Amy Adams Says Short-Lived TV Role Helped Her Save a Stabbing Victim

Amy Adams said on the Smartless podcast that she once helped save the life of a man who had been stabbed, using skills she learned while filming the hospital drama "Dr. Vegas." The CBS series, in which she played nurse Alice Doherty, lasted only five episodes in 2004. Adams said she learned how to react to severe bleeding from that job, and that instruction proved critical in a real emergency.

Adams, known for "Enchanted," said she and members of her family were the first people to arrive after leaving a favorite restaurant in Santa Monica, California. She recalled hearing people screaming and seeing a man walking while others shouted, "He's dying!" Her husband, actor Darren Le Gallo, stayed with their daughter while Adams and her father rushed to help. After realizing the victim had been stabbed in the neck, she said she used beach towels to press on the wound and stop the blood flow.

"He was bleeding and his friends were hysterical," Adams said. She added that she felt "very focused" in the moment and told the man, "The more you struggle, the more blood you'll lose. Just lie down." She said that advice was exactly what she had been taught during "Dr. Vegas." The show, which also starred Rob Lowe, Tom Sizemore, Joe Pantoliano and Sarah Lancaster, centered on a young doctor living and working at an old resort and casino in Las Vegas.

Adams said she met the stabbing victim again about a year later in a restaurant, when he approached her and said he had heard a story about her and her father being at the scene of a stabbing. She replied, "Oh my God, it's you," and confirmed it was the same man.