There are two things to keep in mind while being burned alive for a movie scene.
The first, says stunt performer Ben Jenkin, is not to breathe in a flame. That would be bad. Jenkin was reminded of that over and over before doing his first fire burn (and then seven more) in an action extravaganza that affectionately celebrates the rough-and-tumble lives of stunt performers.
The other thing: Keep moving.
鈥淢oving forward and keeping the fire behind you allows you to breathe and to control the fire,鈥� Jenkin says. 鈥淢ovement is your friend.鈥�
That would make a decent slogan for stunt performers who have, since the early days of Hollywood, fueled the mayhem of movies. Since at least when the facade of (stillness can also be your friend when it comes to stunts), stunt performers have played a vital role in sustaining the illusion of countless car chases, bar fights, rooftop leaps and, yes, guys on fire.
By its nature, it鈥檚 nearly anonymous work, with stunt performers doubling for daintier stars. But Leitch, a longtime stuntman before he became a director, and 鈥淭he Fall Guy,鈥� which opens in theaters Friday, hope to redefine the role of stunt work in Hollywood. 鈥淭he Fall Guy,鈥� which features nearly every kind of stunt imaginable, arrives as a growing chorus is calling for a new Oscar category for stunt performance.
鈥淚t was never really about: The individual stunt performer needs to be recognized,鈥� says Leitch, who spent years as Brad Pitt鈥檚 double before transitioning to directing with 鈥淛ohn Wick.鈥� 鈥淚t was more about the contribution of the department. We create these sequences, whether it鈥檚 for Paul Thomas Anderson or Adam Sandler or James Cameron.鈥�
The most eye-catching stunts come in big-budget action movies like 鈥淭he Fall Guy,鈥� but nearly every studio movie involves some stunt work. Take Chris O鈥橦ara, head of Stunts Unlimited and the stunt designer on 鈥淭he Fall Guy.鈥� He鈥檚 not only a veteran of innovative, stunt-heavy films like 鈥淭he Matrix鈥� and the Jason Bourne series but he was also the guy who caught Saoirse Ronan when she leapt out of a (seemingly) moving car in Greta Gerwig鈥檚 鈥淟ady Bird.鈥�
With 鈥淭he Fall Guy,鈥� O鈥橦ara is the first person to be credited as a 鈥渟tunt designer,鈥� a designation that鈥檚 been approved by SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild. To O鈥橦ara, that credit better represents what鈥檚 usually called stunt coordination. Conceptualizing and crafting elaborate sequences requires more than making sure everyone stays safe.
鈥淭o be seen by the film community as stunt designers hopefully brings more light to what we really do,鈥� says O鈥橦ara. 鈥淏ack in the day, stunt guys were the cowboys. Now we are creative. We create amazing things, just like a production designer does or a costume designer does.鈥�
THE FALLS LEADING TO 鈥楩ALL GUY鈥�
When they were starting out in Los Angeles, Leitch and O鈥橦ara lived together. Their garage was stuffed with mats and air bags. They dug a hole in the backyard and put a trampoline in it. 鈥淭he landlord never caught us,鈥� says Leitch, grinning.
They, along with four other stuntmen including Chad Stahelski, set out with big ambitions to make their mark on Hollywood. While cutting their teeth on TV shows like 鈥淏uffy the Vampire Slayer,鈥� they trained. Some were gymnasts, some drivers, some martial arts experts.
鈥淚t was a nonstop circus of skills you need but it鈥檚 fun to learn them,鈥� says Leitch. 鈥淗ard on your body, but fun.鈥�
They became masters of their craft 鈥� or at least mostly. Leitch never got driving down. On 鈥淭he Mexican,鈥� he crashed an El Camino into its only back-up, another El Camino.
But eventually, filmmaking seemed like one more skill to hone. Leitch had become adept at pre-visualizing sequences as a moving storyboard to show directors how an action scene would move and fit together. Plus, he was accustomed to keeping a cool head in extreme circumstances. How scary could directing be compared to standing on a ledge as a production raced to get a high fall in before the day鈥檚 light went?
