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This episode is brought to you by Thorne and I have some incredible news for any of you

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that are in the military, first responder or medical professions.

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Now to learn more about Thorn, go to episode 323 of the Behind the Shield podcast with

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Joel Titoro and Wes Barnett.

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This episode is sponsored by a company I've literally been using for over 15 years now

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of my civilian gear, the clothes that I wear are also 511.

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So if you want to hear more about 511 and their origin story, go to episode 338 of Behind

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the Shield podcast with their CEO, Francisco Morales.

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Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast as always.

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My name is James Gearing and this week it is my absolute honor to welcome on the show,

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parkour athlete, stuntman and one of the stunt doubles for Ryan Gosling in the Fall Guy,

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Ben Jenkin.

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Now I just went to watch that film after being an avid fan of the show when I was a little

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boy and was blown away by so many elements.

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A, it was a fantastic film.

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B, if you're even remotely connected to the stunt world, there were so many Easter eggs

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in that show and most importantly it was an homage to the incredible men and women behind

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so many of our stars.

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So in this conversation we discuss a host of topics from Ben's early life, the backyard

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gym that paved his road to parkour and ultimately stunts, his journey into making films, some

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incredible behind the scenes stories from the Fall Guy, recognizing our stunt performers,

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safety on set and so much more.

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Now before we get to this incredible conversation as I say every week, please just take a moment,

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go to whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe to the show, leave feedback and

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leave a rating.

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Every single five star rating truly does elevate this podcast, therefore making it easier for

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others to find and this is a free library of well over 900 episodes now.

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So all I ask in return is that you help share these incredible men and women stories so

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I can get them to every single person on planet earth who needs to hear them.

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So with that being said, I introduce to you Ben Jenkin.

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Enjoy.

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Well Ben, I want to start by saying thank you so much for taking the time to come on

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the Behind the Shield podcast today.

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Thanks for having me.

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Yeah, I've been looking forward to it for a while.

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So yeah, thanks for having me.

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Well we're going to get to the Fall Guy, which you just worked on amongst many, many other

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things.

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I want to obviously walk in, walk your journey right through from the beginning.

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But just as a preface, as a stunt man, as a little boy who grew up watching the Fall

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Guy, I'm 50 now so you can imagine this was on TV when I was watching it.

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It was absolutely incredible to watch it and such a homage to the stunt world I think.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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The TV show is a little bit before my time.

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But I obviously heard about it and I knew about it going into it.

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And then I watched it when I kind of got the job and months leading up to it.

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I caught up on it and did my research.

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But what a movie to shoot and what a TV show to kind of follow and make a film about.

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It was such a special journey and also kind of a lot of weight on our shoulders.

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We knew how much impact that TV show had on the world but more so the stunt industry itself.

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So we knew we were carrying a lot of weight and we kind of had to deliver which is why

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we pushed the limits and really tried to do some really exciting, cool stunts as well

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as make a good movie.

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So I think the perfect people were on it.

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Dave Leach, former stunt person.

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Brad Pitt, stunt double.

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Henry, stunt performer, double second year director and now he's directing some of the

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biggest movies in Hollywood.

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What better director could you have for a movie like this?

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And then Chris O'Hara, the experience that he has in stunts, in doubling, in second year

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directing, in stunt coordinating and now in stunt designing.

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Fantastic leaders.

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The best leaders we could have had.

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Amazing.

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The result was fantastic, it really was.

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I want to get to the very beginning of your journey.

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So very firstly, where are we finding you today on planet Earth?

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Today on planet Earth, I am in London.

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I am currently filming Ryan's next movie so we're in prep right now.

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So I'm in London in my little loft department drinking a cup of tea speaking to you.

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So that's where I am.

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Beautiful.

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I'm going to be back home.

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I'll be in London for a full day on the 6th of June.

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I'm going back.

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I've got to go to France and Portugal and do a little family round trip.

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But I can't wait to get back for a little bit.

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Where are you living now?

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I live in Ocala, Florida.

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So right in the heart of the state, an hour north of Orlando.

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Oh got it.

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Okay.

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Great.

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I love Florida.

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I haven't been in ages.

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I haven't been in ages but it's a fun place.

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It's a good place if you're a budding stunt man too and we'll get to that.

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Oh yeah.

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Okay.

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All right.

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Well then let's start the very beginning of your journey.

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I know you weren't born in the UK.

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So tell me where you were born and then tell me a little bit about your family dynamic,

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what your parents did, how many siblings.

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So dad was in the military.

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Mum obviously kind of followed him around.

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I was born in Germany actually in a place called Wegburg on a military base.

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My mum and dad were, my dad was based there at the time so born on a military base in

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Germany.

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I stayed there for a couple of years and then moved back to the UK.

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My dad got kind of, he moved bases and I think he was down in Bournemouth.

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So moved back to England.

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Mum was up north from Blackburn, England.

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So moved back there.

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Dad was down south.

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Mum and dad got a divorce early, maybe when I was, I don't know, before five maybe.

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So kind of split parents.

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I would always go down south to see my dad whenever I could and then I lived with my

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mum.

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So dad was in the military.

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He did 22 years there and then retired from military service and now he's just living

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a kind of semi-retired life.

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My mum has kind of always been just doing kind of random jobs here and there and now

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she's somewhat living that retired life, looking after and caring for my younger nephew.

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And then I still see them as much as I can.

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This is actually quite nice because this is the first job I've ever done in England.

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All my other jobs have been in the US or overseas somewhere.

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I've done Colombia, Puerto Rico, I've done China, I've done Hawaii, just kind of all

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over the place.

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Australia, for Fall Guy, I've been all over the place but never England.

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So this is the first time filming a movie in England.

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So I'll be here for the next five months, which is nice.

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I can kind of go up north on the weekends and see the family and yeah, just see them

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a little bit more.

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I only get to see them about two times a year, one or two times a year.

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I go home every Christmas and then if I have some downtime, kind of in between projects,

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I'll fly home in the summer or something and see them and then shoot back off to the States.

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What branch was your dad in and what was his specialty in the military?

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He was a paratrooper.

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So what is that, Royal Infantry?

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Are you familiar with movies?

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Yeah, I mean, it's funny because I've just written a second book and there's a few chapters

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where it's in the Falklands war.

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So yeah, so it's the army side, isn't it?

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The paras.

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My dad was in the Falklands.

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Oh, really?

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Yeah, I think he did Falklands and Bosnia.

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Yeah, I wonder if he's all right with me talking about it.

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But yeah, no, so he did 22 years in the military.

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He was a paratrooper.

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And then I think he kind of worked his way up the ranks and he was...

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I'll always remember going down south to see him and he kind of managed this massive warehouse

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that...

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I was young so it's kind of a spotty kind of image that I remember, but he managed this

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warehouse and it's almost like giant floating oil container tankers type thing that he kind

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of managed and was in charge of.

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And I went down to see them and check out the warehouse and he had the fire brigade,

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the military fire kind of come over and set a car on fire and I would put it out and things

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like that.

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So he would kind of organize little things like that.

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He was one of the bosses there.

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He called up the fire brigade and said, come over and set this car on fire for my son.

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That's pretty cool.

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Yeah, so just cool little things like that.

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But yeah, so he did that for 22 years and then he retired from the military.

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My dad is always...

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My dad is a massive kind of component for me kind of getting into parkour and freerunning

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at an early age, almost before I even knew that it was even a thing.

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He was always very active himself and in doing so, I was kind of...

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In him doing so, I was kind of very active also.

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He would always take me on adventures.

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We would go to ski parks and then afterwards we would go at the bottom of the ski park.

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There was an adventure park with a high ropes course and trampolines built into the ground

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and parks and he would always set routes for me to go.

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I'd climb up this ladder and run along there and then jump down here and then run onto

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the trampoline and do four backflips and then run over here.

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I'm going to time you.

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So he would take me to places like that and do those things with me.

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He was the first person to teach me how to do a backflip and a frontflip on a trampoline.

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I feel like I got my adventure spirit from doing that at such a young age.

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I feel my whole life I've known I wanted to do something physical with my life and work.

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I have pictures of me when I'm under 10 years old just throwing myself off a park that's

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double my height and I'm just leaping off this thing onto the ground and I have lots

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of pictures of that.

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My dad always tells stories about before I could even walk me, the whole apartment is

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quiet when he was there and my mom and he's like, where's Ben?

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He's running around the house trying to find me and he opens the bathroom and I'm

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in the sink chewing on a bar of soap.

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How did you even get there?

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There's nothing to climb on.

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You would have literally had to just climb up the pipes and then climb into the sink

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and he was like, there's no way you could have got there.

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I think from an early age, unknowingly I was destined to get into something along the – get

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into stunts.

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It's quite funny to hear those stories and be like, it kind of worked out all right.

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It makes sense.

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I feel like I went into the correct industry.

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I kind of went off in a little tangent.

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No, no, you're good.

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I love tangents.

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That was funny because when I look back at my early life because I dreamed of becoming

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a stunt man when I was little but I didn't have a dad.

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It was good at moving so I ended up just being really good at falling over and getting up

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again.

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That was it.

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I didn't have any skill behind me and even to this day, the gymnastic side, like there's

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00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,280
a guy, one of my friends Anthony who's walking around to this day with a scar under his eye

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00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:59,760
because he spotted me on a trampoline to do a simple somersault and I hit him with my

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00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:04,120
elbow so I gashed him right open.

242
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:09,000
But there was that kind of lack of fear at least on horses and motorbikes and all that

243
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,760
stuff that eventually carried over.

244
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When I look at your stunt reel and some of the other things, clearly there's an element

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of gymnastics.

246
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Were you doing any gymnastics training specifically when you were younger?

247
00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,320
No, it was actually never gymnastics.

248
00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:25,820
It was all parkour.

249
00:16:25,820 --> 00:16:34,120
Back in the day, I learned what parkour was and saw some people doing it, was interested.

250
00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:39,800
I could already do flips from what my dad had taught me at an early age and started

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hanging around with these guys.

252
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Gymnastics gyms were just the only place we could go to train.

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It was a safe place to train and practice flips and acrobatics.

254
00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:56,480
That was the easy go-to place.

255
00:16:56,480 --> 00:17:02,600
Then we realized we could just get a trampoline in the back garden and build some bars and

256
00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:06,080
stuff like that.

257
00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:17,880
Credit to my mom, she really let me take over the back garden from 14 to 20.

258
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When I was 14 to 20, that back garden, she couldn't do anything in it.

259
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It was absolutely full.

260
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We had two trampolines and a bar setup, an uneven bar setup, which we dug into the ground,

261
00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:40,560
cemented three feet deep, wooden poles coming out and two bars, uneven bars, connecting

262
00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:44,800
to the trampoline so we could flip from the trampoline to the bars.

263
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The entire back garden was just taken over.

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00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:57,560
I started off with a circle trampoline that you can buy on Argos or something.

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00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:03,520
One day I was walking home from school and my neighbor across the street, Sam, said,

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Ben, did you see the trampoline in Griffin Park, which is the park just up the road from

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00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:09,000
me?

268
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:10,000
I was like, no, what are you talking about?

269
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,000
It's like a proper Olympic trampoline.

270
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You should go and have a look.

271
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I was like, no.

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I was like, take me there.

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He took me there, it's like a five minute walk, took me to the park and in this field

274
00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:28,640
was just a perfectly good Olympic trampoline, like a rectangular Olympic trampoline.

275
00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,360
I was like, where do you guys get this from?

276
00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:34,320
It was like a couple of gypsies who had stolen it.

277
00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:35,320
I was like-

278
00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:37,760
How did they fit that in the caravan?

279
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I have no idea.

280
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I was like, where did you get this from?

281
00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:45,320
At the time, there was just this one dude you could tell he was the leader.

282
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I was just like, I'll buy this off you.

283
00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:48,040
He was like, how much?

284
00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:49,040
I was like, 50 pounds.

285
00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:50,040
He was like, done.

286
00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:51,040
I was like, all right.

287
00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:56,400
I went back, got 50 pounds, came back, bought it off him for 50 quid, called all my friends

288
00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,000
up and was like, get to Griffin Park right now.

289
00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:03,960
You need to help me carry this trampoline to my house.

290
00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:04,960
All my friends came over.

291
00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:11,280
There was maybe five or six of us and then there was like 15 little gypsy kids that were

292
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:12,920
lifting this trampoline.

293
00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:18,000
They just got on all the sides, we were surrounding it, lifted it up and took it out the park,

294
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:24,200
down the street carrying a trampoline, fully opened up and took it to my house.

295
00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:30,240
We had to take all the fences off to lift it over and it fit perfectly.

296
00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:35,320
It couldn't have been any bigger because we had the house on one side and then a fence

297
00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,280
on the other and it fit just along that line.

298
00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:41,640
It was even pushing the fence out a little bit so it was angled.

299
00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:45,800
It's slightly too big but it fit absolutely perfectly.

300
00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:52,100
I think my mom was on nights at that point so she came home the morning after to find

301
00:19:52,100 --> 00:19:54,680
a new Olympic sized trampoline in the house.

302
00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:55,680
I think I lied to her.

303
00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:58,680
I was like, I only paid 30 pounds for it, mom.

304
00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:01,760
I only paid 30 pounds for it.

305
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:10,040
The whole childhood was training in gymnastics gyms and then the back garden was a hotspot

306
00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,560
for the trampoline.

307
00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:16,840
We found some crash mats and we put them on the trampoline, climbed up onto the top of

308
00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:20,920
the house and jumped off the house and jumped off the garage.

309
00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:28,440
That was the introduction to that and more so those gymnastics gyms.

310
00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:32,360
When I'm visualizing this trampoline barely fitting in your back garden, I can't help

311
00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:37,200
but think that there were times when you came off the side of it and ended up in the neighbor's

312
00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:39,600
yard on the floor.

313
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:46,520
Funny thing is, and I think this is why we got so good on the trampoline because we were

314
00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:48,760
in a semi-detached house.

315
00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:49,960
There were three houses.

316
00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:53,000
We were the end house.

317
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:58,440
The side of our house was our back garden.

318
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:03,040
We had a long skinny garden and then over the fence, which is when you stood on the

319
00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:07,560
trampoline, the fence comes up to your hip, is the road.

320
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:12,120
There's the pavement and then the road.

321
00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:17,060
I think that's what got us so good at the trampoline because we couldn't go right because

322
00:21:17,060 --> 00:21:20,600
we'd hit a brick wall of the house and we couldn't go left because we'd fall into the

323
00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:21,600
road.

324
00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:33,240
So we learned to just, I don't know, I feel like once you're on a trampoline for a lot

325
00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:36,760
and I haven't been on a trampoline in a long time.

326
00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:38,600
I used to spend a lot of time on it.

327
00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:42,800
We would come home at lunchtime and just play on the trampoline.

328
00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:48,640
We'd go after school, play on the trampoline, weekends, trampoline.

329
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:53,240
My house and my back garden was where everyone just hung out.

330
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:54,640
I'd have a basketball net.

331
00:21:54,640 --> 00:22:00,240
We would do slam ball stuff and we would do basketball and then jump on the trampoline.

332
00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:04,560
So it was a place where all my friends came.

333
00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:05,560
We spent a lot of time.

334
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,800
When you spend a lot of time on a trampoline, you really get good at figuring out where

335
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:09,800
you are.

336
00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:14,160
Your spatial awareness gets good and you know if you're going to fall off.

337
00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,000
You know if you're getting close to the edge.

338
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:17,000
Some people did.

339
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,000
Don't get me wrong.

340
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:23,520
It happens from time to time but you get good at knowing kind of where you're situated,

341
00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:26,120
especially on the trampoline in relation to everything else.

342
00:22:26,120 --> 00:22:27,800
Where the wall is, where the road is.

343
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:33,600
So I don't think I ever fell into the road.

344
00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:35,920
But yeah, there were some funny bails for sure.

345
00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,640
Yeah, no, that's pretty amazing to visualize.

346
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:43,200
When I was a few years ago now when I lived in London, probably God, I say a few, Jesus,

347
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:50,080
probably 22 years ago, after I came back from doing stunts in Japan, I wanted to actually

348
00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:52,240
get good at the aerial stuff.

349
00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:54,880
And there was a place in London called the Circus Space.

350
00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:58,160
Then they had an adult tumbling class and it was again beginners because you know when

351
00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:02,480
it comes to my body moving in space, if it's not throwing a kick or a punch, I'm not very

352
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:03,480
good.

353
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:04,480
But that was interesting.

354
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,840
When you have an environment where you're not going to crack your head on concrete every

355
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:14,320
time you fail, it really did encourage a lot more.

356
00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,080
It inspired courage when you were trying to learn to tumble.

357
00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:22,160
But conversely though, I guess if you've got those parameters like a brick wall and a road,

358
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:27,000
it probably promotes really breaking down that skill and incrementally building on it

359
00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:29,600
so that you are confident at that motion.

360
00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:31,840
Absolutely, yeah.

361
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:36,160
That's why gymnastics gyms are there.

362
00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,080
You have a tumble track and you have pads at the side and at the end of the tumble track,

363
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,480
you have a foam pit and everything is kind of padded.

364
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,280
There's a soft, strong floor.

365
00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:49,040
You know, don't get me wrong, people still get injured but it's definitely a safe way

366
00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:50,760
and we realize that, right?

367
00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:55,120
There's only so much you can kind of do in a back garden on a ghetto setup of a trampoline

368
00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:58,080
with some like crappy foam pads.

369
00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:03,680
So that's why we would go on the weekends or on like a Thursday night or something, we

370
00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:05,880
would go.

371
00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:10,960
It was a Garstown gym and there was one in Wigan as well that we would go to.

372
00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:15,440
But they had gymnastics clubs there and gymnastics facilities so we would go there to really

373
00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:23,280
kind of just get a kind of different vibe and a different area or equipment to train

374
00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:24,280
on.

375
00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:29,560
So I mean, trampoline for me by far was the thing that taught me the most.

376
00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:37,240
It taught me how to flip, how to control flips, my aerial awareness and it just gives you

377
00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:38,880
time in the air.

378
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:43,040
It gives you time in the air to learn those complex flips.

