“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Stunt Coordinator Andy Cheng on That Epic Bus Fight
Along with the rise of visual effects, old-school practical effects, the actual exploits of human beings creating incredible spectacles in real-time and real space, have also become near to magic. From Bruce Lee to Simu Liu, star of Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and every Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Cruise, and Daniel Craig in between, fight sequences, car chases, and action scenes of truly epic proportions have become high art.
“Black Widow” Stunt Coordinator Rob Inch on the Art of Adrenaline
In her swan song as Russian assassin-turned-Avenger Natasha Romanoff, Scarlett Johansson fights her way through Black Widow (opening Friday) on a mission to destroy evil mastermind Dreykov (Ray Winstone) and his network of brainwashed female killers. But first, Natasha has to confront her equally ferocious kid sister Yelena, portrayed by Florence Pugh. (Some light spoilers ahead). Abandoned as children by their spy parents (David Harbour and Rachel Weisz),
Going Pedal To The Metal With “F9” Stunt Coordinator Andy Gill
Any mention of the words “fast” and “furious” immediately brings to mind one of film’s most successful franchises. But for stunt coordinator Andy Gill, it’s another word beginning with “f” that makes these movies so special.
“Truthfully, it’s the family feeling,” says Gill during a recent Zoom interview. “Fast has become like a big family. I’ve been working with Spiro (Razatos), the second unit director, for 36 years. The people around us… probably 15 years.
From “Black Panther” to “Jeopardy,” Stunt Coordinator & Actor Zee James Hits Her Mark
Zee James is an actress, a stuntwoman and stunt coordinator, and a background performer in movies and on television, ranging from Black Panther and Dolemite is My Name to Bosch and Everybody Hates Chris. She has even demonstrated an entire category of Jeopardy! clues about martial arts. James spoke to us about taking advantage of opportunities that might not be exactly what she planned,
Emmy-Nominated Stunt Coordinator Hiro Koda Talks “Stranger Things” Action
Stranger Things Season 3 continues to track the bizarre mysteries unfolding in Hawkins, Indiana circa 1985. Blending sci-fi, action, romance, and comedy the Netflix thriller, nominated for eight Emmys this year, embroils plucky kids, led by Eleven (Milly Bobby Brown) in their ongoing quest to bring down the mysterious “Mind Flayer” monster. Meanwhile, Sheriff Jim Hopper (David Harbour), in between flirtations with local mom Joyce (Wynona Ryder), dukes it out repeatedly with square-jawed Grigori (Soviet-born actor Andrey Ivchenko),
Meet the Fight Coordinators Who Gave “The Old Guard” Their New Moves
Years before Wonder Woman, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel came out, Charlize Theron set the bar for female action heroes in 2005 when she starred in the sci-fi bloodbath Æon Flux. She followed that with her incredible performance as Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road and then as a super-spy more than willing to fight in Atomic Blonde. Now Theron returns to the fray as immortal ax-wielder Andy in The Old Guard.
Training The Pups in Think Like A Dog
Gil Junger, writer/director of Think Like a Dog, gave animal trainer Sarah Clifford a tough assignment. First, she had to train the title character, a shaggy dog named Henry, to do a variety of stunts that would allow the viewer to suspend disbelief that this dog was communicating telepathically with a kid. Second, find a way to make the dog and said kid, played by Gabriel Bateman, comfortable enough that we would believe they had been together for years.
Stunt Coordinator Kathy Jarvis Drives the Action in Paramount’s TV Series 68 Whiskey
A television series set on a military base during the height of the Afghan war is where you’ll find one of the best stunt coordinators currently working on television—Kathy Jarvis. Creating the stunts for 68 Whiskey, the Paramount Network comedy/drama about a team of medics battling to save lives while keeping their sanity in the midst of constant carnage and danger, is giving her an opportunity to use the range of skills she’s developed over her long career.
How Ford v Ferrari Stunt Coordinator Kept Christian Bale Safe at 140 Miles an Hour
“Christian Bale is hands down the best actor I’ve ever trained,” says stunt coordinator Dan Nagle, and for a guy who’s worked on Baby Driver, The Fate of the Furious and John Wick: Chapter 2, that’s saying a lot. A former racer himself, Nagle prepped Bale to portray Ken Miles, the hot-tempered driver who in 1966 competed in the 24 Hours Le Mans against the previously indomitable Italian racing team masterminded by Enzo Ferrari.
