The comedy movie about a group of lifelong friends competing for a cash prize, which also stars Kevin Dillon, marks the first feature-length directorial debut for the 'Transformers' star.

• Nov 25, 2020

AceShowbiz - Josh Duhamel will forever be grateful to "Buddy Games" star Dan Bakkedahl for helping him complete his directorial debut on time.

Bakkedahl injured his leg in a water slide stunt but ignored doctors' advice to rest up and decided the show must go on, so first-time director Duhamel didn't have to halt the production.

"I flipped over sideways and landed on my leg wrong and it swelled up huge and I had to be rushed to the hospital with an ambulance," Dan tells WENN. "The doctor said, 'You can't go back to work', but I went back and was on crutches. They had to shoot around my leg being elevated through the rest of the half of the film."

"I just loved this group and the script so much that I couldn't imagine not finishing."

And Duhamel can't thank the "Veep" star enough, adding, "Honestly, the fact that Dan was even able to finish that movie saved us because we should've probably been shut down. He was that hurt."

"He came back and we laid him down and iced it, propped him back up for each take, and laid him back down between takes! It was pretty amazing that not only did he continue but he gave an amazing performance despite that."

Castmate Kevin Dillon was also injured while making the movie about a group of lifelong friends competing for a cash prize.

"Something nicked my nose and I said, 'Josh, is my nose OK?' And he's like, 'Hold still, hold still...' They basically had to put a piece of my nose back! There was blood coming down my face. They patched it up and went on to do the shot. It was a very physical movie. We got through it somehow but there were some crazy dangerous moments."