鈥淲hen you鈥檝e had life and death stakes, what鈥檚 the worst that can happen in a scene?鈥� says Leitch. 鈥淚 have to cut it differently?鈥�
Leitch has since become a sought-after action director, helming films like 鈥淎tomic Blonde,鈥� 鈥淒eadpool 2鈥� and 鈥淏ullet Train,鈥� in which Pitt starred. That was a full circle moment for the former star-stuntman tandem but 鈥淭he Fall Guy鈥� might be more so. Based on the 1980s Lee Majors TV series, it鈥檚 a comic, behind-the-scenes ode to the nature of stunt work and on-set life.
Ryan Gosling stars as Colt Seavers, a veteran stuntman and double for star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) whose romance with a fellow crew member, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), is severed after an accident on set only to fitfully resume years later. By then Jody is directing her first feature and Colt is brought in as a stuntman, including for that fire-burn scene.
For Leitch and Kelly McCormick, his wife and production partner, both the stunts and the love story of 鈥淭he Fall Guy鈥� have a touch of autobiography. After a years-long working relationship, McCormick and Leitch were married in 2014 and together run their production company 87North.
鈥淢aybe I am a little bit like Jody,鈥� says McCormick. 鈥淚鈥檓 definitely the one that would set you on fire eight times.鈥�
鈥淲ould you?鈥� replies Leitch.
鈥淥nly if it was safe,鈥� says McCormick, laughing.
鈥業鈥橫 RYAN GOSLING AND I DID ALMOST NONE OF MY OWN STUNTS IN THIS MOVIE鈥�
At Gosling proudly announced what few actors do: He did not do his own stunts. The movie required five stuntmen to double as Gosling, including Jenkin and Logan Holladay. In the film, Holladay sets a of a vehicle, rolling a Jeep Grand Cherokee eight and a half times down a Australian beach. In one of the movie鈥檚 many ironic moments, you can see Holladay strapping Gosling into the car just before the scene.
Before working in film, Jenkin was accomplished in parkour.
鈥淚 feel right into stunts,鈥� he puns. His gift for contorting himself through the air and landing on the designated spot has made him one of the most sought-after stuntmen. Still, 鈥淭he Fall Guy鈥� was the busiest he鈥檚 ever been on a movie. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 remember how many times I went through a pane of glass,鈥� says Jenkin.
Some moves were new for Jenkin, like getting hit by a car. 鈥淗ips over hood,鈥� Leitch advised him.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e a kid and you watch Jackie Chan running down the street and he鈥檚 chasing a bus and then he hooks onto the bus with an umbrella, you鈥檙e like, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 so cool,鈥欌�� Jenkin says. 鈥淣ow we get to live that. Me and Ryan were surfing a door across the Harbour Bridge holding onto the back of a bin truck with a shovel. When do you get to do things like that?鈥�
AN OSCAR FOR STUNTS?
Though the campaign has been ongoing for years, it will take time for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to embrace a new category (though it did so recently by ). They have some strength in numbers; stunt professionals make up the largest group of members in the academy鈥檚 Production and Technology branch.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not that they want more recognition than any other sort of department. These days, they鈥檙e in almost every film,鈥� says McCormick. 鈥淭hey are front and center working with all the other departments 鈥� including, by the way, they go to post. A lot of times they are helping the editor find the way through a sequence. I haven鈥檛 had a hair person come to post ever.鈥�
For some stunt performers, it鈥檚 the family business. Troy Brown鈥檚 first stunt was the 2005 Vin Diesel comedy 鈥淭he Pacifier,鈥� for which his father, Bob Brown, was stunt coordinator. Troy jumped out of a helicopter into the ocean. He was 5.
鈥淪tunts was just everything I knew,鈥� says Troy Brown. 鈥淚t started out with my dad in the front yard jumping off of stuff into a port-a-pit. I just thought was super fun so I鈥檇 do it everyday.鈥�
In 鈥淭he Fall Guy,鈥� Brown makes the biggest jump of his career, falling 150 feet from a helicopter and landing on an air bag used by his father. During it, his dad was standing next to the bag, talking his son through the jump.
鈥淚鈥檓 going out of this helicopter backwards and I鈥檓 lining it up as best I can,鈥� says Brown. 鈥淲hen I get out there and I鈥檓 about go backwards off of this thing, I have my dad on the radio giving me the green light for the bag: 鈥榊ou can go whenever you want. We鈥檙e good, we鈥檙e good, we鈥檙e good.鈥欌��
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