I calmed myself down, but it hurt. Your wrist is such a sensitive part of your body,” she laughs.
READ MORE: Princess Mary’s son carries out special royal tradition
“It seemed way more terrifying than it actually was.”
Sweeney first revealed the on-set accident last week on Live with Kelly and Mark.
“That was a real spider. It bit me. It was a huntsman,” she explained. “It hurt so bad, I had horrible, horrible marks on my hand … I had to take meds and everything, because anything can kill you in Australia.”
READ MORE: The five words whispered to Charles the public never noticed
Huntsman are not considered dangerous as they’re not aggressive and their venom isn’t powerful enough to be life-threatening for humans. A bite from a huntsman will typically cause swelling, itchiness and inflammation and can cause nausea or headaches in some cases.
“The spider actually bit me in the middle of the scene, but nobody called cut because they thought I was just making a very dramatic, interesting choice in this scene,” Sweeney later told USA Today.
“Glen [Powell] was the only one who finally caught on – they thought I was acting but it actually bit me.”
Powell said at the time: “We just thought it was really dramatic improv.”
Anyone But You is only in Australian cinemas on December 26.