Amy Adams once used lessons from a short-lived TV role in a real emergency.
The six-time Oscar nominee recalled on SmartLess that she and her father, Richard Adams, helped a man who had been stabbed in the neck outside a Santa Monica restaurant.
Adams said she was with her husband, Darren Le Gallo, their daughter Aviana and her father when they saw people screaming nearby.
People reported that Adams said her basic first-aid knowledge came partly from filming the 2004 medical drama Dr. Vegas. She appeared in the CBS series before becoming one of Hollywood’s most recognized film actors.
The story came up after Sean Hayes described helping someone who had been shot, leading Will Arnett to ask Adams about the time she helped save a man’s life.
Adams Said She and Her Father Ran to Help
Adams said she had just left one of her favorite restaurants in Santa Monica when she saw people yelling that a man was dying. When Le Gallo noticed blood, Adams told him to stay with their daughter while she and her father rushed toward the injured man.
The man had been stabbed in the neck, and his friends were panicking. Because Adams and her family had been heading to the beach, they had towels with them. She said she and her father used those towels to apply pressure to the wound.
Entertainment Weekly reported that Richard Adams, a former Army serviceman, helped take control of the situation while his daughter focused on keeping the man calm.
She Remembered Staying Focused in the Emergency
Adams said she tends to become very focused during a crisis. In that moment, she remembered trying to slow the man down and keep him from moving too much while pressure was being applied to the wound.
“I was like, ‘You’ve got to slow your breath down,’” Adams said on SmartLess, according to People. She also remembered warning him that if he kept struggling, the bleeding could get worse.
The actress connected that response to Dr. Vegas, saying she had learned enough from the medical drama to know that neck wounds require pressure and calm.
The Man Survived and Later Found Her
Adams said she learned the man survived when she unexpectedly crossed paths with him about a year later. A man approached her in a restaurant and said he had heard a story about her and her father helping someone who had been stabbed.
When he gestured to his neck, Adams realized he was the same man. She said he became emotional during the reunion and had his son with him, which made the moment even more overwhelming.
Page Six reported that Adams still did not know every detail of what had led to the stabbing, but the reunion confirmed that the man had survived the attack.
Adams shared the story during a broader SmartLess conversation with Hayes, Arnett and Jason Bateman. The hosts had been talking about emergency situations when Arnett brought up Adams’ experience in Santa Monica.