How SEAL Team’s Emmy-Nominated Stunt Coordinators Bring Accuracy to the Action
CBS’s SEAL Team, renewed for a third season, takes an authentic and awe-inspiring look at the lives of Navy S.E.A.L.S., giving you a sense of how “they train, plan and execute the most dangerous, high-stakes missions.” Behind the scenes helping to ensure such realism are stunt coordinators Peewee Piemonte and Julie Michaels. The Emmy-nominated husband-and-wife team — Piemonte won two and was nominated for a third for Southland and Michaels was nominated for Shameless — are nominees once again,
How Stunt Man Gary Kent Inspired Brad Pitt’s Character in Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood
Gary Kent broke all his ribs when he got run over by a cavalcade of motorcycles in The Vengeful Seven and cut his arm on a shattered shot glass a year earlier in 1967 during a Hell’s Angels on Wheels bar fight. “I wrapped my arm in a towel and on the way to the hospital we stopped for a couple of scotch and waters, so I was in a pretty good mood when they gave me 36 stitches,”
How Glass‘s Stunt Coordinator Channeled James McAvoy’s Inner Beast
M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable came out in 2000, and to get the movie made, the director deliberately billed it as a film about anything other than superheroes. Nineteen years on, a slew of superhero films have erupted from Hollywood, and they are by and large nothing like Shyamalan’s trilogy, which also includes 2016’s Split, and now, Glass. Is this final chapter even a superhero movie?
Malek Becomes Mercury Thanks to Bohemian Rhapsody Movement Coach
It took a village to transform Rami Malek from hoodie-clad Mr. Robot hacker introvert into Freddie Mercury, the flamboyant Queen frontman he portrays with astonishing verisimilitude in Bohemian Rhapsody. Hair and makeup designer Jan Sewell. outfitted Malek with prosthetic “buck teeth.” Dialect coach William Conacher re-shaped the actor’s inflections into a smooth British accent. Music supervisor Becky Bentham and production sound mixer John Casali blended master tape Queen recordings with performances from Malek and Mercury impersonator Marc Martel to communicate the singer’s four-octave vocal power on screen.
Real Navy Jets and Aviators Will Satiate Top Gun: Maverick‘s Need for Speed
The Navy may be as excited about the upcoming Top Gun remake as the fans.
“Much like the first film, these are going to be real jets and real U.S. Naval aviators flying in these scenes,” Naval Air Forces spokesman Commander Ronald Flanders told The Credits. “We’re excited about it.”
The movie is one of only two films currently supported by the Navy’s Hollywood office — and the production underwent a lengthy approval process to obtain a production assistance agreement that outlines how the Navy will support the film,
How Fight Trainer Don Lee got Jennifer Garner Back in Action for Peppermint
Seventeen years after her star-making turn as Sydney Bristow in Alias, Jennifer Garner is back in action and back in action shape for the new movie Peppermint.
In the new movie (out today), Garner engages in hand-to-hand combat, knife fights, gunfights, and even a little boxing. She did the majority of her own stunts.
“She is heavily involved in her fight scenes. The majority of things she could do she does,” said Don Lee,
Mission: Impossible – Fallout’s Stunt Coordinator on the Craziest Film in Franchise History
By now it is well known that Tom Cruise, age 56, performs his own stunts. What is not as obvious, unless you are familiar with his whole body of work, is that he is always training, that he learns fresh stunts for new films, and that, according to those who work with him, he shows absolutely no sign of slowing down. Of course, if you caught the commercial and critical hit sixth installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise over the weekend,
How Jackie Chan, Ancient Sparta and Zulu Spear-Fighting Inspired Black Panther‘s Stunt Coordinator
Given his pedigree as the guy who helped stage fights for two of the century’s most audacious action epics John Wick and The Bourne Ultimatum, stunt choreographer Jonathan Eusebio arrived on the Black Panther set in Atlanta, Georgia well qualified for the gig. Still, he faced a considerable challenge. In the space of just six weeks, Eusebui had to unite the actresses portraying Wakanda’s all-female Dora Milaje militia into a precision-tooled fighting machine.
Watch Tom Cruise’s Insane Helicopter Stunt in Mission: Impossible – Fallout
We’ve written plenty in the past about Tom Cruise’s death wish. Or, to put it another way, Tom Cruise’s incredible dedication to pulling off increasingly insane stunts in his films, primarily in the Mission: Impossible series he’s been starring in for 22 years. We also wrote about how Cruise spent a year prepping for a stunt in the upcoming Mission: Impossible – Fallout,
Real Life Special Forces Heroes Helped Keep 12 Strong True To Life
Star Chris Hemsworth got some guidance from the man he portrays in the movie 12 Strong (released Jan. 19). Hemsworth plays Capt. Mitch Nelson in the film about a team of Green Berets on a strategic mission in Afghanistan in the days immediately following 9/11. The real-life Special Forces officer he represents is Mark Nutsch, who asked that his name be fictionalized in the movie.
Nutsch and one of his Green Beret teammates visited the production on location in Albuquerque,
Stunt Performer Annabel Wood is a Real Life Wonder Woman
*We’re sharing some of our favorite interviews of the year this week in our ‘Best of 2017’ roundup.
When she hears the word action, Annabel Wood’s job is to take the command literally. She very often makes her living dying. All in all, Wood has died more times than she can count – and she keeps coming back from more. She’s a stunt performer, and one of the best in the business.
