While filming a 170-ft. waterfall for Jaguar Paw's jump scene, a real cow that was trying to cross upstream went over the falls. It emerged at the bottom alive and dazed, banging along rocks near the bank. Mel Gibson and crew were certain the cow was done for. After a local man swam into the river and calmed the cow, it climbed up on bank and began eating grass as if nothing had happened.
Many substantial speaking roles were filled by Mayan people who had never acted before. Sick Girl, who curses the hunting party as they and the captives pass right before entering the city, was played by a seven-year-old who lived in a dirt-floored hut in a village similar to Jaguar Paw's.
Mel Gibson claimed that Rudy Youngblood was genuinely running from the jaguar, which was only kept from reaching him by a tether. Gibson added "You can't train a jaguar."
During filming, severe flooding in Southern Mexico displaced at least 1 million people. The crew helped with flood relief.
The white powder being mined and processed is lime, which is used for building. It is dangerous if inhaled, as illustrated by the worker coughing up blood. It's so caustic that it's used to speed up the decomposition of corpses.
Mel Gibson: Gibson makes a brief, nearly hidden appearance in the Apocalypto trailer. Click the pause button when the screaming monkey appears, just after the pregnant woman, but before the solar eclipse, then use the left arrow (button) to step the video back, frame by frame, to the guys painted white. Step back another frame or two and you'll see Gibson, with a heavy beard, smoking a cigar.