Speaking with The Wall Street Journal‘s Peggy Noonan, Jim said: “We were shooting the Sermon on the Mount.

“About four seconds before it happened it was quiet, and then it was like someone slapped my ears. I had seven or eight seconds of, like, a pink, fuzzy colour, and people started screaming.

“They said I had fire on the left side of my head and light around my body. All I can tell you is that I looked like I went to Don King’s hairstylist.”

In fact, this was also the second time the assistant director Jan Michelini was hit, with the previous time taking place while they were shooting in Matera, Italy. That time Jan’s umbrella was struck and his fingers were lightly burned.