379
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:49,640
But yeah, so you know, and then we trained all over and you know, when you train parkour,

380
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:55,560
you know, obviously there's lots of different ways to train parkour.

381
00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,280
To me, parkour has always been like physical movement.

382
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:06,560
You know, it's been a blend of kind of everything, you know, gymnastics, rollblading and then

383
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:12,200
you have very precise movement, your kind of efficient A to B movement, your singular

384
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:14,800
jumps, your complex lines.

385
00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:15,800
There's lots to it.

386
00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:23,080
So you know, often we would travel down to Liverpool or London or Derby or Brighton to

387
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:28,720
train with people and, you know, climb around on the environment outside and jump on walls

388
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:35,520
and flip off walls and kind of, you know, combine the flips and the parkour side and

389
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,240
really just push the limits.

390
00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:43,920
Were you exposed to, is it Sebastian Foucault and David, there was another Frenchman, David,

391
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:44,920
I forget his last name.

392
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:45,920
David Bell.

393
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:46,920
Bell, yeah.

394
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:48,400
Were you exposed to them at that age?

395
00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:50,000
Yeah, yeah, definitely.

396
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:55,840
I mean, I found out about parkour right when Jump Britain came out and I can't remember

397
00:25:55,840 --> 00:26:02,080
what year that was, but me and one of my friends who lived in the neighbourhood, we saw the

398
00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:07,560
documentary, we went down to the local park across the street and we saw some guys doing

399
00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:08,880
flips off the park structure.

400
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:10,960
We were like, what are you guys doing blah, blah.

401
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:14,920
And at first they were like, get away you little snotty nose kids, we're doing parkour.

402
00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:16,760
And I was like, I can do a flip, watch this.

403
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:18,880
So I hopped up onto the rail and did a backflip off the rail.

404
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:22,040
And they were like, if you want to come train with us, we'll be at the, because it was

405
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:26,000
like a, Whitton Park is a massive, massive park.

406
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:31,880
They have like a play park area and then they have a running track that's kind of associated

407
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:36,160
with the park and the school, the high school that I went to.

408
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:40,400
And in the running track they had a sandpit, they had two sandpits at the end.

409
00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,980
So they were like, if you want to come and train, we'll be at the sandpit tomorrow.

410
00:26:43,980 --> 00:26:47,960
So came down and they had this like circular like little trampette, you know, those like

411
00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:53,560
kind of small like three foot trampettes that you use for workouts of whatever you would

412
00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:55,680
use those for.

413
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:58,880
They had one of those, they took all the legs off bar two, so it was at an angle.

414
00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:05,180
So we would run and hit the, hit the trampette and flip into the sandpit.

415
00:27:05,180 --> 00:27:08,420
So that was another way of us kind of learning.

416
00:27:08,420 --> 00:27:10,920
That was actually before the trampoline, before anything.

417
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:15,680
It was, that was, that was the first little setup we kind of had.

418
00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:24,280
So we would go there in the summer and just flip into the sandpit all day, all day.

419
00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:27,480
Now were you dreaming of becoming a stuntman during this time?

420
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,160
No, I don't think I knew what it was, honestly.

421
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:38,840
I am, you know, I was aware of, of, you know, Jackie Chan movies and things like that, but

422
00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:40,720
I didn't necessarily know it was a thing.

423
00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:45,920
I just wanted to, I think at that age, 14, 15, 16, I was just like, I just want to do

424
00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:47,560
parkour for the rest of my life.

425
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:52,160
I don't need money and I don't need this and I don't need that.

426
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:54,520
So I wasn't really aware of it.

427
00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:59,520
It was kind of, you know, maybe it was later on that I started, I started coming to America

428
00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:06,200
when I was maybe like 17.

429
00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:07,600
And then I met a couple of people.

430
00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:13,440
I met one of my best friends now, Travis Wong, who was a stuntman and he also did parkour.

431
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:18,360
So we kind of got paired together to do, you know, a bunch of different shows and workshops

432
00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:22,200
and you know, some smaller commercials or some music videos.

433
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:28,120
And, you know, he did parkour so we kind of bonded there.

434
00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:29,360
But he also was a stuntman.

435
00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:33,880
So he was, that's when I kind of found, found out that I was like, oh, you can, you can

436
00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:38,200
actually kind of implement these skills into something else.

437
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,440
And you're a stuntman, you work in the movies and you do all this and, you know, you have

438
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,720
to kind of broaden your skill set and learn other things.

439
00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:50,440
But I was like, wow, this is definitely, this, this could potentially be something that I

440
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:52,880
could do.

441
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:58,840
So yeah, you know, we, I met, I met him and I would, I would, I think 16, 17, I was in

442
00:28:58,840 --> 00:28:59,840
college.

443
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:04,560
So, you know, I would do college and then if I would ever get a job, you know, with

444
00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:09,360
this management agency that I was a part of at the time, I would, I would fly over to

445
00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:12,720
the States and I would kind of just be like, ah, I don't need to go to college.

446
00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:16,680
So I kind of like, I would stay, I would have a job and I would be there for a week and

447
00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,400
I would just tell the agency to extend my flight.

448
00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:25,220
I would, I would stay in LA for, I don't know, three, four more weeks and just hang out with

449
00:29:25,220 --> 00:29:29,720
Travis and do some workshops and sleep in the corner of his living room on a mattress

450
00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:32,120
and at that age you don't really need a lot.

451
00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:40,520
So I got a, I got a taste of, of LA and New York early in my life and, you know, growing

452
00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:44,520
up in Blackburn, you wake up every day and it's raining, it's gloomy, it's horrible.

453
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:45,880
There's like not a lot to do.

454
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:48,800
And then you get a taste of LA and you're like, wow, it never rains here.

455
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:49,800
It's always sunny.

456
00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,280
It's, it's, it's incredible.

457
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,400
So that's when I knew I wanted to kind of move to LA.

458
00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:59,460
So kept going down the journey and eventually made it there.

459
00:29:59,460 --> 00:30:00,840
So let's talk about that for a second.

460
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:05,820
When I, I think when I was, when I got out of drama school, I think it was even before

461
00:30:05,820 --> 00:30:07,200
I went to Japan.

462
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:12,440
I, I, as we said before I hit record, I went to drama school following a girl, don't know

463
00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:16,560
how I got in there, discovered I was one of the worst actors on planet earth, but was

464
00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:17,960
good at the physical side.

465
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:22,160
So my martial arts along with sword play, that became, you know, a skill, which was

466
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:23,240
great.

467
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:26,360
So then I come back and like, all right, well, what about being a stunt man?

468
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:30,800
Like I dreamed about when I was young and then I discovered the stunt registry and I

469
00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:35,240
opened this book and it's like, all do you have to do is be a 10th degree black belt,

470
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:40,720
a badger tamer, an extreme climber, you know, a triple amputee and all these other things

471
00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:44,600
that they had, that would take about 20 years to get.

472
00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:48,720
I'm assuming this is obviously probably earlier than you got into it, but clearly this was

473
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,420
protecting the industry, you know, from a lot of the, probably the bond era stunt people

474
00:30:52,420 --> 00:30:54,200
that wrote it.

475
00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:58,560
And when you first looked into it, did you go down the British route or did you find

476
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:02,240
yourself, you know, which, which I ended up finding the American side, which is a lot

477
00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:04,120
easier to get into.

478
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:13,000
So I, yeah, I mean, I never, when I found out about stunts, it was from an American,

479
00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:21,400
you know, and I, I moved to, moved to LA when I was 20, 21, knowing that I wanted to kind

480
00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:23,160
of get into the stunt industry there.

481
00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:29,800
For me, kind of at that, at that stage, a lot, so much more was filmed in America.

482
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:34,480
Now it's like, it felt like the year that I moved was the year that a lot of the industry

483
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:38,240
moved to London and was kind of filming in London.

484
00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:44,200
So I was the only up until, I don't know, maybe like five, six years ago, once you kind

485
00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:48,400
of in the business, you kind of realize like there's the, you, I found out about the stunt

486
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:53,360
register in England and the, you know, the Canadian, the Canadian contract and the UK

487
00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:54,560
contract and everything like that.

488
00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:58,480
So you kind of, you get a bit more familiar with kind of what's going on around you.

489
00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:02,480
But I only have a new American, you know, the American way to get in that you have to,

490
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:05,680
you have to be in SAG, you have to get TAFTA or you have to get your vouchers and then

491
00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:06,680
that's your only way in.

492
00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:11,440
And then you've got to, you know, and then once you're in it, you're kind of in it,

493
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:15,440
but getting in it is kind of the hardest part, you know, to, to become a member of SAG.

494
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:24,200
And I got lucky, I got, I got casted for a commercial, a Nike commercial right before

495
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:25,200
I moved there.

496
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:30,440
I think when I was about 20, I was in Boston at the time, I think doing a, doing a workshop

497
00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:38,480
and we got a cast in memo through saying we need a parkour athlete who can play basketball

498
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:42,520
and double Dutch, the skipping thing.

499
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:44,440
And I was like, well, I'm a parkour athlete.

500
00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:50,280
I used to play national level basketball for the Northwest of England and I could probably,

501
00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:51,280
I can skip.

502
00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:53,040
I've never double Dutch before in my life.

503
00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:55,640
So we asked around the gym, I was like, is anyone double Dutch?

504
00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:57,120
Like, can we get two skipping ropes?

505
00:32:57,120 --> 00:32:59,040
So I just tried it and I could do it.

506
00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:04,560
It was, it was, you know, it wasn't too terribly hard.

507
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:10,640
And and yeah, so and then we sent off, we sent off an audition tape and I got the job

508
00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:17,920
and that was maybe a couple of weeks after or something like that.

509
00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:21,400
So I did the, did the Nike commercial and then ultimately, you know, made a bit of money

510
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:28,200
with that and with that money I moved to America and then just kind of started getting into

511
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:34,200
and I think that was the commercial that tafted me into Seg.

512
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:40,080
So you have to either, I feel it's been so long, but I think you have to either get like

513
00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:44,800
three vouchers by working on maybe like a background or something like that.

514
00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:49,160
It could be absolutely butchering this, but you have to somehow get some vouchers and

515
00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:56,360
that's hard to do or you have like a special skill where they need you so they taft you

516
00:33:56,360 --> 00:34:00,680
instantly and then you're in Seg and that's kind of, that's how I got into Seg and then

517
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:06,920
started, you know, once you're eligible to work, it's a lot easier to work and then

518
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:12,720
I started, you know, applying for jobs and going to castings and, you know, doing commercials

519
00:34:12,720 --> 00:34:19,800
and smaller projects and kind of built my way up in the ladder and started working on

520
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:21,840
bigger things.

521
00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:25,840
I know about the vouchers because I was a glorified extra on the World Trade Center

522
00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:28,440
film so they wanted real firefighters.

523
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:32,120
So I got a load of my friends from California and we all spent a few weeks and it's funny

524
00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:36,240
because as you know, you know, you rehearse these scenes and it's over and over again

525
00:34:36,240 --> 00:34:39,760
and then you see the final cut and you're just little silhouettes behind the door.

526
00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:43,880
So they probably got, you know, like small children.

527
00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:44,880
I don't think it was even that.

528
00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:48,920
Like I think I was in that room somewhere, but anyway, but I got two of the three vouchers.

529
00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:53,800
So I think it was the universe's way of saying you're not supposed to be in the movies.

530
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:56,200
But yeah, so I was kind of familiar with that.

531
00:34:56,200 --> 00:35:01,520
The other side though from once I came back from doing the live show in Japan was being

532
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:03,640
introduced to the world of hustling.

533
00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:06,600
Now again, that didn't work out for me.

534
00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:08,360
I became a full-time firefighter.

535
00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:10,800
So obviously the schedule changed rapidly.

536
00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:11,960
But talk to me about that.

537
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:14,340
You're outside the stunt industry.

538
00:35:14,340 --> 00:35:20,480
You know, what was that process for you like of being able to impart your skills to the

539
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:22,880
right people on set?

540
00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:29,760
Well the stunt industry is very, it's unlike any other, especially in the kind of entertainment

541
00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:30,760
industry.

542
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:34,560
You have an actor, you have an agent, you have a theatrical and a commercial agent and

543
00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:41,040
they kind of put you out and kind of, you know, make, kind of put your name out there

544
00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:43,840
and let it be known that you're available and you're here and there.

545
00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:48,040
But with the stunt industry, there's no casting agencies, there's no management agencies.

546
00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:51,160
It's all kind of word of mouth and who you know.

547
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:59,520
So you know, a way to meet stunt coordinators is to go and hustle them on set.

548
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:01,320
It's called hustling set.

549
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:03,240
So we would, you know, get a couple of guys.

550
00:36:03,240 --> 00:36:07,520
It's always nicer to go with like two or three of you.

551
00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:10,440
Usually if your friend is working on a movie, he'll be like, all right, we're working on

552
00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:11,440
this movie.

553
00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:14,040
This is the call sheet.

554
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:15,640
This is a stunt coordinator.

555
00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:16,640
This is the time we're working.

556
00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:20,280
Let's say we're doing a night shoot and our lunch is from one to two or something like

557
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:21,280
that.

558
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:23,940
So that's usually a good time to kind of go when things are quiet.

559
00:36:23,940 --> 00:36:30,560
You never want to go and hustle set when there's a crazy action scene going on and you know,

560
00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:33,400
the stunt coordinator is really busy like handling lots of things.

561
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:36,000
So there would be times where we have no idea.

562
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:40,560
We just see like a yellow sign on the side of the road that says like a code word for

563
00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:41,560
a movie.

564
00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:45,680
So we'd go there and we would just try and sneak past security about, oh, we're with

565
00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:48,480
stunts and they're like, okay, we've come through.

566
00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:53,160
And then just try and like, try and find out what it is, what they're filming, who the

567
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,000
stunt coordinator is, what he looks like.

568
00:36:56,000 --> 00:37:01,920
And then we would try and find him in a crowd of 300 people.

569
00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:06,040
And then if it's the appropriate time, go to him and introduce ourselves.

570
00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:10,920
Back in those days, I would have, I think I printed like a hundred headshot and resumes

571
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:14,400
and I just have them in my car just in case I had to pull over to the side of the street

572
00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,600
and give them to someone.

573
00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:21,480
And then yeah, sometimes you'll be waiting hours because they're busy and then you'll

574
00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,800
be like, all right, now's the right time or sometimes it'll be really quick.

575
00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:31,200
But I actually have a funny story about kind of me hustling Chris O'Hara who was the stunt

576
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:35,760
designer, stunt coordinator, second year director of the Fall Guy.

577
00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:42,900
So back in the early days when I was hustling, he was one of the people that I hustled.

578
00:37:42,900 --> 00:37:50,000
So I think it was like a, I always forget, it was like an NCIS or one of those kind of

579
00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:53,480
TV shows and my friend Cal McLean was on it.

580
00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:56,920
He messaged me and me and my friend Solomon and he was like, all right, working on this,

581
00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:59,000
you want to come hustle Chris blah, blah, blah.

582
00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:03,640
So we show up and we, you know, we're probably waiting half an hour or something, go up and

583
00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:07,040
meet him, have headshot and resume in the hand.

584
00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:10,640
You know, we hang around set, we help him move pads and we kind of just, you know, have

585
00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:13,120
a coffee or whatever with him.

586
00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:16,840
And then he's like, all right gents, you know, we've got to get back to work now.

587
00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:18,200
It was really nice meeting you.

588
00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:21,480
Have your resumes, I'll call you in a year.

589
00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:24,800
And I'm like, call me in a year.

590
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:25,800
That's weird.

591
00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:26,800
That's weird to say.

592
00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:29,560
What a weird, what a strange thing to like say.

593
00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:32,560
And he has, call me in a year.

594
00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:34,920
I was like, oh, okay.

595
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:38,280
And then we left and didn't hear anything from him.

596
00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:45,560
And sure enough, a year and a week he calls me and he's like, hey Ben, got your, you know,

597
00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:51,040
there's Chris R here calling you, seeing if you're available for next week TV show on

598
00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:52,040
a random TV show.

599
00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:54,920
And I was like, yeah, I'm available.

600
00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:58,520
So I went in and worked with him and it was great.

601
00:38:58,520 --> 00:38:59,520
You know, it was fine.

602
00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:07,440
And I didn't put two and two together until Fall Guy when we were doing, because a long,

603
00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:12,360
so what David Leitch is doing is basically, you know, obviously he's directing these

604
00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:20,720
movies, but alongside those movies, he's, he has a docu-series that follow the stuntmen

605
00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:21,720
on these movies.

606
00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:26,040
So he did, what was the first one he did?

607
00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:28,920
Was it Violent Night or the one before that?

608
00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:31,840
I know Jojo, Jojo Coronet.

609
00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:37,400
But basically he's following the movies that he does, the stunt team to kind of create

610
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:40,880
some more content for like a docu-series.

611
00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:41,880
And he followed Fall Guy.

612
00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:47,080
The docu-series team were kind of talking to me about hustling and all this stuff.

613
00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:48,560
And I said, hold on a minute.

614
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:49,560
I hustle quick.

615
00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:54,280
And I looked back at my records and I realized that he called me, he said, I'll call you

616
00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:55,280
in a year.

617
00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:58,080
And he called me a year and like four days later.

618
00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:01,760
And I told him this and he was, and I was like, why did, why do you say that?

619
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:04,240
Why do you say you're going to call someone in a year?

620
00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:09,280
He's like, well, firstly, like if they're still around a year later, I know they're

621
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:10,280
committed.

622
00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:13,720
I know they've got what it takes to at least survive in this industry.

623
00:40:13,720 --> 00:40:18,320
I know early on it's hard to kind of stay afloat and maybe they've given up.

624
00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:22,280
You know, a lot of people kind of try and get into the industry and then don't make

625
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:24,320
it and then they veer off to something else or whatever.

626
00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:26,320
So he's like, I know you're committed.

627
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:28,160
And I was like, wow, that's crazy.

628
00:40:28,160 --> 00:40:29,520
I was like, do you remember that phone call?

629
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:31,520
And do you remember like calling me a year later?

630
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:32,520
I had no idea.

631
00:40:32,520 --> 00:40:34,680
I was just look at the drawer that I called you.

