A Peacemaker Star's Acting Was So Realistic It Made A Crew Member Vomit

Watch out! The following article contains spoilers for "Peacemaker" season 2, episode 6, "Ignorance is Chris."

There are quite a few things that happen on James Gunn's HBO Max series "Peacemaker" that could make a cast or crew member vomit — and according to an episode of the official "Peacemaker" podcast, that's exactly what happened at one point. Indeed, while discussing the bizarre moment in season 2, episode 6, "Ignorance is Chris," where John Economos (Steve Agee) starts gagging and dry-heaving after getting weirded out by all the alternate universe hijinks unfolding around him, the series' co-executive producer Lars Winther brought up the fact that Agee's fake puking during season 1 actually made a crew member upchuck themselves.

Look, some people just have unusual gag reflexes, and some actors are really good at pretending to gag (with the fake-gag crown going to Kaitlin Olson of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"), but it's really impressive if you fake it well enough to actually make someone heave. Admittedly, Economos's reasons for vomiting don't make a ton of sense, as he nearly pukes in response to being in the same room as the alternate universe version of Keith (David Denman), Peacemaker's older brother (who is dead in the show's main universe). Still, at least he has a history of being a bit gaggy throughout the series.

Initially, Gunn made the scene even grosser, with much more gagging, but he felt like it was too much and might make the audience feel sick. "That scene is pretty disgusting, even as it is. But the first cut of it was so freaking gross that, like, I had to cut it," he admitted. "[...] So much gagging. And it's like when you see somebody gagging that much, it makes you wanna gag." That psychogenic gag reflex is fairly common, and Gunn probably made the right choice, especially since Agee's gagging (and spitting up) in the season 1 finale, "It's Cow or Never," made a focus puller do a Rick Kosick from "Jackass" and run to the bushes to be sick for real.

In "It's Cow or Never," Economos manages to trick the Butterflies (that is, the extra-terrestrial antagonists in "Peacemaker" season 1) and make it into their barn lair, but his nerves get the best of him and he ralphs in a barrel, causing Peacemaker (John Cena) to start gagging over the walkie-talkies as well. Winther revealed that while filming that scene, the show's focus puller "went off to the side and puked," which honestly is the best (and grossest) review of fake vomiting possible.

Agee thankfully hasn't made himself vomit yet, though he did note that the gags become real after a while and he's just sort of "dry-heaving," which might explain why it sounds so realistic. With all of the guts, gore, goo, and grossness of "Peacemaker," it was only a matter of time before someone puked on set, and it might not be the last.

New episodes of "Peacemaker" premiere Thursdays on HBO Max.