Sad news from the city of Gotham. Both Warner Bros. and the Screen Actors Guild have confirmed that an unidentified male extra died of natural causes while working as a background actor last month on the New York City set of "The Dark Knight Rises."
The New York Post reports that the actor had been rehearsing his role for an elaborate sequence involving many extras on the set in the Financial District. According to the Post's source, he wandered off by himself during a break in rehearsals and collapsed from a heart attack. He was found unconscious some time later.
The man was taken to the hospital shortly after the discovery.
A rep from Warner Bros. confirmed the story with Page Six, saying: "The studio can confirm that a male extra passed away while on a break during an off-set crowd rehearsal for a sequence with several hundred extras . . . in early November. Production fully cooperated with the authorities’ investigation, which established that he died of natural causes."
The Post also states that none of the principal cast members were present at the time of the incident.
Production for "The Dark Knight Rises" arrived in New York for a roughly two week shoot in November. The scene filmed near Wall Street included a large scale brawl involving Christian Bale as Batman and Tom Hardy as Bane facing off with armies backing each combatant.
It is unclear which scene the extra had been rehearsing for at the time of his death.
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