632
00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:38,280
But I just thought that was quite a funny story that I hustled him and he said, I'll

633
00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:39,280
call you in a year.

634
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:42,280
And I'm sure enough, he called me a year later.

635
00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:43,280
All right.

636
00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:47,920
Well, as I kind of looked in IMDB and kind of followed the shows that you worked on,

637
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:51,040
one of the first ones that really jumped out to me that you wouldn't have thought would

638
00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:54,320
be attached to a stunt man was Dancing with the Stars.

639
00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:59,680
So how did you find yourself on that show and what were the stunts?

640
00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:06,880
So that was, I feel like that was kind of early days before I really got into kind of

641
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,960
filming movies and stuff.

642
00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:11,680
And I've done so many shows like that.

643
00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:21,880
But it's just, you know, a lot of my success really, it goes down to kind of like the people

644
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:24,560
that I was, my friends basically.

645
00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:30,600
And you know, I had one of my best friends, Travis Wong, he really put me on the map and

646
00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:34,200
he kind of he gave me a place to stay.

647
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:36,000
He gave me a place to train.

648
00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:38,680
He put me in front of the right people.

649
00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:43,240
So I wouldn't be where I am today without that guy.

650
00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:48,120
And he would always be like, you know, he was so well connected in the industry.

651
00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:54,360
He knew stunt coordinators, he knew dancers, he knew, he just knew everyone.

652
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:59,040
And you know, he was very good friends with a couple of dancers who were on like the LXD,

653
00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:00,880
the League of Extraordinary Dancers.

654
00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:04,600
And that kind of team would also go around and they would do Dancing with the Stars,

655
00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:08,640
or they would do something else, or they would do music videos.

656
00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:14,320
And you know, parkour and flips and acrobatics kind of just enhance kind of like a performance.

657
00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:19,520
So we did a lot of performance, like lots of live shows, lots of, you know, segments

658
00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:24,600
in a TV show where it would be kind of like the LXD who would be dancing.

659
00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:28,600
And in the background, me and Travis would be flipping over a stair set or kind of dropping

660
00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:33,020
down into frame and then get up and kind of flip off stage and then dancers would come

661
00:42:33,020 --> 00:42:34,020
in.

662
00:42:34,020 --> 00:42:38,400
So it kind of just elevated the performance and it wasn't necessarily like, I mean, it

663
00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:43,440
absolutely wasn't that I was on Dancing with the Stars, like as a dancer dancing.

664
00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:47,720
It was just one of those kind of specialty performances, you know, in kind of like the

665
00:42:47,720 --> 00:42:52,800
break where they would just have a little show and you know, welcome to the stage of

666
00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:53,800
the LXD.

667
00:42:53,800 --> 00:42:57,920
And the LXD would come in, they would perform and do like a really cool, creative, you know,

668
00:42:57,920 --> 00:42:58,920
dance sequence.

669
00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:04,800
So we would just kind of be a part of that and just add some elements of flips and acrobats

670
00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:07,400
and things like that into it.

671
00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:11,360
I had Spencer Thomas on the show a little while ago now, John Cena's stunt double.

672
00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:15,120
It was kind of really interesting hearing, you know, how that kind of came together initially

673
00:43:15,120 --> 00:43:18,680
from a football player to a stunt man.

674
00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:24,440
What was the kind of evolution of your stunt career from, you know, soldier number 276

675
00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:27,560
through to actually doubling some of the leads?

676
00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:34,960
So yeah, I mean, you know, the first jobs, the first jobs are always for free.

677
00:43:34,960 --> 00:43:42,000
You're always, you know, helping out someone with their little short film or you're just

678
00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:43,000
trying to get footage.

679
00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:46,680
So you call up a bunch of friends, you know, hey, can we just put this little fight scene

680
00:43:46,680 --> 00:43:51,480
together and can you throw me down the stairs one day or can you do this or can you do that?

681
00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:58,040
Like, you know, so we was, I've done so many projects where you're on night shoots because

682
00:43:58,040 --> 00:44:01,600
that's the only time where you could rent a gym for free kind of thing.

683
00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:06,880
Like, you know, usually like a place like Jam or like Travis's gym would have classes

684
00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:09,800
throughout the day and then they would have open gym at night and then they would shut

685
00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:10,800
the door.

686
00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:16,040
So he would let friends kind of use it after hours when it's, you know, it's not kind

687
00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:17,600
of taken away from business.

688
00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:24,480
So we would go there and we'd film little shorts and little scenes and where you're

689
00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:26,800
doing free work just because you need footage.

690
00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:33,040
And then it kind of goes from that to, you know, little, you know, like you said, just

691
00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:36,720
not even like, yeah, or yeah, Soldier 23 or something, right?

692
00:44:36,720 --> 00:44:40,720
Where you run into a room and you get shot by the rock or you just run into a room, you

693
00:44:40,720 --> 00:44:42,880
take a little bullet hit or something like that.

694
00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:47,200
And then there's a lot that goes into it.

695
00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:48,200
I'm quite lucky.

696
00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:50,120
I'm a, you know, six foot white dude.

697
00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:52,640
So you know, 180 pounds.

698
00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:59,040
There's lots of actors who kind of are those sizes.

699
00:44:59,040 --> 00:45:05,840
So the field of people that I can double is, you know, quite large.

700
00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:09,800
So I was kind of lucky in that aspect.

701
00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:14,800
It's just about kind of, you know, who you know, putting yourself in the right positions.

702
00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:19,640
It's really put me in front of a lot of people who kind of saw my skills and was like, oh,

703
00:45:19,640 --> 00:45:20,640
I could use that.

704
00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:25,640
And then, you know, if something came up, you would, they would put you in for something.

705
00:45:25,640 --> 00:45:30,080
But yeah, it just, and you know, experience on set is one thing as well.

706
00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:34,320
Like I remember the first time you, you know, I walked onto set, I was like, I have no idea

707
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:39,200
where to go or what to do or I'm just going to stay right here until I'm told to do otherwise.

708
00:45:39,200 --> 00:45:44,160
And then you learn kind of, you know, your set etiquette and what your job is when you're

709
00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:48,680
needed, when you're not needed and what to do, what not to do.

710
00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:53,880
And I think those first years are just kind of gaining experience and slowly building

711
00:45:53,880 --> 00:45:56,120
your way up in the industry.

712
00:45:56,120 --> 00:46:02,440
And then, and then yeah, when those bigger roles come through, you really, you know,

713
00:46:02,440 --> 00:46:05,040
that way you're kind of ready.

714
00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:11,400
I think my biggest, you know, I started off kind of, I think one of my first movies was

715
00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:14,440
Paul Blart, Mall Cop 2.

716
00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:18,240
And it was in Vegas for like three, four weeks or something.

717
00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:22,880
And I had to completely shave my head and I was a, I was one of the stunt doubles for

718
00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:24,920
the Cirque du Soleil performers.

719
00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:28,440
So they couldn't use the Cirque people as stunt people.

720
00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:29,580
I'm not too sure why.

721
00:46:29,580 --> 00:46:35,280
So we had to double them getting like kicked off the pillars into the water and do all

722
00:46:35,280 --> 00:46:36,280
that stuff.

723
00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:37,680
So that was kind of my first big movie.

724
00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:43,160
And then it moved on to, you know, a couple of other TV shows where you're doubling someone

725
00:46:43,160 --> 00:46:49,320
and you know, you get put in those positions where I think I was, I doubled the lead on

726
00:46:49,320 --> 00:46:54,560
an NCIS once and you'd come in for a day and you'd just fall down the stairs or, and then

727
00:46:54,560 --> 00:46:59,480
you'd get brought in for maybe, you know, like a month later for another day and you'd

728
00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:04,360
clear a room and shoot some people and take a bullet hit or something like that.

729
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:08,520
So then you get a glimpse of kind of doubling the lead actor, but it's for a day here and

730
00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:10,640
a day there and it's just for kind of like one thing.

731
00:47:10,640 --> 00:47:13,320
It's like, I just need you to tackle this dude and fall down the stairs.

732
00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:16,720
And then once you're done, you're done, you just go home.

733
00:47:16,720 --> 00:47:21,360
And then, and that's very different to kind of doubling a lead on a movie where you're

734
00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:27,720
with that person for, you know, six to nine months.

735
00:47:27,720 --> 00:47:31,120
So that's just another thing of gaining experience.

736
00:47:31,120 --> 00:47:38,800
And then, and then, yeah, and then, and, and then I think the first really big full run

737
00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:42,160
movie I went on was Jungle Book.

738
00:47:42,160 --> 00:47:50,080
So it was me, Travis and Paul White Cotton were kind of the main doubles for Mowgli.

739
00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:52,600
And then we also kind of did creature movements.

740
00:47:52,600 --> 00:47:55,660
So we did all the monkeys and the bears and things like that.

741
00:47:55,660 --> 00:48:02,920
So yeah, that was kind of the first full run movie I did.

742
00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:08,680
You know, you come in there, you do prep and then you do, you film the entire thing.

743
00:48:08,680 --> 00:48:11,160
And then, and then yeah, and then it just kept going from there.

744
00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:12,160
Really.

745
00:48:12,160 --> 00:48:16,360
I was just, you know, I started kind of meeting more coordinators and the name was getting

746
00:48:16,360 --> 00:48:19,640
out there and then you start getting pulled from kind of every direction.

747
00:48:19,640 --> 00:48:20,640
Are you available for this?

748
00:48:20,640 --> 00:48:21,640
Are you available for that?

749
00:48:21,640 --> 00:48:30,640
And then it was kind of just kind of just happened and kept going from there.

750
00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:35,320
When you said stair fall, I, in my mind, I could just imagine Keanu Reeves is double

751
00:48:35,320 --> 00:48:37,920
being told, oh, we're just going to be, there's a stair fall in this movie.

752
00:48:37,920 --> 00:48:39,480
So we're going to need you to do that.

753
00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:43,720
Not understanding that it's going to be about, about half a mile of stairs that you're going

754
00:48:43,720 --> 00:48:45,360
to ultimately fall down.

755
00:48:45,360 --> 00:48:50,400
Were there any films where you were proposed a skill and then, you know, when you actually

756
00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:54,320
read the set, read the script, you were like, oh, this is, this is a little bigger than,

757
00:48:54,320 --> 00:48:55,880
than I was told over the phone.

758
00:48:55,880 --> 00:48:58,320
It's funny you say that.

759
00:48:58,320 --> 00:48:59,920
The, both of those guys are my friends.

760
00:48:59,920 --> 00:49:03,640
It was Daniel Graham and Jackson Spidell who did that.

761
00:49:03,640 --> 00:49:06,040
And what a gangster stair fall.

762
00:49:06,040 --> 00:49:08,600
Like, oh my goodness.

763
00:49:08,600 --> 00:49:14,120
But those two are some of the most talented people in the business.

764
00:49:14,120 --> 00:49:15,120
I don't know.

765
00:49:15,120 --> 00:49:18,680
I feel even for them, I feel like you see the stair set and you're like, oh, let's go.

766
00:49:18,680 --> 00:49:19,960
Like, this is going to be cool.

767
00:49:19,960 --> 00:49:27,600
I mean, you know, a stair, look, a stair fall is, is, you know, it can suck, but, but it's

768
00:49:27,600 --> 00:49:28,600
also, I don't know.

769
00:49:28,600 --> 00:49:34,440
I feel like the people at the top of the game, like get excited over things like that.

770
00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:36,680
It's like a, it's like a new challenge and it's, and it's fun.

771
00:49:36,680 --> 00:49:39,480
Like maybe we, I'm sure they haven't done a stair fall that long before.

772
00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:41,920
So they were like, all right, let's go.

773
00:49:41,920 --> 00:49:47,080
And for me, as at least I see it as a, as a really cool challenge.

774
00:49:47,080 --> 00:49:53,920
Have I ever gotten there and be like, well, this is bigger than I thought.

775
00:49:53,920 --> 00:49:55,160
I mean, I'm sure it's happened.

776
00:49:55,160 --> 00:49:57,880
I can't necessarily think of a specific time.

777
00:49:57,880 --> 00:49:59,240
I'm sure it's, I'm sure it's happened.

778
00:49:59,240 --> 00:50:02,920
You're like, well, that looks, that's higher than I thought it would be, or, or it's going

779
00:50:02,920 --> 00:50:05,640
to, that's going to be gnarlier than I thought, or that's going to hurt more.

780
00:50:05,640 --> 00:50:09,240
Or you know, a lot has to do with the environment.

781
00:50:09,240 --> 00:50:13,840
If you can land on something that's, that's quite soft, then it's, it's usually all right.

782
00:50:13,840 --> 00:50:20,360
Stairs are deceivingly like, they don't hurt as much as you think because you're kind of

783
00:50:20,360 --> 00:50:21,360
going down.

784
00:50:21,360 --> 00:50:22,360
Like speed is your friend.

785
00:50:22,360 --> 00:50:26,080
If you get a lot of speed, your momentum kind of takes you down, but then it depends on

786
00:50:26,080 --> 00:50:27,080
the stair.

787
00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:30,200
Like if it's like a marble stair set with really sharp edges, you're like, oh, that's

788
00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:31,640
going to suck.

789
00:50:31,640 --> 00:50:35,200
But like if you have a nice carpeted set of stairs that aren't too steep, like, yeah,

790
00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:36,400
this will be absolutely fine.

791
00:50:36,400 --> 00:50:41,240
So it depends on the environment and it depends on kind of the situation and what you have

792
00:50:41,240 --> 00:50:44,040
to do.

793
00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:47,480
But yeah, I mean, a lot of the time, and also it's dictated with like what you have to wear

794
00:50:47,480 --> 00:50:53,400
too, because at a certain point, like, you know, you can, you can do things all day in

795
00:50:53,400 --> 00:50:56,800
trainers and, and, you know, joggers and a t-shirt, right?

796
00:50:56,800 --> 00:51:02,160
If like really comfortable clothing, but then you get on set and you have to wear like metal

797
00:51:02,160 --> 00:51:05,920
cowboy boots with like a cowboy hat and a tight leather jacket and like tight pad or

798
00:51:05,920 --> 00:51:06,920
whatever it is.

799
00:51:06,920 --> 00:51:08,520
Like, it just makes it so much harder.

800
00:51:08,520 --> 00:51:12,680
So there's so many factors that kind of go into, into stunts.

801
00:51:12,680 --> 00:51:17,280
And you know, there's, I feel like more times have been like, this is what you have to do.

802
00:51:17,280 --> 00:51:18,280
Okay, cool.

803
00:51:18,280 --> 00:51:22,760
And you have to wear this and this and this, you know, like, I have to wear like a backpack

804
00:51:22,760 --> 00:51:28,080
with stuff in it or like a chest plate with like things everywhere, a helmet with glasses

805
00:51:28,080 --> 00:51:33,560
or a full face mask or, you know, the masks are always a tricky one if you have to, if

806
00:51:33,560 --> 00:51:38,000
you're in prosthetics or if you have to actually wear like a, like a full face mask that kind

807
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:41,360
of blurs your vision or things like that.

808
00:51:41,360 --> 00:51:46,160
So it's, there's lots of things that kind of go into, you know, making something harder

809
00:51:46,160 --> 00:51:51,740
or making something scarier or adding difficulty to it.

810
00:51:51,740 --> 00:51:55,440
When I did the pirate show, which was another, it wasn't universal.

811
00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:56,840
It was a private show.

812
00:51:56,840 --> 00:52:00,760
We actually did it in Florida and California.

813
00:52:00,760 --> 00:52:03,400
There was a sword fight like 30 feet up in the air.

814
00:52:03,400 --> 00:52:05,800
You just had a circus loop was your only safety.

815
00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:10,080
So if you did fall, you'd be dangling if your shoulder was still in its place.

816
00:52:10,080 --> 00:52:11,960
But then you came down and then you did a fall.

817
00:52:11,960 --> 00:52:13,200
I'm not going to call it a high fall.

818
00:52:13,200 --> 00:52:14,400
It was only 18 foot.

819
00:52:14,400 --> 00:52:19,080
But one of my friends that played the same role in the show, he got caught up on the

820
00:52:19,080 --> 00:52:25,480
way down from the, the, the mast at the top and then ended up falling into the, the fall

821
00:52:25,480 --> 00:52:29,640
pit and then hitting the concrete on the way down instead broke his back.

822
00:52:29,640 --> 00:52:31,160
I mean, they fractured his back.

823
00:52:31,160 --> 00:52:35,000
Luckily it didn't damage his spinal cord longterm.

824
00:52:35,000 --> 00:52:40,600
But that is one very, very up close and personal awareness piece of the safety on set, whether

825
00:52:40,600 --> 00:52:43,760
it's live shows or films when it comes to the stunt world.

826
00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:49,160
And I had Olivia Jackson on a few years ago who lost her arm on Resident Evil after that

827
00:52:49,160 --> 00:52:51,600
horrendous mistake from the boom operator.

828
00:52:51,600 --> 00:52:57,480
Recently, obviously rust has been in the news.

829
00:52:57,480 --> 00:53:02,280
What have you seen just as far as the evolution of safety on set to protect our performers

830
00:53:02,280 --> 00:53:04,960
and our stunt performers?

831
00:53:04,960 --> 00:53:05,960
Yeah.

832
00:53:05,960 --> 00:53:07,760
And that's, I mean, it's a massive thing.

833
00:53:07,760 --> 00:53:13,400
I mean, this kind of ties in with so much about like, you know, the Oscars and getting

834
00:53:13,400 --> 00:53:14,400
reckoned.

835
00:53:14,400 --> 00:53:19,480
Like stunts are the only department in film that we really do risk our lives.

836
00:53:19,480 --> 00:53:23,400
Like look, we, nothing, we never planned for anything like this to happen, but mistakes

837
00:53:23,400 --> 00:53:28,440
happen and we're, you know, we make it as safe as possible, but we do some dangerous

838
00:53:28,440 --> 00:53:29,560
things sometimes, right?

839
00:53:29,560 --> 00:53:33,040
Like doing a car transfer or hanging 150 feet from the sky.

840
00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:34,320
It's quite dangerous.

