Charlize Theron was injured so badly on the set of 'The Old Guard' that she had 3 surgeries after filming ended

• "The Old Guard" fight coordinator Danny Hernandez told Insider how Charlize Theron injured herself while making the movie.
• She injured her thumb, elbow, and knee. But the thumb was the worst.
• It was her left thumb and Theron revealed after shooting that she tore the ligament off the bone.
• She had to have three surgeries on her left arm.
• Hernandez compares Theron only to Keanu Reeves when it comes to stars he's worked with who are the most dedicated to stunts and fight sequences.

With action movies like "Atomic Blonde" and "Mad Max: Fury Road," actress Charlize Theron has built a reputation for not being scared to do her own stunts, especially fight sequences. Her latest movie, Netflix's "The Old Guard" (available on the service Friday), is no exception.

But she might have taken things a little too far this time.

The movie's fight coordinator, Danny Hernandez, revealed to Insider that the star suffered numerous injuries while making the movie, including one to her left thumb in which she tore the ligament right off the bone.

"She hurt a couple of things during shooting, including her elbow in one of the fight sequences and her knee would give her some trouble, but her thumb was the big one," Hernandez said.

The thumb injury occurred towards the end of filming the action movie in which she plays the leader of a centuries-old immortal squad of killers.

"It definitely was from blocking a punch," Hernandez said. "She accidentally jabbed her hand during one of the movements and jammed her thumb really good with one of the stunt guys," Hernandez said.

"Right away I came up and asked if she was OK and she said, 'I think I jammed my thumb.' I said, 'I think we need to take a break,' and she said, 'It's OK. I can still do it.' And that's what she did," Hernandez said. "She just kept pressing on and did all the scenes. We would ice the thumb and tape it daily."

But, it turns out, Theron struggled with the injury.

"I definitely cried quite a bit," she told Entertainment Weekly in May. "[But] we just have to keep going because what are we going to do? We have three more weeks to shoot. We've got to get through it."

She finally learned the severity of the thumb injury months after shooting.

Theron appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in October 2019 wearing a wrap on her thumb and revealed that she tore the ligament in her thumb.

"I've been walking around with this injury for two months," she told Kimmel. "I didn't know that it was anything. I was like, 'Toughen up. Come on.' And then I was told by a doctor that it was basically just floating around."

Theron told EW that she ended up needing three surgeries on her left arm to repair her thumb and elbow.

Hernandez said he didn't know how bad Theron's injuries were while filming "The Old Guard," but despite her injuries, the 44-year-old actress pulled off most of the spectacular moves herself.

Hernandez is a veteran stuntman who has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, including doing the fights on movies like "Avengers: Endgame" and "Birds of Prey." He said Theron's dedication to stunts and fight sequences can be compared to only one other person he's worked with.

"I have to put her up there with Keanu Reeves," Hernandez said. "Her and Keanu are the highest when it comes to stars who work really, really hard on the stunts. They both go the distance. It's to the point that sometimes you have to send them home. She wouldn't leave sometimes."

"Their work ethic is impeccable, but that's how they got to where they are," Hernandez continued. "To have that commitment and sacrifice is amazing."