How ‘Tommy’ Left Ann-Margret Permanently Scarred

Ann-Margret gave an Oscar-nominated performance in Tommy, the 1975 film adaptation of The Who’s iconic 1969 rock opera. However, it came at a physical cost. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the star recalled how the movie left a permanent scar on her left hand. 

The Ken Russell-directed Tommy features a famous scene where Ann-Margret dreams about playing in detergent foam, baked beans, and chocolate. At one point, she throws a bottle of champagne into a television set. “When I threw the champagne bottle into the television set, there was all this jagged glass,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “And all of the soap bubbles were coming up. And I came forward, whipping my hand back and forth. Whoopsie daisy! The redness of the blood was really scary.”

It took more than a day to film the entire sequence. “It was on a Saturday, actually, and then we had to come back there on Monday. The smell of all the beans [was everywhere],” Ann-Margret, 82, explained. “And I noticed that the crew was wearing hip boots because of all the stuff that was on the ground. It was quite interesting. I was the only one with no hip boots.”

Ann-Margaret previously mentioned shared this story in hertribute to Russell, who died in November 2011 at 84. At that time, she recalled how Russell and his team threw towels on her after they noticed the soap suds turning red because of her cut. “Here I come into the hospital, looking like a drowned person in this silver knit shrinking catsuit with blood all over. There were 27 stitches,” she said in 2011. “I’ve never done a movie like that before or since. But the whole experience was wonderful.”

Tommy starred The Who frontman Roger Daltrey as the titular “deaf, dumb, and blind boy” who can play a mean pinball. Ann-Margret starred as his mother Nora, who is obsessed with leading a luxurious life. The role earned Ann-Margret a Best Actress Oscar nomination, but she had the misfortune of competing in the same year as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest star Louise Fletcher. Ann-Margret also earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination in 1972 for Carnal Knowledge.

Ann-Margret, born Ann-Margret Olsson, hasn’t stopped working. She recently starred in Going in Style, Ray Donovan, Papa, The Kominsky Method, Happy!, Queen Bees, and the Hallmark Channel Christmas movie A Holiday Spectacular. She hosted An Evening With Ann-Margret on TCM last month, introducing Viva Las Vegas, Once a Thief, and Coming Home on the network. Proceeds from her new Ann-Margret perfume will go to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.