841
00:53:34,320 --> 00:53:42,960
So you know, all the safety precautions are in place and everything we do is rehearsed

842
00:53:42,960 --> 00:53:49,640
and practiced and gone over multiple times, but still, you know, things happen like you've

843
00:53:49,640 --> 00:53:52,320
just mentioned and accidents happen.

844
00:53:52,320 --> 00:54:00,560
But it's, I think that, I mean, it just, it comes down to like, you know, who you're

845
00:54:00,560 --> 00:54:09,800
working for and the steps that you go through and especially these days, you know, I feel

846
00:54:09,800 --> 00:54:16,920
like I know when something's safe and not safe and I am happy to kind of take a step

847
00:54:16,920 --> 00:54:19,720
back and be like, Hey guys, like, let's just redo this.

848
00:54:19,720 --> 00:54:22,840
Let's test this again or let's do this and let's take our time here because it's not

849
00:54:22,840 --> 00:54:24,000
worth anyone getting injured.

850
00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:32,040
So you know, on Fall Guy, we did some of the biggest craziest, I mean, Logan broke records

851
00:54:32,040 --> 00:54:37,800
and we jumped a car and he jumped a car 220 feet and we did a descender from 150 feet

852
00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:46,680
with myself and Ryan on the line and you know, fire, we did so much and you know, you see

853
00:54:46,680 --> 00:54:51,520
the movie and you see the car hit happen and it happens in three seconds and you see the

854
00:54:51,520 --> 00:54:55,840
fire burn happen and it happens over the course of a couple of minutes and then you see the

855
00:54:55,840 --> 00:54:59,800
cannon roll happen and it happens in 10 seconds and the car jumped three seconds.

856
00:54:59,800 --> 00:55:02,680
But what you don't see is all the prep that's gone into that.

857
00:55:02,680 --> 00:55:04,680
That's months and months and months of prep.

858
00:55:04,680 --> 00:55:10,280
I mean, Logan was talking to Chris about the cannon roll for like six months before the

859
00:55:10,280 --> 00:55:12,320
movie had, they even filmed it.

860
00:55:12,320 --> 00:55:16,800
Like he was talking to her for so long and planning it and figuring out the math and

861
00:55:16,800 --> 00:55:22,400
figuring out the science and figuring out like what needs to go where and the rehearsals

862
00:55:22,400 --> 00:55:27,640
that went into it were insane and it's what's needed.

863
00:55:27,640 --> 00:55:32,640
You know, it's what's needed in this day and age and people don't see that.

864
00:55:32,640 --> 00:55:35,960
You know, people think we're risk takers and we're daredevils and sure, we've got

865
00:55:35,960 --> 00:55:41,960
to like, I love a bit of risk and I like doing things that scare me and push my physical

866
00:55:41,960 --> 00:55:46,080
limits and mental limits too.

867
00:55:46,080 --> 00:55:51,880
But everything is prepped and rehearsed and practiced more than you would think.

868
00:55:51,880 --> 00:55:55,240
Well, it's interesting doing two careers parallel.

869
00:55:55,240 --> 00:55:58,640
So doing the stunt side, but then obviously doing the firefighting side, which, you know,

870
00:55:58,640 --> 00:56:01,600
arguably is a different version of stunts.

871
00:56:01,600 --> 00:56:05,120
But you know, the diligence of preparation is so important.

872
00:56:05,120 --> 00:56:09,680
Now for the stunt world, you're preparing for this one scene that's going to unfold

873
00:56:09,680 --> 00:56:12,140
on a stage, on a set, whatever it is.

874
00:56:12,140 --> 00:56:17,400
For the fire service and the paramedic side that we do, you're actually rehearsing for

875
00:56:17,400 --> 00:56:20,120
something that you don't know if you're ever going to do it.

876
00:56:20,120 --> 00:56:24,520
But it's imperative that you rehearse it because one day someone's going to call 911

877
00:56:24,520 --> 00:56:26,800
and now all eyes are on you.

878
00:56:26,800 --> 00:56:27,800
Yeah.

879
00:56:27,800 --> 00:56:32,840
Yeah, it's, I mean, you know, stunts is kind of, there's a goal, right?

880
00:56:32,840 --> 00:56:34,960
There's a goal to like today we're going to set someone on fire.

881
00:56:34,960 --> 00:56:36,440
So let's prepare for that.

882
00:56:36,440 --> 00:56:38,840
You know, tomorrow we're going to do a car jump.

883
00:56:38,840 --> 00:56:42,640
Let's prepare for that and so on and so forth.

884
00:56:42,640 --> 00:56:45,080
So but you have to know all the different safety aspects.

885
00:56:45,080 --> 00:56:49,240
Like we had a fire safety team there and you know, they were a bunch of Aussie guys who

886
00:56:49,240 --> 00:56:55,120
were phenomenal and they really kind of, you know, got me through that and trained me up

887
00:56:55,120 --> 00:56:56,760
and gave me lots of really good advice.

888
00:56:56,760 --> 00:56:59,900
That was my first fire burn that I ever did on camera.

889
00:56:59,900 --> 00:57:09,480
So we prepped it by, you know, in the rehearsal stages of the movie in prep, you know, I'd

890
00:57:09,480 --> 00:57:10,480
never done fire before.

891
00:57:10,480 --> 00:57:16,280
So I got a bunch of denim clothes with some, you know, with my carbon X underneath and

892
00:57:16,280 --> 00:57:20,880
kind of got everything set up and they set my arm on fire so I could kind of feel what

893
00:57:20,880 --> 00:57:25,080
it felt like to have my arm on fire and see how the fire reacted outside.

894
00:57:25,080 --> 00:57:26,460
And then they set your legs on fire.

895
00:57:26,460 --> 00:57:29,820
So you kind of do that and then your little lower back and go a bit higher.

896
00:57:29,820 --> 00:57:35,000
We tested out the material that the wardrobe was going to be because I was wearing the

897
00:57:35,000 --> 00:57:37,440
whole gold kind of space cowboy suit.

898
00:57:37,440 --> 00:57:41,560
So we strapped that to me onto the back of my denim thing, lit that on fire, see kind

899
00:57:41,560 --> 00:57:47,720
of how it reacted, did a, you know, kind of like a half, like three quarter burn and kind

900
00:57:47,720 --> 00:57:52,640
of did that just to kind of see how it reacts, see how I react, see how I handle it.

901
00:57:52,640 --> 00:57:57,600
Because there's lots of things that can go wrong and it's never a good idea to just,

902
00:57:57,600 --> 00:58:03,360
if you haven't done that before, especially with fire, to just throw someone in the deep

903
00:58:03,360 --> 00:58:04,680
end and do it.

904
00:58:04,680 --> 00:58:07,200
So I kind of, I wanted to feel what it felt like to be on fire.

905
00:58:07,200 --> 00:58:10,600
I wanted to see, you know, how it reacts and what you have to do.

906
00:58:10,600 --> 00:58:13,480
Because if you light your arm on fire and you just stay there, like the wind can blow

907
00:58:13,480 --> 00:58:14,920
it into your face and then you get burned.

908
00:58:14,920 --> 00:58:20,960
So you have to keep it moving and keep it away from you and kind of, you know, it's

909
00:58:20,960 --> 00:58:24,840
kind of a dance between you and the fire and what you do.

910
00:58:24,840 --> 00:58:28,360
You know, I have a bunch of like behind the scenes videos of me and the first time I got

911
00:58:28,360 --> 00:58:31,560
lit on fire, I was quite static and the wind was helping me.

912
00:58:31,560 --> 00:58:35,080
It was kind of blowing into me, sort of keeping the fire behind.

913
00:58:35,080 --> 00:58:39,920
And on the day we did, I did one fire burn the first day and seven the next day.

914
00:58:39,920 --> 00:58:44,800
So the first day, the wind, the first day the wind was into my face and then the second

915
00:58:44,800 --> 00:58:46,360
day, was it opposite?

916
00:58:46,360 --> 00:58:47,360
I forget.

917
00:58:47,360 --> 00:58:49,920
But one, but both days the wind was completely different.

918
00:58:49,920 --> 00:58:52,520
So it kind of, it started a bit differently.

919
00:58:52,520 --> 00:58:58,280
So you know, on the second day, it was behind me blowing this way.

920
00:58:58,280 --> 00:58:59,840
So it's a lot harder to deal with.

921
00:58:59,840 --> 00:59:05,400
So I had to turn myself around, kind of like myself and kind of move the fire around me.

922
00:59:05,400 --> 00:59:10,040
And then when they call action, kind of turn around and go.

923
00:59:10,040 --> 00:59:14,080
And you just, you learn that kind of, you know, with, you know, the practice and the

924
00:59:14,080 --> 00:59:19,600
prep beforehand, you know, you have the fire safety team there with everything that they

925
00:59:19,600 --> 00:59:23,680
need to kind of put you out if something goes wrong and then put you out when everything

926
00:59:23,680 --> 00:59:24,680
goes great.

927
00:59:24,680 --> 00:59:25,680
And then they yell cut.

928
00:59:25,680 --> 00:59:32,200
So, you know, it's definitely a team effort and it takes more than more than one person

929
00:59:32,200 --> 00:59:35,480
to kind of execute something like that.

930
00:59:35,480 --> 00:59:37,520
Did you ever work with Steve Shriver?

931
00:59:37,520 --> 00:59:39,280
No, I haven't.

932
00:59:39,280 --> 00:59:40,280
Or Todd Bloomer?

933
00:59:40,280 --> 00:59:41,280
No, no, no.

934
00:59:41,280 --> 00:59:44,380
That's probably the era before.

935
00:59:44,380 --> 00:59:48,760
So when I was in Japan, they were in the Waterworld stunt show.

936
00:59:48,760 --> 00:59:52,200
Todd was actually a mariner, but Steve was one of the fire divers.

937
00:59:52,200 --> 00:59:55,520
And so when you're talking about the fire, I can see exactly what you're talking about

938
00:59:55,520 --> 00:59:59,600
because I would, you know, go there, you know, when they were rehearsing, I even tried out

939
00:59:59,600 --> 01:00:03,160
for it at the very end before my contract ended.

940
01:00:03,160 --> 01:00:06,000
And you know, they're up 30 feet in the air.

941
01:00:06,000 --> 01:00:09,480
I think it was a 30 foot fall and they're on fire.

942
01:00:09,480 --> 01:00:12,800
And then if the wind is blowing the wrong way, they basically got to try and, you know,

943
01:00:12,800 --> 01:00:16,560
like outrun the wind, because it's coming behind them because they're running into the

944
01:00:16,560 --> 01:00:21,560
direction of the flame and then do a 30 foot high fall and land feet first in the water,

945
01:00:21,560 --> 01:00:25,680
hopefully, and then swim underwater to, you know, where they hide in the set for the next

946
01:00:25,680 --> 01:00:26,680
scene.

947
01:00:26,680 --> 01:00:29,960
So yeah, I can visualize exactly what you're talking about.

948
01:00:29,960 --> 01:00:35,560
Yeah, I think I think I there's one thing I wish I did a live show.

949
01:00:35,560 --> 01:00:36,560
I really do.

950
01:00:36,560 --> 01:00:37,560
I wish I did.

951
01:00:37,560 --> 01:00:42,000
And I encourage all the stunt performers kind of getting into the business to do that because

952
01:00:42,000 --> 01:00:44,280
it gives you such good practice at that.

953
01:00:44,280 --> 01:00:47,440
I mean, those guys do 10 shows a day.

954
01:00:47,440 --> 01:00:50,520
That's 10 fire burns a day over the course of a year.

955
01:00:50,520 --> 01:00:53,040
300, you know, what is that?

956
01:00:53,040 --> 01:00:54,040
That's 3000.

957
01:00:54,040 --> 01:00:55,840
Is my math terrible there?

958
01:00:55,840 --> 01:01:00,160
That's a lot of fire burns throughout, you know, the year.

959
01:01:00,160 --> 01:01:04,040
That's more fire burns than I've ever done in my 10 year career in stunts.

960
01:01:04,040 --> 01:01:06,800
And you get that in one year of doing a live show.

961
01:01:06,800 --> 01:01:12,720
So the amount of reps that you get performing in front of an audience, dealing with pressure,

962
01:01:12,720 --> 01:01:19,200
you know, 10 fight scenes a day, 10 fire burns a day, 10 high falls a day, 10 jet ski jumps

963
01:01:19,200 --> 01:01:25,560
a day, 10 air arms, whatever, you're just doing reps and reps and reps in front of people.

964
01:01:25,560 --> 01:01:28,320
As a performance, I think it's fantastic.

965
01:01:28,320 --> 01:01:29,720
And I kind of wish I did it.

966
01:01:29,720 --> 01:01:37,120
I kind of feel like I skipped that step just from I mean, who you kind of know and the

967
01:01:37,120 --> 01:01:38,120
position that you're in.

968
01:01:38,120 --> 01:01:45,080
And I actually think I was up for in my early days, I got offered to do the Spider-Man live

969
01:01:45,080 --> 01:01:47,680
show and I was debating like, what do I do?

970
01:01:47,680 --> 01:01:48,680
Do I do it?

971
01:01:48,680 --> 01:01:49,680
Do I not like it would be good?

972
01:01:49,680 --> 01:01:51,360
And then I got offered Jungle Book, right?

973
01:01:51,360 --> 01:01:56,120
Like a week later and I was like, I'm going to do Jungle Book.

974
01:01:56,120 --> 01:01:57,120
And it was great.

975
01:01:57,120 --> 01:01:58,120
Don't get me wrong.

976
01:01:58,120 --> 01:01:59,120
I'm very happy.

977
01:01:59,120 --> 01:02:02,440
I feel like I made the right choice, but I feel like a live show would have been would

978
01:02:02,440 --> 01:02:03,440
have been good.

979
01:02:03,440 --> 01:02:09,960
I came earlier in the career so I could have done it, but no, I think live shows are fantastic.

980
01:02:09,960 --> 01:02:13,400
They're a great practice for a new stunt performance.

981
01:02:13,400 --> 01:02:14,400
Yeah.

982
01:02:14,400 --> 01:02:16,760
And you also get instant gratification.

983
01:02:16,760 --> 01:02:21,920
If you do a scene well, depending on the show, the Terminator one was a 3D experience so

984
01:02:21,920 --> 01:02:25,560
it wasn't as much clapping, but like the Bourne show you get clapping and the Pirate show

985
01:02:25,560 --> 01:02:28,440
you certainly did because it was a dinner show.

986
01:02:28,440 --> 01:02:31,600
But then the other thing is, yeah, if you screw up, there's no cut.

987
01:02:31,600 --> 01:02:32,600
You've just got to figure it out.

988
01:02:32,600 --> 01:02:36,880
You've got to try and reclaim your sword choreography or get up even though you had the wind knocked

989
01:02:36,880 --> 01:02:39,120
out of you because you landed the wrong way.

990
01:02:39,120 --> 01:02:42,200
So that's the other thing I saw.

991
01:02:42,200 --> 01:02:45,040
All of that is great experience.

992
01:02:45,040 --> 01:02:49,520
People mess up all the time and it's okay, but it's almost worse if you mess up in a

993
01:02:49,520 --> 01:02:53,600
live show because then you have to keep going with the live show.

994
01:02:53,600 --> 01:02:57,360
Like if you mess up in a tape, you just say, Kurt, do it again, restart.

995
01:02:57,360 --> 01:03:00,200
But in a live show, it teaches you so much.

996
01:03:00,200 --> 01:03:09,360
I think it's a very valuable skill to have and it's a very valuable experience to have.

997
01:03:09,360 --> 01:03:12,840
You mentioned when we were talking about safety on set about the Oscars as well, and this

998
01:03:12,840 --> 01:03:17,200
is something I've talked to with Steve and Spencer.

999
01:03:17,200 --> 01:03:22,640
The lesser known fact is that there is no award for stunt performers and listening to

1000
01:03:22,640 --> 01:03:27,880
Olivia as well, also sometimes it's not protection when things go wrong for our stunt community

1001
01:03:27,880 --> 01:03:30,040
as well.

1002
01:03:30,040 --> 01:03:35,400
In The Fall Guy, being a stunt man, I immediately referenced some of those little moments in

1003
01:03:35,400 --> 01:03:38,680
the film where they talk about that.

1004
01:03:38,680 --> 01:03:40,160
Expand on that.

1005
01:03:40,160 --> 01:03:46,320
What is the disconnect between the stunt performing world and the protection and recognition that

1006
01:03:46,320 --> 01:03:49,320
the actors are getting?

1007
01:03:49,320 --> 01:03:54,320
Yeah.

1008
01:03:54,320 --> 01:04:03,120
I got into stunts because it excited me, it allowed me to be creative and push my own

1009
01:04:03,120 --> 01:04:06,280
limits and I never got into it for recognition.

1010
01:04:06,280 --> 01:04:08,920
I don't think anyone did.

1011
01:04:08,920 --> 01:04:14,480
We love what we do, regardless of whichever background we came from, if it's martial

1012
01:04:14,480 --> 01:04:19,840
arts, if it's parkour, if it's gymnastics, if it's motorbike or racing or whatever it

1013
01:04:19,840 --> 01:04:20,840
is.

1014
01:04:20,840 --> 01:04:26,440
There are so many different avenues to get into this business.

1015
01:04:26,440 --> 01:04:33,320
I think we all just wanted to do that and it's cool to be on a movie and show your

1016
01:04:33,320 --> 01:04:41,120
skills and perform and be a part of these things that we all love and be a part of the

1017
01:04:41,120 --> 01:04:42,120
film.

1018
01:04:42,120 --> 01:04:43,120
It's great.

1019
01:04:43,120 --> 01:04:49,160
We never got into it for that but the more you're in it and the more you see all of

1020
01:04:49,160 --> 01:04:55,400
these, you see the awards show every year and for so many awards for these films that

1021
01:04:55,400 --> 01:04:59,760
we're a part of, you think to yourself, hold on a minute, everyone else is getting recognition

1022
01:04:59,760 --> 01:05:03,000
but we're not.

1023
01:05:03,000 --> 01:05:06,680
I feel like I've been asked this a lot and I have a very simple answer for it.

