Rent: Live!'s Brennin Hunt is sharing with ET how he broke his foot during dress rehearsal on the night before the big televised event.
Rent: Live!'s Brennin Hunt is sharing with ET how he broke his foot during dress rehearsal on the night before the big televised event.
Rent aired Sunday night on Fox as planned, however, some of it was from a taping of Saturday's dress rehearsal instead of completely live due to Hunt -- who plays the character Roger -- being injured. Still, a studio audience was present, and they were able to stage some of the production with Hunt in a wheelchair.
"Well, luckily for me, it happened after we finished [musical number] 'What You Own,' and we were running, we have a four-minute commercial break -- Jordan [Fisher] and I -- had to run all the way across ... down two flights of steps," Hunt recalled of how his injury occurred. "So, we were going full sprint, went down one flight, turn the next flight, and when I jumped off to take that left turn to go change, my foot just rolled over and it just snapped."
"I immediately started crying and maybe dropped a few f-bombs," he continued. "I was like, 'Really, it's going to happen the night before? This can't happen.' But everybody ... it was beautiful because everybody in the cast and crew just showered me with love and just gave me positive vibes all night. Essentially, that is the essence of what the musical is so, it was touching."
Hunt also assured fans that the performance viewers were seeing was, in fact, live -- just on a different day.
"Well, honestly, the performance we gave that night was a 100 percent live performance in front of an audience, so I just wanted to reiterate that to the people who watched -- that was a live performance, not edited, it just happened to land on Saturday and not Sunday," he explained. "The producers' decision to have me out and show the cast and just embrace it and give the viewers and the fans of Rent a little piece of live action was ... I thought it was beautiful and touching, personally."
Hunt said he's now healing and that he'll have to undergo an estimated 10 to 12-week recovery process. He also has a new single out called “Can’t Hold a Candle," which will be featured in his upcoming film, Walking with Herb.
"After the adrenaline has been worn off, my foot is hurting, it is insane, it's exciting, but it's also sad to say goodbye to everyone," he shared of how he's currently feeling. "Vanessa [Hudgens] had to get on a flight to shoot her next thing in Atlanta so we didn't get to party at the after-party together, so it's just been a mix of emotions, to say the least."
During the musical production on Sunday, the Rent cast got together to deliver the news of Hunt's injury.
"Brennan has broken his foot and is unable to perform tonight," Fisher explained, adding that some of what fans would see on TV would be taken from a taping of Saturday's dress rehearsal.
A few hours prior to the broadcast, the network also released a statement.
"Last night during a live performance of Fox's production of Rent, one of the actors, Brennin Hunt, was injured," the statement read. "But in the spirit of Rent, everyone -- producers and cast, original and current -- is dedicated to ensuring that tonight's broadcast must, and will, go on."
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