Steve Coogan's scary eye accident making 'Night at the Museum 2'

Aug 24, 2009, 5:00 GMT

09/02/2008 - Steve Coogan - He explained: "On that film, I really thought I might go blind. During filming one day, I was running along - I play a toy soldier - scampering past these giant blades of plastic grass. But, being really old, I got out of breath, so I stopped. And as I bent over to catch my breath, one of these blades of grass went right in my eye." © Solarpix / PR Photos

Steve Coogan thought he would "go blind" while making 'Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian'.

The British comic star was involved in an accident while shooting the adventure comedy movie - which sees exhibits at a museum come to life after dark - and feared he would lose his sight permanently.

He explained: "On that film, I really thought I might go blind. During filming one day, I was running along - I play a toy soldier - scampering past these giant blades of plastic grass. But, being really old, I got out of breath, so I stopped. And as I bent over to catch my breath, one of these blades of grass went right in my eye."

The 43-year-old star expected his injury to look horrendous, and was amazed when the only sign of the accident was some bruising.

He added: "It was horrific - it pushed my eyelid over the top of my eyeball and down over the other side. I bruised my eyeball - actually, I nearly blinded myself. I stopped and put my hand over my eye - I thought I'd have blood gushing out - I couldn't see anything. My head went numb. I had a black eye for the whole of the rest of the film. They had to cover it up with make-up every day."