1024
01:05:06,680 --> 01:05:11,480
I think every single department who's involved in the creative process of making a film should

1025
01:05:11,480 --> 01:05:14,080
be recognized.

1026
01:05:14,080 --> 01:05:16,080
To me it's a no-brainer, right?

1027
01:05:16,080 --> 01:05:23,040
Whether that is wardrobe, hair, stunts, actors, directors, whatever.

1028
01:05:23,040 --> 01:05:27,600
Everyone who's involved in the creative process of it should be recognized.

1029
01:05:27,600 --> 01:05:31,160
The more you think about it, it's so weird that we're not.

1030
01:05:31,160 --> 01:05:37,520
We're a massive part of these films that people love.

1031
01:05:37,520 --> 01:05:42,880
How many movies these days have zero action in them?

1032
01:05:42,880 --> 01:05:43,880
Not many.

1033
01:05:43,880 --> 01:05:49,160
So little, so little, 1%, 5% max.

1034
01:05:49,160 --> 01:05:58,040
There's not a lot of movies that have 0% action.

1035
01:05:58,040 --> 01:05:59,920
There's some movies that have very little action.

1036
01:05:59,920 --> 01:06:03,960
They're not going to be nominated for an action award or a stunt award or whatever

1037
01:06:03,960 --> 01:06:11,280
but there's so many movies that are that actors and everyone else gets credit for but

1038
01:06:11,280 --> 01:06:14,400
we don't.

1039
01:06:14,400 --> 01:06:27,600
But saying that, I know that my job is to now that I'm doubling and things like that

1040
01:06:27,600 --> 01:06:30,920
because there's a difference.

1041
01:06:30,920 --> 01:06:35,720
If you come in and perform and you're the one fighting the lead bad guy or the lead

1042
01:06:35,720 --> 01:06:39,680
guy or the lead hero or whatever, your face is in the movie, you're in the movie, you're

1043
01:06:39,680 --> 01:06:45,040
a part of the gang or the bad guys, the villain squad or whatever it is.

1044
01:06:45,040 --> 01:06:49,800
You're the crew of that and then you're in the movie, your face is there and you're

1045
01:06:49,800 --> 01:06:56,920
actually a part of the scene so you're going to be seen.

1046
01:06:56,920 --> 01:07:01,800
More recently I've just been doubling lots of people so I'm not seen.

1047
01:07:01,800 --> 01:07:03,480
My face isn't seen, I'm not a character.

1048
01:07:03,480 --> 01:07:08,360
I'm kind of resembling the actor who is portraying a character.

1049
01:07:08,360 --> 01:07:15,800
I'm very aware that my job is to come in and replicate the actor and mimic the actor

1050
01:07:15,800 --> 01:07:22,000
as much as I can and mimic the character that we're both kind of playing and perform and

1051
01:07:22,000 --> 01:07:27,280
then he comes in and he does what he can and then he does the action and then delivers

1052
01:07:27,280 --> 01:07:31,360
the lines and then we swap out and then I'll do a ratchet into a wall or something and

1053
01:07:31,360 --> 01:07:33,360
then he gets put in for the landing.

1054
01:07:33,360 --> 01:07:40,600
I'm very aware that there's a process to it, there's an art to kind of keeping people

1055
01:07:40,600 --> 01:07:45,960
in the movie and thinking that it's the same person.

1056
01:07:45,960 --> 01:07:50,520
Ultimately making the actor and making the character look good, that's our job, that's

1057
01:07:50,520 --> 01:07:55,760
our goal to kind of not be seen and not be known but that doesn't mean we shouldn't

1058
01:07:55,760 --> 01:08:01,040
get credited for it and shouldn't get a bit of recognition for it especially when

1059
01:08:01,040 --> 01:08:02,920
we're putting our lives on the line.

1060
01:08:02,920 --> 01:08:11,560
Like people get hurt and we really look, it's safe, we make it as safe as we can and we

1061
01:08:11,560 --> 01:08:16,720
go through all the precautions but things happen and we really are the only department

1062
01:08:16,720 --> 01:08:23,640
that kind of puts our lives on the line or can just get seriously injured.

1063
01:08:23,640 --> 01:08:29,280
Like so many people have like broken bones and this and that and got seriously injured

1064
01:08:29,280 --> 01:08:35,560
or died, as horrible as that is, it is a reality.

1065
01:08:35,560 --> 01:08:49,040
So I just, I think with a movie like Fall Guy, it's really, it's put stunts on the

1066
01:08:49,040 --> 01:08:50,440
map more now than ever.

1067
01:08:50,440 --> 01:08:56,920
I think in the past five years people have been like oh stunt doubles are actually a

1068
01:08:56,920 --> 01:09:02,400
thing like there's been more posts on Instagram of seeing, especially with the Marvel world,

1069
01:09:02,400 --> 01:09:11,360
like seeing Captain America's double do a cork off a little platform and land and Keanu

1070
01:09:11,360 --> 01:09:16,880
Reeves' double Jackson, that whole clip of him falling off the roof, chipping off the

1071
01:09:16,880 --> 01:09:22,080
balcony and then onto another roof and then onto the floor, that went viral and people

1072
01:09:22,080 --> 01:09:28,600
are slowly realizing oh like that's not Keanu Reeves, there's another person doing that

1073
01:09:28,600 --> 01:09:32,400
and his name is Jackson Spidell.

1074
01:09:32,400 --> 01:09:42,320
So it's becoming a little bit more known that what we do is an actual thing and it's a profession

1075
01:09:42,320 --> 01:09:50,400
but I think Fall Guy has really kind of elevated that and put it on the map and that's, you

1076
01:09:50,400 --> 01:09:57,520
know, that's all to do with David and Kelly and Ryan and Emily, you know, the director

1077
01:09:57,520 --> 01:10:03,000
and the producer and Ryan and Emily really just shine in such a positive spotlight and

1078
01:10:03,000 --> 01:10:08,480
using the spotlight that they have to shine a bright spotlight on the stunt community

1079
01:10:08,480 --> 01:10:17,720
and that was, it's been amazing to be a part of it and I'm very thankful for them for

1080
01:10:17,720 --> 01:10:21,240
doing so, not just for myself but for everyone.

1081
01:10:21,240 --> 01:10:25,240
I feel like it's a very kind thing to do.

1082
01:10:25,240 --> 01:10:28,160
They didn't need to do it but they're doing it.

1083
01:10:28,160 --> 01:10:37,520
They use their time at the Oscars to pitch basically a new category to show a really

1084
01:10:37,520 --> 01:10:45,200
cool video on stunts and take the time to kind of talk about us and kind of being a

1085
01:10:45,200 --> 01:10:49,120
part of this whole press tour.

1086
01:10:49,120 --> 01:10:52,240
They've done it every step of the way, you know, it's almost like they're not taking

1087
01:10:52,240 --> 01:10:54,960
the glory for themselves, they're really kind of shining a spotlight.

1088
01:10:54,960 --> 01:10:59,560
They're taking the time to deflect the praise that they're getting and shine it into the

1089
01:10:59,560 --> 01:11:02,640
stunt community and it's admirable.

1090
01:11:02,640 --> 01:11:06,000
It's really cool that they're doing that.

1091
01:11:06,000 --> 01:11:10,360
Well, it's another parallel between the two professions and like I said, I wasn't a film

1092
01:11:10,360 --> 01:11:12,560
stunt man to be clear about that.

1093
01:11:12,560 --> 01:11:17,480
But when it comes to the fire service now, there are people around the country that do

1094
01:11:17,480 --> 01:11:22,160
what we do for free, not usually the EMS side but at least the fire side and it's justified

1095
01:11:22,160 --> 01:11:26,520
in very, very small rural areas where the townspeople will do that, God forbid there's

1096
01:11:26,520 --> 01:11:27,520
a fire.

1097
01:11:27,520 --> 01:11:33,360
But there's been a devolution to take an advantage of these men and women that all you do is

1098
01:11:33,360 --> 01:11:36,760
push three buttons on a telephone and come hell or high water, they're going to show

1099
01:11:36,760 --> 01:11:43,320
up with the Swiss army knife of skill to try and mitigate your worst day.

1100
01:11:43,320 --> 01:11:48,760
But we have allowed that to be taken for granted, you know, and people kind of like the stunt

1101
01:11:48,760 --> 01:11:52,160
industry, they think about us for a moment if they need us and apart from that we've

1102
01:11:52,160 --> 01:11:57,040
forgotten about and sadly politicians are cutting fire stations and crews and all that

1103
01:11:57,040 --> 01:11:58,040
stuff.

1104
01:11:58,040 --> 01:11:59,600
So to me, I see the same thing.

1105
01:11:59,600 --> 01:12:06,200
If you're not put front and center and people tell what you actually do for them, it's not

1106
01:12:06,200 --> 01:12:08,960
for accolades, it's just for acknowledgement.

1107
01:12:08,960 --> 01:12:13,560
If that doesn't happen, it's very easy for them for the work environment that you work

1108
01:12:13,560 --> 01:12:17,340
amongst to deteriorate because no one's fighting for you.

1109
01:12:17,340 --> 01:12:21,920
So I think it's less about the little shiny statue or more about the acknowledgement of

1110
01:12:21,920 --> 01:12:27,120
the stunt community and then continuing to push the safety and the pay and the insurance.

1111
01:12:27,120 --> 01:12:31,600
I mean, if a firefighter leaves, you know, retires, they have zero health insurance the

1112
01:12:31,600 --> 01:12:33,820
moment they walk out the door, most of us.

1113
01:12:33,820 --> 01:12:37,720
So you just got beaten up for 20, 30 years mentally and physically and then you're out

1114
01:12:37,720 --> 01:12:39,220
the back door.

1115
01:12:39,220 --> 01:12:41,320
And I feel it's the same with the stunt industry.

1116
01:12:41,320 --> 01:12:45,580
So if we're going to have people fling themselves off buildings and, you know, fight scenes

1117
01:12:45,580 --> 01:12:50,320
and you know, all these other things that the stunt community does, then if it's not

1118
01:12:50,320 --> 01:12:54,440
put front and center, it's very easy for them to be discarded once the film is done.

1119
01:12:54,440 --> 01:12:56,860
So I think it's way more than recognition.

1120
01:12:56,860 --> 01:13:00,520
It's making sure that we take care of our people that make some of these actors look

1121
01:13:00,520 --> 01:13:01,520
good.

1122
01:13:01,520 --> 01:13:05,440
Yeah, I mean, I couldn't have said it any better, honestly.

1123
01:13:05,440 --> 01:13:13,760
I think I mean, this world is just it's turning into a very greedy world and everyone's out

1124
01:13:13,760 --> 01:13:14,760
for themselves.

1125
01:13:14,760 --> 01:13:17,640
I just I just want everything to be fair.

1126
01:13:17,640 --> 01:13:20,180
And people work very hard for whatever they do.

1127
01:13:20,180 --> 01:13:24,160
They should be taken care of in a very fair way.

1128
01:13:24,160 --> 01:13:30,960
And and and you know, hopefully with this film coming out and the attention that it's

1129
01:13:30,960 --> 01:13:43,200
got, I think it will be very hard for people to say no to kind of giving the recognition

1130
01:13:43,200 --> 01:13:47,760
and taking care of the stunt industry from now on.

1131
01:13:47,760 --> 01:13:54,240
I think it's it's made a big enough bang in all the right areas to kind of to kind of

1132
01:13:54,240 --> 01:13:55,840
do that.

1133
01:13:55,840 --> 01:13:56,840
Absolutely.

1134
01:13:56,840 --> 01:14:01,600
Well, circling a full circle is funny because my wife said that she was watching me the

1135
01:14:01,600 --> 01:14:06,440
whole time while I was watching the Fall Guy and I had this big on my face the whole time.

1136
01:14:06,440 --> 01:14:12,120
But you know, I'm a little boy on a farm in Bath watching the Fall Guy television show

1137
01:14:12,120 --> 01:14:16,400
dreaming of becoming a stuntman with very, very little opportunity to become a stuntman

1138
01:14:16,400 --> 01:14:17,400
in England.

1139
01:14:17,400 --> 01:14:18,400
Bizarre life happens.

1140
01:14:18,400 --> 01:14:23,000
They ended up becoming stuntman in Japan and then America.

1141
01:14:23,000 --> 01:14:27,400
And then you guys make the Fall Guy and now at the end, we see Lee Majors.

1142
01:14:27,400 --> 01:14:32,400
So talk to me about that kind of synergy with the original show and the film.

1143
01:14:32,400 --> 01:14:38,360
Yeah, I mean, we wanted to, you know, obviously, it's a little it's a little different, but

1144
01:14:38,360 --> 01:14:44,680
we wanted to to really pay homage to it.

1145
01:14:44,680 --> 01:14:48,520
And there's lots of kind of little golden nuggets in there that where we pay homage

1146
01:14:48,520 --> 01:14:54,720
to different people throughout the movie in some areas that people might not know.

1147
01:14:54,720 --> 01:14:57,600
But we also wanted to represent the stunt industry well.

1148
01:14:57,600 --> 01:15:00,200
We wanted to we wanted to do everything organically.

1149
01:15:00,200 --> 01:15:05,840
We could have very easily had a CG guy fall out of a helicopter 150 feet.

1150
01:15:05,840 --> 01:15:09,600
We could have easily had a CG car do a 220 foot jump.

1151
01:15:09,600 --> 01:15:18,500
But we wanted everything we did, we did organically in a very lack of a term, like old fashioned

1152
01:15:18,500 --> 01:15:23,760
way like where the kind of the high fall is kind of like a dying art because I mean, you

1153
01:15:23,760 --> 01:15:26,720
could even get a dummy and throw out of a helicopter type thing.

1154
01:15:26,720 --> 01:15:27,720
Right.

1155
01:15:27,720 --> 01:15:30,520
But we wanted we got the best person for that with Troy Brown.

1156
01:15:30,520 --> 01:15:38,240
We brought Troy Brown and his dad, Bob Brown out, who Bob Brown was legendary stunt performer

1157
01:15:38,240 --> 01:15:40,960
and high fall specialist.

1158
01:15:40,960 --> 01:15:44,920
He did a 220 foot or 200 foot.

1159
01:15:44,920 --> 01:15:48,800
Oh, my butchering that 170 200 foot.

1160
01:15:48,800 --> 01:15:55,240
He did a very high high fall out of a window on fire.

1161
01:15:55,240 --> 01:16:02,120
And he did that into the same bag that Troy Brown did the 150 foot high fall in Fall Guy.

1162
01:16:02,120 --> 01:16:06,680
Like there's a whole like backstory to that.

1163
01:16:06,680 --> 01:16:13,880
You know, just the story alone of the high fall in Fall Guy is an episode of the documentary

1164
01:16:13,880 --> 01:16:16,280
that David filmed himself.

1165
01:16:16,280 --> 01:16:24,240
It's just a fantastic story with his dad coming out and and using the same airbag and just

1166
01:16:24,240 --> 01:16:26,840
everything that happened was was was amazing.

1167
01:16:26,840 --> 01:16:27,960
And that happened so often.

1168
01:16:27,960 --> 01:16:32,280
It was just like there's a little throwback there and then a little throwback with the

1169
01:16:32,280 --> 01:16:38,360
air ram and paying homage to Chris O'Hara and his kind of his almost signature move

1170
01:16:38,360 --> 01:16:40,080
kind of when he got into the industry.

1171
01:16:40,080 --> 01:16:46,880
And you know, we really wanted to represent stunts well and we wanted to do everything

1172
01:16:46,880 --> 01:16:50,440
organically and we wanted to do it to do it right.

1173
01:16:50,440 --> 01:17:00,800
And we wanted to go big and we wanted to just just make it a make it a special movie and

1174
01:17:00,800 --> 01:17:07,400
and also keep keep the character of the Fall Guy alive and and and having Lee Majors there

1175
01:17:07,400 --> 01:17:12,280
to kind of you know cap off the movie was was great.

1176
01:17:12,280 --> 01:17:19,320
It was it was a special movie in every way for me and I think for lots of other people

1177
01:17:19,320 --> 01:17:20,320
too.

1178
01:17:20,320 --> 01:17:24,680
Will it be a standalone film or do you predict a sequel?

1179
01:17:24,680 --> 01:17:27,440
Oh, I don't know.

1180
01:17:27,440 --> 01:17:29,280
I hope there's a Fall Guy 2.

1181
01:17:29,280 --> 01:17:30,280
That would be fun.

1182
01:17:30,280 --> 01:17:35,960
Yeah, I I told Chris I was like if there's a Fall Guy 2, please give me a bit of notice

1183
01:17:35,960 --> 01:17:43,640
so I can mentally prepare for it because it was it was it was by far the best experience

1184
01:17:43,640 --> 01:17:45,600
I've ever had working on a movie.

1185
01:17:45,600 --> 01:17:48,280
It was it was fun.

1186
01:17:48,280 --> 01:17:49,380
It was exciting.

1187
01:17:49,380 --> 01:17:50,560
It was scary.

1188
01:17:50,560 --> 01:17:55,320
It was it was everything but it was hard work.

1189
01:17:55,320 --> 01:17:58,480
It was it kicked my ass.

1190
01:17:58,480 --> 01:18:02,160
It was it was nonstop.

1191
01:18:02,160 --> 01:18:07,600
It was I just I was it was I felt like so busy every day.

1192
01:18:07,600 --> 01:18:11,160
I was doing something where there was like hit by a car and then the following day you

1193
01:18:11,160 --> 01:18:14,320
are chasing you have to chase after a tram and smash through a window and then you pick

1194
01:18:14,320 --> 01:18:18,520
up that following day and then the following day after that you're doing a you're doing

1195
01:18:18,520 --> 01:18:22,880
a fire burn eight times and then you got to do it and then you have to rehearse this thing

1196
01:18:22,880 --> 01:18:24,600
that you're doing next time and then you go.

1197
01:18:24,600 --> 01:18:33,920
It was just like it was I've never been so busy and I've never been so exhausted but

1198
01:18:33,920 --> 01:18:40,640
I've never felt happier and on a movie it was it was it was incredible.

1199
01:18:40,640 --> 01:18:44,880
I mean the you know we're out in Sydney for nine months and Sydney is a very special place.

1200
01:18:44,880 --> 01:18:50,400
It will always have a special place in my heart now but I didn't really get to experience

1201
01:18:50,400 --> 01:18:51,400
it a lot.

1202
01:18:51,400 --> 01:18:56,880
I feel like prep was nice because we prepped and then on the on the weekends I kind of

1203
01:18:56,880 --> 01:19:04,520
you know got to explore and play a bit of golf and just kind of explore the city.

1204
01:19:04,520 --> 01:19:08,320
But when we started shooting I mean my weekends were recovery.

1205
01:19:08,320 --> 01:19:16,440
I was I was I had I had the chiropractor and my physio on speed dial and I was I was I

1206
01:19:16,440 --> 01:19:21,120
was there I would get dry needling in my shoulder and I would get massages and I would go so

1207
01:19:21,120 --> 01:19:28,720
steam rooms and ice baths and and I would kind of just maintain the body because because

1208
01:19:28,720 --> 01:19:32,480
it was getting beat up with with everything that we had to do.

1209
01:19:32,480 --> 01:19:41,000
And just the sheer amount the sheer workload was was quite intense but I wouldn't have

1210
01:19:41,000 --> 01:19:42,000
it any other way.

1211
01:19:42,000 --> 01:19:46,320
Well I was laughing when there's that scene with with Emily and she's pissed off because

1212
01:19:46,320 --> 01:19:49,000
the fire burn was a ratchet too wasn't it simultaneously.

1213
01:19:49,000 --> 01:19:50,000
Yeah.

1214
01:19:50,000 --> 01:19:53,840
So that was you getting slammed into the rock over and over and over again.

1215
01:19:53,840 --> 01:19:54,840
Yep.

1216
01:19:54,840 --> 01:19:57,120
Yeah I would need a chiro too.

1217
01:19:57,120 --> 01:20:04,040
Yeah so the first day I touched on it briefly earlier but it was the first the first day

1218
01:20:04,040 --> 01:20:06,280
we filmed it we just did it once.

1219
01:20:06,280 --> 01:20:11,000
I think we when we when we first did it the explosion that I kind of ran into it wasn't

1220
01:20:11,000 --> 01:20:14,240
quite big enough like it was quite small.

1221
01:20:14,240 --> 01:20:18,520
So I think we put it to bed that day came back the next day effects had kind of built

1222
01:20:18,520 --> 01:20:22,560
a bigger explosion and then seven times the next day.

1223
01:20:22,560 --> 01:20:29,800
So that whole day was just me in my fire gear changing in and out of costumes.

1224
01:20:29,800 --> 01:20:33,400
I went through seven costumes that day where they just got burnt to shreds and then we

1225
01:20:33,400 --> 01:20:40,080
had to peel it off and put a new one on and reset and you know kind of re-gel up and then

1226
01:20:40,080 --> 01:20:44,840
you know 45 minutes later go do another one come back go do another one come back go do

1227
01:20:44,840 --> 01:20:46,540
another one.

1228
01:20:46,540 --> 01:20:50,120
And then yeah the end of the day was great though because we think I was wearing 10 layers

1229
01:20:50,120 --> 01:20:53,280
of clothing that day all day.

1230
01:20:53,280 --> 01:20:56,920
So last scene we do it they call rap.

1231
01:20:56,920 --> 01:21:01,920
I take off all the layers I take off the harness I take off everything and I'm just in a wetsuit

1232
01:21:01,920 --> 01:21:06,120
on my fire gear underneath and I wear right on the beach so I just jump in the ocean and

1233
01:21:06,120 --> 01:21:09,600
just like oh this is so nice like just in the ocean.

1234
01:21:09,600 --> 01:21:14,960
I have a bit of a clean off and then yeah that was that was a nice nice little end to

1235
01:21:14,960 --> 01:21:17,680
the day and a little dip in the ocean.

1236
01:21:17,680 --> 01:21:21,720
Well speaking of that you mentioned about obviously Ryan and Emily and then this whole

1237
01:21:21,720 --> 01:21:25,640
production being to highlight the stunt community.

1238
01:21:25,640 --> 01:21:29,760
You also hear some actors talking about how they did their own stunts.

1239
01:21:29,760 --> 01:21:34,440
Now obviously Tom Cruise phenomenal skydiver you know so there are some people that you

1240
01:21:34,440 --> 01:21:37,120
know are actors that are absolutely capable of stunts.

1241
01:21:37,120 --> 01:21:44,040
You know Jason Statham was a high diver before he became you know got into the acting world.

1242
01:21:44,040 --> 01:21:49,280
What is the kind of overall conversation though about some of the actors that I'm assuming

1243
01:21:49,280 --> 01:21:53,320
maybe are taking credit for things that actually your community is doing.

1244
01:21:53,320 --> 01:22:00,240
But look you know a lot of a lot of actors do lots of their own stunts you know if like

1245
01:22:00,240 --> 01:22:03,600
we try and use them as much as we can you know if they're doing a fight scene it's

1246
01:22:03,600 --> 01:22:08,320
probably mostly the actor right like it's it's it's quite close and it's shot quite

1247
01:22:08,320 --> 01:22:12,720
close and you're throwing punches and a lot of the time that's them if you take a little

1248
01:22:12,720 --> 01:22:15,400
hit or like a bullet hit or something they can absolutely do that.

1249
01:22:15,400 --> 01:22:20,080
We'll put the safety precautions down we'll put some high dents or a pad down.

1250
01:22:20,080 --> 01:22:26,900
Even wire work you know like lots of actors do do wire stuff and so you know lots of actors

1251
01:22:26,900 --> 01:22:32,560
do lots of their own stunts but there there's also stunts that that they don't do.

1252
01:22:32,560 --> 01:22:36,240
Shy of Tom Cruise I mean Tom Cruise is an absolute legend.

1253
01:22:36,240 --> 01:22:38,640
I have a lot of respect for Tom Cruise.

1254
01:22:38,640 --> 01:22:41,960
I would love to work with that guy one day he's just he does some really cool things

1255
01:22:41,960 --> 01:22:49,240
and the Mission Impossible series is amazing and you know hats off to him he's done some

1256
01:22:49,240 --> 01:22:51,960
incredible things.

1257
01:22:51,960 --> 01:22:57,600
So have many other actors too but you don't really get a lot of actors who willingly want

1258
01:22:57,600 --> 01:23:02,640
to throw themselves down some stairs or or do a really hard ratchet or get hit by a car

1259
01:23:02,640 --> 01:23:08,400
like you know those things are kind of when the stunt guy kind of steps in and takes the

1260
01:23:08,400 --> 01:23:12,200
hit right because like if you if you hit an actor with a car and they break their leg

1261
01:23:12,200 --> 01:23:17,040
then you can't you have to stop filming like you know like you a whole crew shuts down

1262
01:23:17,040 --> 01:23:22,120
and they go on hiatus for six months and then I think it happened in Mission Impossible

1263
01:23:22,120 --> 01:23:26,360
Tom Cruise broke his ankle on doing a doing a jump across the roof and I think production

1264
01:23:26,360 --> 01:23:34,280
should have like three months so you know there's insurance insurance involved and

1265
01:23:34,280 --> 01:23:41,560
everything like that but but you there's a reason why we kind of you know we our profession

1266
01:23:41,560 --> 01:23:45,920
exists you know and then also like you need someone to train the actors in their fight

1267
01:23:45,920 --> 01:23:50,520
scenes and then if you're doing a wide then it needs to then it's it just saves a lot

1268
01:23:50,520 --> 01:23:53,960
of time and the actor can be doing something else while the stunt double is doing a wide

1269
01:23:53,960 --> 01:24:00,640
version of the fight or there's just there's ways to save time and and and and ultimately

1270
01:24:00,640 --> 01:24:06,600
I think it's just it's a collaboration between actor and stunt double and and you know there's

1271
01:24:06,600 --> 01:24:10,440
a time and a place for for the actor to to do things and there's a time and a place

1272
01:24:10,440 --> 01:24:16,320
for the stunt person to do things and you know with a movie like Fall Guy Ryan can't

1273
01:24:16,320 --> 01:24:20,360
get away without doing stunts like he had to do stunts he did he did so many he did

1274
01:24:20,360 --> 01:24:26,040
the he did so many of the fight scenes and he he jumped in the the bin for the for the

1275
01:24:26,040 --> 01:24:31,840
Alma chase and did the fight scene there and he surfed across the bridge on the back of

1276
01:24:31,840 --> 01:24:36,560
the door like holding onto the shovel across the harbor bridge and you know the opening

1277
01:24:36,560 --> 01:24:41,000
of the movie where it's that whole funny wanna with with him and Emily and he goes

1278
01:24:41,000 --> 01:24:47,000
up into the the elevator and then gets hooked up and then does the you know 150 foot descender

1279
01:24:47,000 --> 01:24:53,880
like the winch drop that's him you know like I lined up the shop and and and got everything

1280
01:24:53,880 --> 01:24:59,280
prepped and we hooked him up and and then and then he did it like it's it's you know

1281
01:24:59,280 --> 01:25:06,480
he he did he did he did a lot you know but then when you talk about you know doing a

1282
01:25:06,480 --> 01:25:11,760
cannon roll like he's not gonna do that like that's when that's when Logan comes in and

1283
01:25:11,760 --> 01:25:17,200
and takes the reins and and you know sets a world record for for most most cannon rolls

1284
01:25:17,200 --> 01:25:22,920
and and you know he's not gonna do a 220 foot jump on a car so that's when Logan comes

1285
01:25:22,920 --> 01:25:29,240
in and the professional kind of you know who's been doing it his entire life you know comes

1286
01:25:29,240 --> 01:25:34,680
in and and takes over and and that's the safest way to do it and you know inserts done in

1287
01:25:34,680 --> 01:25:41,160
any in anything it's a it's a collaboration between everyone and and you know we we we

1288
01:25:41,160 --> 01:25:47,080
got Ryan to do as much as he he could and wanted to and then you know just because we

1289
01:25:47,080 --> 01:25:54,680
went so big and and you know we did some some some hard hitting you know impact stuff like

1290
01:25:54,680 --> 01:26:00,440
that's when the double comes in so there's a time and a place for everything you know

1291
01:26:00,440 --> 01:26:05,240
there absolutely is I guess unless you Tom Cruise and then he'll just strap himself to

1292
01:26:05,240 --> 01:26:08,720
the side of a plane and be like let's go let's take off after he's bought his own safety

1293
01:26:08,720 --> 01:26:14,560
guy because the last one said he couldn't do it what a great story that is oh yeah can

1294
01:26:14,560 --> 01:26:18,080
we do this and that and then nah it's not safe all right I'm gonna fire you I'm gonna

1295
01:26:18,080 --> 01:26:25,600
get someone else to sell I don't know if that's true but if it is that's that's hilarious

1296
01:26:25,600 --> 01:26:30,600
absolutely what's the name of the guy that played the villain in the fall guy the actor

1297
01:26:30,600 --> 01:26:36,120
I'm blanking on his name Aaron Taylor Johnson yeah so he is now our new James Bond have

1298
01:26:36,120 --> 01:26:42,360
I got that right oh I have no idea I believe so I think they named him very recently so

1299
01:26:42,360 --> 01:26:48,560
being British I think so so being British what is your kind of goal as far as being

1300
01:26:48,560 --> 01:26:56,160
a James Bond stunt man one day well I feel I feel James Bond and Mission Impossible are

1301
01:26:56,160 --> 01:27:05,720
two movies or you know two franchise that I'd love to be a part of but also I mean it's

1302
01:27:05,720 --> 01:27:12,800
I feel the people running those shows have circles and they hire they hire kind of you

1303
01:27:12,800 --> 01:27:17,160
know they're people but I'd love to I'd love to be a part of it I mean I'm such a fan

1304
01:27:17,160 --> 01:27:28,440
of those movies you know the Mission Impossible are just so fun and just just as a as a performer

1305
01:27:28,440 --> 01:27:33,800
and even as a like a kid at heart you know I'd love to like you know be strapped to

1306
01:27:33,800 --> 01:27:37,760
the side of a plane or do this or do that or whatever it would be right like they just

1307
01:27:37,760 --> 01:27:43,240
do some really cool cool stunts and they they push the boundaries James Bond is another

1308
01:27:43,240 --> 01:27:51,960
one it's just a fantastic franchise and it kind of you know a new a new James Bond movie

1309
01:27:51,960 --> 01:27:56,820
or a new Mission Impossible movie just give you the opportunity to really push the limits

1310
01:27:56,820 --> 01:28:02,340
and come up with and do some really cool new innovative stunts so I think it would be fun

1311
01:28:02,340 --> 01:28:06,800
to be a part of. Beautiful I just I just checked to make sure I got my facts right I guess

1312
01:28:06,800 --> 01:28:11,200
he's listed as the front runner I guess it officially hasn't said but that's that's who

1313
01:28:11,200 --> 01:28:16,680
they're talking about yeah so so that'd be interesting if he ends up working on it. Yeah

1314
01:28:16,680 --> 01:28:20,760
I have I have no idea that would be cool if he is a James Bond though yeah he's a great

1315
01:28:20,760 --> 01:28:25,860
actor. Absolutely yeah I didn't realize he was kick-ass that blew me away because I saw

1316
01:28:25,860 --> 01:28:30,000
him on was it was it Money Train or Bullet Train recently that was a great film too for

1317
01:28:30,000 --> 01:28:37,640
stunts but yeah yeah well then one more area before we go to some closing questions I was

1318
01:28:37,640 --> 01:28:43,040
talking to Spencer about this and then some of the actors that have been on recently too

1319
01:28:43,040 --> 01:28:48,880
one would imagine that actors and stunt people stunt performers would be threatened by CGI

1320
01:28:48,880 --> 01:28:55,440
but then when I watch any of the Fast and Furious films or other areas where it's clearly

1321
01:28:55,440 --> 01:29:00,560
CGI I think as a viewer a lot of times it takes you out of the action and it was a breath

1322
01:29:00,560 --> 01:29:05,540
of fresh air seeing real stunts now of course as areas as you mentioned where technology

1323
01:29:05,540 --> 01:29:10,440
can make it a lot safer for our actors and stunt performers but what is your what is

1324
01:29:10,440 --> 01:29:15,720
the conversation about CGI threatening what you guys do or what do you think ultimately

1325
01:29:15,720 --> 01:29:21,680
it will complement what you guys do? I mean ultimately I think we can all work together

1326
01:29:21,680 --> 01:29:28,040
to create like a really good movie I'm on I'm on your side when I watch a movie that's

1327
01:29:28,040 --> 01:29:33,840
and you see a CGI character flying I'm like I just takes me out of it a little bit I can

1328
01:29:33,840 --> 01:29:38,940
tell I can I can I can tell that's not real movement you wouldn't do that it's just it's

1329
01:29:38,940 --> 01:29:47,760
just an animator kind of animating something and it takes me out of it but I think there's

1330
01:29:47,760 --> 01:29:52,360
a there's a time like I said there's a time and a place for it right and and it just depends

1331
01:29:52,360 --> 01:29:59,080
on if they if you know the people at the top want to kind of use it or not do I think it's

1332
01:29:59,080 --> 01:30:09,200
threatening I mean I don't know I just I don't I'm a I'm a fairly like if it does it does

1333
01:30:09,200 --> 01:30:15,240
you know and I'm not I'm not too worried I feel like we're always going to be we're always

1334
01:30:15,240 --> 01:30:19,080
going to be needed and stunts are always going to be around you're always going to need someone

1335
01:30:19,080 --> 01:30:24,480
to run in take a bullet hit or train the actors or do a fight like what they're going to use

1336
01:30:24,480 --> 01:30:28,720
CGI on everything they're still going to use actors like they're going to anytime an actor

1337
01:30:28,720 --> 01:30:32,080
throws a punch is it just going to be a CGI thing like it's just so much easier to have

1338
01:30:32,080 --> 01:30:39,240
a stunt person like I just think yeah for sure for safety reasons maybe it might be

1339
01:30:39,240 --> 01:30:46,120
it might be a thing and it might be an argument but I don't know I just I think there's enough

1340
01:30:46,120 --> 01:30:54,520
people around who want organic human movements and and can tell the difference that I don't

1341
01:30:54,520 --> 01:30:59,960
think it'll be a problem we'll see 10 years who knows well I think give another example

1342
01:30:59,960 --> 01:31:04,640
correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like a lot of films now even the muzzle flashes

1343
01:31:04,640 --> 01:31:10,480
on weapons scenes seem to be CGI not live blank ammunition which immediately takes me

1344
01:31:10,480 --> 01:31:14,880
out again because I'm like that's a little computer generated flash and now you're totally

1345
01:31:14,880 --> 01:31:22,600
out the story again yeah yeah and like I said there's there's a you know time and a place

1346
01:31:22,600 --> 01:31:27,120
sometimes it's done well sometimes it's not and you know the safety aspect especially

1347
01:31:27,120 --> 01:31:33,880
recently I think it's probably more of that because of what happened and maybe people

1348
01:31:33,880 --> 01:31:37,680
are just taking a precaution but you know especially the people holding the weapons

1349
01:31:37,680 --> 01:31:45,800
but hey just just right now I don't want to I want to stay away from from kind of blanks

1350
01:31:45,800 --> 01:31:50,880
and stuff like that you know I want to let's just do airsoft so there's absolutely no thing

1351
01:31:50,880 --> 01:31:56,120
and we'll put it in in post you know I understand that people are just kind of trying to protect

1352
01:31:56,120 --> 01:32:03,080
themselves especially in a sensitive time but and that to me is a little thing you know

1353
01:32:03,080 --> 01:32:07,760
if you have full CG body movement and things like that like whole scenes are just CG I'm

1354
01:32:07,760 --> 01:32:14,200
like I just that's just it just takes me out of it but but no I agree with you when I did

1355
01:32:14,200 --> 01:32:19,920
the terminator 2 show in Japan blank they weren't they weren't permitted to use blank

1356
01:32:19,920 --> 01:32:25,960
ammunition and the life stone show so we had you know the I can't remember if the weapon

1357
01:32:25,960 --> 01:32:32,400
flashed you know if they had a way of doing that but there was just a big there's a light

1358
01:32:32,400 --> 01:32:35,800
yeah it was something like that and then there was a big gunshot you know so again you're

1359
01:32:35,800 --> 01:32:39,520
having a time it perfectly because it was a gunshot on the soundtrack so if you fell

1360
01:32:39,520 --> 01:32:44,360
down too early but then I go to I think it was LA or Orlando next and they had actual

1361
01:32:44,360 --> 01:32:48,320
blank shotgun rounds and obviously they're aiming you know off-center to make sure they

1362
01:32:48,320 --> 01:32:52,800
don't shoot you in the face but it was a very different thing I mean the way that a shotgun

1363
01:32:52,800 --> 01:32:58,800
blast resonates in an auditorium is very different than you know the soundtrack so yeah I mean

1364
01:32:58,800 --> 01:33:02,720
it is they are two different things and you can do them safely I think Boland Productions

1365
01:33:02,720 --> 01:33:07,280
is an amazing job as you taught me you know every everyone that I did at Universal but

1366
01:33:07,280 --> 01:33:10,840
they scare the shit out of you first and they tell the Brandon Lee story and say these other

1367
01:33:10,840 --> 01:33:15,120
ones and you literally carry that weapon like you would a real one and any chance they can

1368
01:33:15,120 --> 01:33:18,920
they give you a rubber weapon for a fight scene or something like that but when it's

1369
01:33:18,920 --> 01:33:23,320
time to actually do it in the pirate show we had little little you know pirate era pistols

1370
01:33:23,320 --> 01:33:28,960
that we'd fire it does it's a totally different experience than putting it in artificially

1371
01:33:28,960 --> 01:33:38,560
after yeah absolutely yeah and I think you know with technology you know those are going

1372
01:33:38,560 --> 01:33:44,480
to get better and you know it doesn't create such a big flash anyway so you know airsoft

1373
01:33:44,480 --> 01:33:49,000
ones with the with the recoil are nice it gives you a bit of feedback as a performer

1374
01:33:49,000 --> 01:33:54,120
as opposed to just like pulling a trigger and a light shining and nothing really happening

1375
01:33:54,120 --> 01:33:58,120
but yeah there's there's ways around it with that stuff I think I think now is just a sensitive

1376
01:33:58,120 --> 01:34:06,160
time for for for all of that and people are kind of just being really cautious absolutely

1377
01:34:06,160 --> 01:34:10,720
all right well let's go to some closing questions so I can be mindful of your time the first

1378
01:34:10,720 --> 01:34:15,400
one I love to ask is there a book or are there books that you love to recommend it can be

1379
01:34:15,400 --> 01:34:21,040
related to our discussion today or completely unrelated oh god I'm terrible with this I

1380
01:34:21,040 --> 01:34:30,520
don't read books I read I have read project Hail Mary and I didn't even read it I just

1381
01:34:30,520 --> 01:34:38,600
did the I did the audiobook because I am I'm a terrible reader I I try to read the Harry

1382
01:34:38,600 --> 01:34:44,320
Potter books and I read a couple of pages and I forget what happens on a page so I found

1383
01:34:44,320 --> 01:34:54,200
that that listening to them is is a lot more helpful but I'm more of a I'm more of a more

1384
01:34:54,200 --> 01:34:58,920
of a podcast guy and I you know I listen to Hail Mary because that's currently the movie

1385
01:34:58,920 --> 01:35:08,320
I'm working on with Ryan so I listen to that book and that's it for me I'm a podcast listener

1386
01:35:08,320 --> 01:35:12,640
so that's how I kind of get my information which is some of your favorite shows that

1387
01:35:12,640 --> 01:35:24,440
you listen to love Rogan love the Lex Friedman and and then I'll do like I have like my MMA

1388
01:35:24,440 --> 01:35:29,520
shows that I listen to I'm a die-hard UFC so I'll do like a like an Ariel Hawani and

1389
01:35:29,520 --> 01:35:37,000
Luke Thomas and and all those guys I got Rashad Evans coming on next week speak of UFC fighters

1390
01:35:37,000 --> 01:35:41,280
yeah yeah I've had a bunch of Bas Root and hoist Gracie a lot of people on here as well

1391
01:35:41,280 --> 01:35:45,880
but yeah that's it that's an amazing community and physically I think very very similar to

1392
01:35:45,880 --> 01:35:50,960
stunts and firefighting because I really don't know what you're gonna do yeah I was talking

1393
01:35:50,960 --> 01:35:58,160
to someone else recently about it and he's very close to the UFC world and stunts and

1394
01:35:58,160 --> 01:36:04,360
fighting are quite similar it's you know it feels like you know they have a training camp

1395
01:36:04,360 --> 01:36:08,400
for a fight and they train to lead up to this one fight and then they have the performance

1396
01:36:08,400 --> 01:36:14,000
and the fight night and we're similar you know we have prep and we train in prep and

1397
01:36:14,000 --> 01:36:18,960
we get you know we kind of we're kind of stay in shape and stuff but we we get in shape

1398
01:36:18,960 --> 01:36:22,720
or whatever we rehearse at what we need to do and then we have the performance and on

1399
01:36:22,720 --> 01:36:28,120
the film it just I was just kind of last a little bit longer a lot longer but no it's

1400
01:36:28,120 --> 01:36:34,240
it's the dedication is is similar and the the the training is similar you know with

1401
01:36:34,240 --> 01:36:40,240
the fight training that we do and we put ourselves through it's it's quite similar yeah.

1402
01:36:40,240 --> 01:36:44,560
When I reflect back on the stunt registry book that I had and all these skills that

1403
01:36:44,560 --> 01:36:50,320
you needed at these high high levels as I got into the stunt world I realized that you

1404
01:36:50,320 --> 01:36:56,800
know back then was probably you know appropriate but now as you talk about if an actor needs

1405
01:36:56,800 --> 01:37:00,880
someone to double them in a stunt with a car you're going to find an elite driver if they

1406
01:37:00,880 --> 01:37:04,320
need to skydive you're going to find the elite skydiver if you need a martial artist or a

1407
01:37:04,320 --> 01:37:09,320
gymnast or a horse rider you're going to go to those people that can do it so has there

1408
01:37:09,320 --> 01:37:14,720
been a shift from one guy or girl being able to do a lot of different things to the specialization

1409
01:37:14,720 --> 01:37:17,760
and especially in some of these big films?

1410
01:37:17,760 --> 01:37:26,320
Well I I personally think the British Stunt Register is is a is a great thing I think

1411
01:37:26,320 --> 01:37:31,960
I think you should have to go through you know you should have skills in lots of different

1412
01:37:31,960 --> 01:37:37,520
areas you know that's what makes you a good a good performer.

1413
01:37:37,520 --> 01:37:45,200
I think it's a good thing I think you know the difference in England you have like you

1414
01:37:45,200 --> 01:37:47,920
you kind of have to do that there is kind of there's ways around it there's people

1415
01:37:47,920 --> 01:37:53,360
who aren't on the on the stunt register and you can still work but 90 percent of them

1416
01:37:53,360 --> 01:37:57,280
are on the stunt register they have all of these skills which mean and they've gone

1417
01:37:57,280 --> 01:38:04,520
through the process of getting on the register which in turn means that you have I forget

1418
01:38:04,520 --> 01:38:11,140
what it is it's like like six to ten you're you're you're graded on six to ten skills

1419
01:38:11,140 --> 01:38:16,840
and it's the same in Australia I think and that's great you're learning new skills and

1420
01:38:16,840 --> 01:38:21,040
everything you know they're kind of the bread and butter that you'll need to kind of for

1421
01:38:21,040 --> 01:38:27,120
90 percent of the stunts that you're going to need to do in the stunt industry and I

1422
01:38:27,120 --> 01:38:33,200
think that's a good thing in America it's quite you know anyone can be a stunt performer

1423
01:38:33,200 --> 01:38:38,880
you know you could you could technically hire someone off the street and and if they look

1424
01:38:38,880 --> 01:38:46,980
like someone you know which which isn't always the best thing I think it's good to have skills

1425
01:38:46,980 --> 01:38:52,320
and it's good to to train for something it's good to kind of you know that's the it's kind

1426
01:38:52,320 --> 01:38:56,800
of the same the the old the Chris O'Hara saying right like I'll call you in a year if you

1427
01:38:56,800 --> 01:39:00,680
stuck around for a year then I know you're serious if you train two years for the stunt

1428
01:39:00,680 --> 01:39:05,640
register and not you're not working during those two years because you're training for

1429
01:39:05,640 --> 01:39:09,840
it right you're actively trying to get your you know a Belly Martial Arts you're trying

1430
01:39:09,840 --> 01:39:12,400
to get your scuba license you're trying to do this you're trying to do that you're getting

1431
01:39:12,400 --> 01:39:18,480
your horse ride and your high fall or whatever it is you know that then you're working towards

1432
01:39:18,480 --> 01:39:24,480
something and it shows your dedication I think it's a good thing you know I I don't I don't

1433
01:39:24,480 --> 01:39:30,000
hate it I didn't even know about it when I got into stunts it was you know I had I had

1434
01:39:30,000 --> 01:39:34,760
my background in parkour and other sports when I was growing up and and I moved to America

1435
01:39:34,760 --> 01:39:39,400
and I didn't even realize that it was even a thing in here and later you realize and

1436
01:39:39,400 --> 01:39:45,480
I was like it's a good thing but but no I spent my early days doing that anyway you

1437
01:39:45,480 --> 01:39:53,200
know broadening my skill set and learning new things and just being a good all-around

1438
01:39:53,200 --> 01:39:57,920
stuntman and you're always going to have your specialty you know things you're always

1439
01:39:57,920 --> 01:40:04,360
going to have your your high fall specialist or your your car specialist and cars are very

1440
01:40:04,360 --> 01:40:10,680
really a special thing anyway like I would I would say I'm a kind of a you know a generic

1441
01:40:10,680 --> 01:40:15,360
general stuntman I kind of do everything and you know your wires and your your falls and

1442
01:40:15,360 --> 01:40:22,120
your fights and your your parkour and your you know whatever it would be right your fire

1443
01:40:22,120 --> 01:40:28,320
burns your your your air rounds like that's kind of all kind of in a general stunt thing

1444
01:40:28,320 --> 01:40:33,600
as a stunt performer you're kind of expected to kind of do all of that expected to be able

1445
01:40:33,600 --> 01:40:40,120
to do all of that and and then you have your specialties right like your your high fall

1446
01:40:40,120 --> 01:40:47,880
your cars your bikes maybe like underwater or your scuba or whatever it is so and that's

1447
01:40:47,880 --> 01:40:51,080
when you bring them in and then you'll have like random specialties where they'll they'll

1448
01:40:51,080 --> 01:40:57,480
need a stunt performer who's like a stilt performer or something or like a an obscure

1449
01:40:57,480 --> 01:41:02,400
unicyclist or whatever it would be right and then that's when you bring in the very very

1450
01:41:02,400 --> 01:41:11,400
specialty people who who who just do those things so yeah yeah I I don't think it's I

1451
01:41:11,400 --> 01:41:15,760
don't think it's a bad thing to have a little system in place to to kind of keep everyone

1452
01:41:15,760 --> 01:41:24,480
safe and make sure people are are fit and able to kind of do what's needed yeah I think

1453
01:41:24,480 --> 01:41:28,580
just it seemed like it would take a long time to hit a lot of those benchmarks so I guess

1454
01:41:28,580 --> 01:41:33,320
that the only takeaway is if it's something that you want to get into you know the earlier

1455
01:41:33,320 --> 01:41:37,320
the better like if you can knock away some of the diving stuff when you're young then

1456
01:41:37,320 --> 01:41:41,520
by the time you get to a working age you have a lot of these things if you decide at 22

1457
01:41:41,520 --> 01:41:46,120
that you want to get into stunts I would argue you've got several years of training to actually

1458
01:41:46,120 --> 01:41:51,720
hit all those points before you can actually start working I know a I know a bunch of people

1459
01:41:51,720 --> 01:41:54,800
when we're working on Fall Guy there was a couple of guys who were working with us who

1460
01:41:54,800 --> 01:42:00,520
I've known from the past who were trying to get into the into the onto the Australian

1461
01:42:00,520 --> 01:42:06,760
stunt register and I think they they had just submitted for their like final test or something

1462
01:42:06,760 --> 01:42:12,360
and they were like it's been it's taken me like nearly two years to do this and I think

1463
01:42:12,360 --> 01:42:16,120
like if there's a and I'm not too sure if there's a I think well there must have been

1464
01:42:16,120 --> 01:42:20,800
I think there's a system in place where while you're doing this you can also work as well

1465
01:42:20,800 --> 01:42:30,600
like in Sydney in Australia they have like a like different levels to it I think where

1466
01:42:30,600 --> 01:42:36,720
when you're training you can work as kind of like a bad guy 23 or something right you

1467
01:42:36,720 --> 01:42:43,560
can do kind of those and you need to get like 30 days of you know bad guy 23 under your

1468
01:42:43,560 --> 01:42:47,920
belt before you can move on to doubling or principle or whatever it is and and I don't

1469
01:42:47,920 --> 01:42:52,080
think that's necessarily a bad thing I think it's good to kind of get that set experience

1470
01:42:52,080 --> 01:42:59,720
and you know have have 30 days or 60 days or whatever it is like on set like taking

1471
01:42:59,720 --> 01:43:03,200
a bullet hit and then you go home and then coming in and doing a little fight scene and

1472
01:43:03,200 --> 01:43:07,600
then and then go home and and and I think that's I think that's great you know before

1473
01:43:07,600 --> 01:43:12,800
you kind of get into like lead Dublin and being able to do that while you're getting

1474
01:43:12,800 --> 01:43:17,680
your certifications and stuff I think that's a good thing is it like you said it's tough

1475
01:43:17,680 --> 01:43:22,240
if you are you know 22 25 and you're getting into it and it's like oh I have to sign up

1476
01:43:22,240 --> 01:43:26,200
to the stump register and I have to do this it's gonna take two years to do all this like

1477
01:43:26,200 --> 01:43:30,480
what do you do for those two years like how do you support yourself you know so it would

1478
01:43:30,480 --> 01:43:33,800
be good if and maybe there is a system in place but it would be good if there's a system

1479
01:43:33,800 --> 01:43:42,480
in place where you can kind of work on little things and be bad guy 20 27 and while you're

1480
01:43:42,480 --> 01:43:49,760
kind of getting you know your your certificates and your learning your skills and other things

1481
01:43:49,760 --> 01:43:54,680
absolutely all right well then next closing question is there a person that you recommend

1482
01:43:54,680 --> 01:43:59,640
to come on this podcast as a guest to speak to the first responders military and associated

1483
01:43:59,640 --> 01:44:07,160
professions of the world oh have you spoke to Logan I haven't no you haven't spoken to

1484
01:44:07,160 --> 01:44:12,760
Logan holiday not yet no yeah well I mean it's very fall guy is close to the fall guy

1485
01:44:12,760 --> 01:44:19,160
story but but but Logan I mean he's just he's got some incredible stories Logan and Logan

1486
01:44:19,160 --> 01:44:27,040
and Troy both I mean Troy just to tell the story of his dad and him were amazing you

1487
01:44:27,040 --> 01:44:31,440
know Chris O'Hara I'm just saying everyone from fall guy here I've spent the past like

1488
01:44:31,440 --> 01:44:36,040
like two months with them doing all this press and we've been sat next to each other for

1489
01:44:36,040 --> 01:44:41,080
so long and I've kind of got to know them very well and they've just they've all got

1490
01:44:41,080 --> 01:44:47,680
really cool stories and really cool experiences you know Chris O'Hara you know the first ever

1491
01:44:47,680 --> 01:44:55,280
stunt credited stunt designer just has so much experience in the movie industry and

1492
01:44:55,280 --> 01:45:03,640
he's such a great guy yeah well you know what's gonna happen is when we end up when we end

1493
01:45:03,640 --> 01:45:07,800
this conversation you're like I have a name that's okay doesn't have to be on tape let

1494
01:45:07,800 --> 01:45:12,720
me know and even David I mean you know ultimately I'd love to get him on too I mean to go from

1495
01:45:12,720 --> 01:45:19,600
stunt man all the way to that that role now yeah what a story yeah incredible story I

1496
01:45:19,600 --> 01:45:30,500
was getting to him next yeah yeah I mean you know all those guys have special special stories

1497
01:45:30,500 --> 01:45:36,000
and they'd be very interesting to to kind of talk to I think yeah well and correct me

1498
01:45:36,000 --> 01:45:40,280
if I'm wrong maybe it's just because I'm not in that stunt you know echo chamber but I

1499
01:45:40,280 --> 01:45:45,280
don't feel like you hear a lot of stunt people on podcasts in general so this is the one

1500
01:45:45,280 --> 01:45:50,280
kind of nice thing is that being a fireman and a live show stunt man at least I'm able

1501
01:45:50,280 --> 01:45:54,120
to kind of have these conversations understanding the industry slightly you know and bring some

1502
01:45:54,120 --> 01:45:58,520
of these up because my friend Steve we did Steve Dunleavy we did Terminator 2 together

1503
01:45:58,520 --> 01:46:03,580
in Japan and now he works with Keanu on all his all his movies and you know I mean he's

1504
01:46:03,580 --> 01:46:08,240
just had this this amazing rise so I think these are this is a beautiful way of telling

1505
01:46:08,240 --> 01:46:13,680
the stunt performer story on here too no I agree and it's been it's been strange for

1506
01:46:13,680 --> 01:46:21,000
us you know we we shy of this I've probably done a handful of interviews in my life right

1507
01:46:21,000 --> 01:46:27,520
but like this whole fog I think you know they they wanted to include us you know Ryan and

1508
01:46:27,520 --> 01:46:33,680
David and Kelly really wanted to include us in the press for this and bring us along and

1509
01:46:33,680 --> 01:46:37,840
you know like I said earlier shine a spotlight on the on the stunt industry and and in doing

1510
01:46:37,840 --> 01:46:43,400
so we've we've kind of gone along on this journey with them and it was so strange at

1511
01:46:43,400 --> 01:46:48,200
the start like we never do this we're never we're never like being requested to do interviews

1512
01:46:48,200 --> 01:46:52,360
and podcasts and walk in the red carpet and then having someone next to us being like

1513
01:46:52,360 --> 01:46:56,000
everyone this is Ben Jenkins from the Fall Guy who's trying to double and then we're

1514
01:46:56,000 --> 01:47:02,200
just like doing interviews on the red carpet it's like it was so strange and so just an

1515
01:47:02,200 --> 01:47:10,120
unusual and unfamiliar kind of position to be in but you also get used to it like I remember

1516
01:47:10,120 --> 01:47:14,560
the first time we sat down the first interview we did for like the press week for Fall Guy

1517
01:47:14,560 --> 01:47:20,160
it was like it was like three days of Universal and they just had a massive junket where over

1518
01:47:20,160 --> 01:47:24,880
these course of a couple of days we would just do 15 interviews a day and we'd do an

1519
01:47:24,880 --> 01:47:30,120
hour here and sit down on the couch and talk to someone and then we'd have a 15 minute

1520
01:47:30,120 --> 01:47:34,880
zoom call back to back with another 15 and then this and that it was like you know 10

1521
01:47:34,880 --> 01:47:40,800
15 interviews a day for like two three days and I remember the first interview we did

1522
01:47:40,800 --> 01:47:46,240
it's like it was we're sat on a couch and it was me and Logan David Ryan and Emily and

1523
01:47:46,240 --> 01:47:52,320
I'm like what am I doing here like my heart was beating so much because I'm like I'd

1524
01:47:52,320 --> 01:47:56,320
rather get hit by a car right now than like be sat here like I'm way more uncomfortable

1525
01:47:56,320 --> 01:48:05,100
here than I am like being hit by a car we were doing the Carpool Karaoke video and

1526
01:48:05,100 --> 01:48:08,840
Ryan and David came over and said alright so we're gonna come over and we're gonna

1527
01:48:08,840 --> 01:48:13,120
say this to you and then these are your lines and I'm like shit I have lines oh my god

1528
01:48:13,120 --> 01:48:17,840
and like this was right after I get hit by a car and I'm like stood in the middle of

1529
01:48:17,840 --> 01:48:22,640
the street like thinking about it and I'm like this is my line I'm gonna say it I'm

1530
01:48:22,640 --> 01:48:26,680
gonna do this like oh shit I forgot my line what was my line and Chris O'Hara the coordinator

1531
01:48:26,680 --> 01:48:30,360
was looking at me he laughed at me he's like you're worried about your lines aren't you

1532
01:48:30,360 --> 01:48:34,680
I was like yeah he's like you're not worried about getting hit by a car I'm just worried

1533
01:48:34,680 --> 01:48:40,000
about my lines and it was a small car hit anyway but it's like it's just unusual for

1534
01:48:40,000 --> 01:48:46,320
us it's unusual for us to be sat on a couch doing a on-camera in-person interview next

1535
01:48:46,320 --> 01:48:52,280
to some very seasoned professionals who do this all the time and there's me and Logan

1536
01:48:52,280 --> 01:48:55,360
and my heart's like beating out of my chest there's one part of the intro I looked down

1537
01:48:55,360 --> 01:48:59,280
because my heart was beating so much I'm like can you see my heart beating through my chest

1538
01:48:59,280 --> 01:49:07,800
like but yeah it was but then you get used to it and now I'm now it's like it's quite

1539
01:49:07,800 --> 01:49:14,880
I feel I feel fine I remember our last our last red carpet that we did in Paris I think

1540
01:49:14,880 --> 01:49:21,040
it was we did we did Berlin London Paris and then LA and we did South by before that as

1541
01:49:21,040 --> 01:49:25,760
well and on the way me and Logan were like so tired from all the traveling that we do

1542
01:49:25,760 --> 01:49:29,560
we just had like a little nap in the car then we woke up and got out onto the red carpet

1543
01:49:29,560 --> 01:49:35,800
it was quite it was just oh it's just a it's just another one but it kind of became a little

1544
01:49:35,800 --> 01:49:41,720
bit more normal towards the end and definitely got a little bit more comfortable with it.

1545
01:49:41,720 --> 01:49:45,960
It's interesting because I've seen the same thing in like the SAS for example you know

1546
01:49:45,960 --> 01:49:49,720
they were very much the silent professionals and then now you're starting to see some of

1547
01:49:49,720 --> 01:49:52,840
the books coming out and some of them being very vulnerable mental health which I think

1548
01:49:52,840 --> 01:49:58,320
is imperative because that debunks the you know men don't cry bullshit but um you know

1549
01:49:58,320 --> 01:50:02,560
there is that kind of tug of war between humility because the fire service we don't want to

1550
01:50:02,560 --> 01:50:07,200
be awarded want an award for what I do you know it's what we do but if we're too tight

1551
01:50:07,200 --> 01:50:12,640
lipped no one knows what we do so there's a kind of happy medium where you're not yearning

1552
01:50:12,640 --> 01:50:16,920
for the limelight but at the same time and I think this is probably a beautiful example

1553
01:50:16,920 --> 01:50:21,720
for you guys now you're given an opportunity to actually advocate for your community which

1554
01:50:21,720 --> 01:50:24,400
is very powerful.

1555
01:50:24,400 --> 01:50:32,240
Yeah I agree and you know growing up I was always like um against it and kind of uh you

1556
01:50:32,240 --> 01:50:35,140
know I don't want to do an interview I don't want to be that guy I don't want to do this

1557
01:50:35,140 --> 01:50:40,420
and then you kind of you know with the movie and with the documentary that we filmed alongside

1558
01:50:40,420 --> 01:50:45,680
of it it kind of like even the documentary was very hesitant to do it I don't want to

1559
01:50:45,680 --> 01:50:51,200
be I don't want to be on TV I don't want to do this I don't want to be that guy who's

1560
01:50:51,200 --> 01:50:54,920
looks like he's kind of out there for like the attention and I don't want the attention

1561
01:50:54,920 --> 01:51:02,520
I don't need it I'm just I want to stay low key um but then you realize kind of like what

1562
01:51:02,520 --> 01:51:07,480
it's kind of doing it it's you know there's a way to do it that's that's positive for

1563
01:51:07,480 --> 01:51:12,600
kind of you know the community as well and and and you know the bigger picture and and

1564
01:51:12,600 --> 01:51:19,120
once you kind of once I realized that it became a little bit easier I just I just felt like

1565
01:51:19,120 --> 01:51:23,120
I had to get better at it I felt like I was quite quite shit at it honestly and and and

1566
01:51:23,120 --> 01:51:30,520
not I'm not good at like selling myself and and and um you know just just talking in general

1567
01:51:30,520 --> 01:51:35,720
I'm quite like um choosy with my words and I'm I sometimes I don't always know what to

1568
01:51:35,720 --> 01:51:40,800
say but um but it's just like anything you get better at it you know you you get you

1569
01:51:40,800 --> 01:51:49,280
get better at um expressing what's on your mind in a good way and and um and it and that

1570
01:51:49,280 --> 01:51:54,080
all just kind of comes with a bit of practice and and it was quite nice to ultimately not

1571
01:51:54,080 --> 01:51:59,240
be forced into it but I kind of was like um you know with the documentary was just on

1572
01:51:59,240 --> 01:52:03,160
camera a lot and and doing it and and then this whole press story you're just like oh

1573
01:52:03,160 --> 01:52:08,540
wow like I'm getting I'm kind of getting a little bit better at this and um it just becomes

1574
01:52:08,540 --> 01:52:11,880
a little bit more natural and and you just get a bit more comfortable with what you're

1575
01:52:11,880 --> 01:52:18,040
saying and um the message that you're putting out especially if it's a positive one to um

1576
01:52:18,040 --> 01:52:24,780
you know not only yourself but the the positive message that is affecting um the uh the industry

1577
01:52:24,780 --> 01:52:29,960
that you work in so it was uh it's a good thing overall.

1578
01:52:29,960 --> 01:52:34,480
Absolutely someone said to me once there's a difference between being humble and being

1579
01:52:34,480 --> 01:52:41,080
meek and I was like I've leaned too far the wrong way you know you have to you you can

1580
01:52:41,080 --> 01:52:46,560
articulate a thought without coming across as a narcissist and that doesn't make you

1581
01:52:46,560 --> 01:52:51,640
um you know arrogant you know you just you have to be on the spotlight sometimes to be

1582
01:52:51,640 --> 01:52:57,120
able to relay a message that's important. Yep I agree I agree. All right well then the

1583
01:52:57,120 --> 01:53:01,520
very last question before we find out where people can find the film and obviously yourself

1584
01:53:01,520 --> 01:53:08,960
online what do you do to decompress when you're not flinging yourself on fire against walls?

1585
01:53:08,960 --> 01:53:18,600
Well I mean forgot I had a lot of that I was um golf on the weekends love around the golf

1586
01:53:18,600 --> 01:53:22,480
I'm actually playing tomorrow with the with the um with some of the rigging team and the

1587
01:53:22,480 --> 01:53:32,800
boys on this this show um music on the drive home big into music uh that kind of helps

1588
01:53:32,800 --> 01:53:36,720
with my mood in lots of things even before a stunt I'll put on some music if I have a

1589
01:53:36,720 --> 01:53:42,720
bit of time and or if someone's were prepping for a big stunt uh banging some music and

1590
01:53:42,720 --> 01:53:47,880
listen to some some tunes and kind of just getting a good headspace it not necessarily

1591
01:53:47,880 --> 01:53:52,200
to like hype me up or anything sometimes to hype me up or sometimes to just calm me down

1592
01:53:52,200 --> 01:53:58,440
or or just think good things and and uh just get into a place where you want to be to kind

1593
01:53:58,440 --> 01:54:06,000
of um go through what you're about to go through um cook a nice steak oof a nice little ribeye

1594
01:54:06,000 --> 01:54:15,000
or something or cook a nice steak have a nice glass of red wine or something um uh and yeah

1595
01:54:15,000 --> 01:54:20,200
have a good sleep ready for the next day yeah brilliant all right well then I went to see

1596
01:54:20,200 --> 01:54:26,160
the fall guy in the movie theater what is the kind of um anticipated streaming um platform

1597
01:54:26,160 --> 01:54:29,600
that they're going to go to next and then let's talk I have no idea oh really I have

1598
01:54:29,600 --> 01:54:37,320
no idea yeah I don't know um yeah it's it's universal uh or behind it um so I have no

1599
01:54:37,320 --> 01:54:42,560
idea what it's going to go on I just know it's um it's in movies now and it's it's

1600
01:54:42,560 --> 01:54:47,760
such a great watch it's a really I mean I've seen it uh four times in the theater now I

1601
01:54:47,760 --> 01:54:52,360
watched it in uh London IMAX as well with my parents and that was that was so great

1602
01:54:52,360 --> 01:54:55,280
I mean the screen there is massive have you been to London IMAX I haven't been to that

1603
01:54:55,280 --> 01:55:01,000
one is that in um Leicester Square the uh the BFI at South Bank oh okay gotcha yeah

1604
01:55:01,000 --> 01:55:06,040
um huge screen huge screen um but no I got to see it with my family there and I've seen

1605
01:55:06,040 --> 01:55:13,520
it four times now it's such a such a fun movie such a fun movie um and it's um full of action

1606
01:55:13,520 --> 01:55:18,120
from start to finish uh some of the some of the coolest action that I've ever been a part

1607
01:55:18,120 --> 01:55:23,720
of and I've ever seen on screen um but it's but it's a great watch when I did the Terminator

1608
01:55:23,720 --> 01:55:29,880
show the way it worked my I was a t-1000 the the bad guy my Robert Patrick's character

1609
01:55:29,880 --> 01:55:35,120
and so I'd get shot and then that's it I'm done because the rest of it is on on the screen

1610
01:55:35,120 --> 01:55:39,840
and so basically by the time I'd finished my last show and got changed I'd be walking

1611
01:55:39,840 --> 01:55:43,600
out when they were dumping the audience when when the show was done and so they'd all be

1612
01:55:43,600 --> 01:55:47,800
walking by me having no idea that I was just a little policeman that they saw get shot

1613
01:55:47,800 --> 01:55:52,440
in the face four times a few minutes ago when you're sitting there watching the film in

1614
01:55:52,440 --> 01:55:56,560
London is there a little moment of you you know going they have no idea that I'm the

1615
01:55:56,560 --> 01:56:04,120
one in this film um well maybe not then because like so you know we did the whole press store

1616
01:56:04,120 --> 01:56:11,600
and and every kind of um every place we went we did uh we did Berlin we did uh London we

1617
01:56:11,600 --> 01:56:16,800
did Paris and then we did LA so um at the start of it kind of you know Ryan and Emily

1618
01:56:16,800 --> 01:56:21,360
and David and and Kelly and all the the producers kind of come out on stage and then we come

1619
01:56:21,360 --> 01:56:25,840
out on stage too and they kind of give a little intro so it's kind of you know there was already

1620
01:56:25,840 --> 01:56:31,360
a little intro there um but yeah there's there's a little bit there it's more so I was sat

1621
01:56:31,360 --> 01:56:35,800
next to my you know it was the first time my mom and dad uh in London got to come to

1622
01:56:35,800 --> 01:56:38,840
one of these I mean it's one of the first times that we've ever got to we ever get to

1623
01:56:38,840 --> 01:56:44,040
go to one of these we don't really get to get to go to them often so um it was more

1624
01:56:44,040 --> 01:56:49,360
so it was like a really special moment for for them and kind of having them in the audience

1625
01:56:49,360 --> 01:56:52,460
and then you know doing the whole intro and then jumping off the stage and then coming

1626
01:56:52,460 --> 01:56:57,760
back around like 10 minutes after and joining them and watching the movie with them um that

1627
01:56:57,760 --> 01:57:03,520
was really special and it was more so um my dad next to me was that you son was that you

1628
01:57:03,520 --> 01:57:07,600
I was like yeah that was me and that because he's seen all the footage anyway like he's

1629
01:57:07,600 --> 01:57:12,240
seen I have so much on my on my phone of like the behind the scenes and and all the gags

1630
01:57:12,240 --> 01:57:16,720
that we did so and he's already seen those and he was just like oh I remember you showing

1631
01:57:16,720 --> 01:57:22,920
me that one I remember you showing me that one and um uh so it was more so kind of just

1632
01:57:22,920 --> 01:57:27,800
a little conversation between you know me I was sat next to my dad and just a little

1633
01:57:27,800 --> 01:57:33,320
conversation between my dad that we were having while it was happening and the things that

1634
01:57:33,320 --> 01:57:37,800
he was saying and his reactions um were really cool.

1635
01:57:37,800 --> 01:57:41,320
You mentioned the documentary when's that supposed to come out?

1636
01:57:41,320 --> 01:57:42,760
So it's out now it's on Peacock.

1637
01:57:42,760 --> 01:57:43,760
Oh okay.

1638
01:57:43,760 --> 01:57:50,080
Out in America and the documentary is called Action and it basically follows stunt performers

1639
01:57:50,080 --> 01:57:59,040
and their lives inside and outside of filming a movie and yeah the new season two is based

1640
01:57:59,040 --> 01:58:05,040
on Fall Guy so there's you know lots of different characters and who are kind of a part of it

1641
01:58:05,040 --> 01:58:12,560
myself and Justin Eaton, Logan Holliday, Troy Brown, Chris O'Hara, Keira Beck and then you

1642
01:58:12,560 --> 01:58:20,520
know a couple of the Aussie guys and yeah Dave Leach you know Ryan's in there so it's

1643
01:58:20,520 --> 01:58:27,040
just kind of following stunt people and kind of what they go through and their life before

1644
01:58:27,040 --> 01:58:33,000
or after during stunts and you know when the movie's being filmed and when the movie's

1645
01:58:33,000 --> 01:58:39,280
not being filmed but it's a very fun documentary and that also kind of added to the whole experience

1646
01:58:39,280 --> 01:58:46,800
of you know not only were we filming the craziest stunt movie I've ever done in my life but

1647
01:58:46,800 --> 01:58:52,000
we had to we were filming a documentary as well at the same time so it was just so much

1648
01:58:52,000 --> 01:58:53,000
so much going on.

1649
01:58:53,000 --> 01:58:56,800
Brilliant I'm gonna have to watch that I think I've got to resubscribe to Peacock but I will

1650
01:58:56,800 --> 01:58:58,840
just to watch that and so that looks amazing.

1651
01:58:58,840 --> 01:58:59,840
Great.

1652
01:58:59,840 --> 01:59:03,480
All right well then the final question if people want to find you online where are the

1653
01:59:03,480 --> 01:59:05,640
best places?

1654
01:59:05,640 --> 01:59:10,880
So I'm kind of like up until this I was a ghost online I don't really have I don't have

1655
01:59:10,880 --> 01:59:20,680
a Facebook or anything but I just have Instagram it's Benjenks and yeah go watch Fall Guy.

1656
01:59:20,680 --> 01:59:24,960
Beautiful well Ben I want to say thank you so much I mean it's been such an amazing conversation

1657
01:59:24,960 --> 01:59:30,720
yeah the film the Fall Guy like I said we were talking before we hit record I'm very

1658
01:59:30,720 --> 01:59:35,480
very cognizant of when a film is bad and it really irks me because you know I think we

1659
01:59:35,480 --> 01:59:40,200
put a lot of trust in a production that they're going to take us on a journey but I mean my

1660
01:59:40,200 --> 01:59:43,320
wife is laughing because I was just grinning like a Cheshire Cat the whole way through

1661
01:59:43,320 --> 01:59:47,600
the film so it is a phenomenal film so I want to thank you firstly for the film and secondly

1662
01:59:47,600 --> 01:59:52,760
for being so generous with your time and coming on the Behind the Shield podcast today.

1663
01:59:52,760 --> 01:59:56,280
Well thank you very much for having me I've had a lot of fun and I'm glad you liked the

1664
01:59:56,280 --> 02:00:06,360
film.

1665
02:00:26,280 --> 02:00:26,440
you

1666
02:00:56,280 --> 02:00:56,520
you

1667
02:01:26,280 --> 02:01:26,520
you