“Venom: The Last Dance” Stunt Coordinator James Churchman on Tom Hardy, Wild Horses and Flying Kids
When he was nine years old, James M. Churchman bought his first motorcycle and started riding the backroads of his native Florida. A few years later, he became a professional stuntman, and by the late nineties, he’d invented a computerized flying system that is still in use today. In the 2000s, Churchman emerged as a ...
“Wolfs” Stunt Coordinator George Cottle on Designing Superlative Stunts For George Clooney & Brad Pitt
For stunt coordinator George Cottle, it started on a warm summer’s day in Los Angeles. He and director Jon Watts were shooting an episode of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew when Watts mentioned a film idea he was developing to star Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Watts asked Cottle if he’d like to be involved. “I’ve ...
“Deadpool & Wolverine” Second Unit Director & Stunt Coordinator George Cottle on Capturing Those Cameos
In the last installment of our conversation with Deadpool & Wolverine’s second unit director and stunt coordinator George Cottle, we covered the hysterical dance/action opening sequence and what it took to shoot the bone-crunching brawl inside a real Honda Odyssey minivan. Smashing box office records on every level—the first R-rated movie to open domestically over $200 ...
“Deadpool & Wolverine” Stunt Coordinator & Second Unit Director George Cottle on the Comically Ultra-Violent Style
“Suck it Fox, I’m going to Disney World!” So declares our favorite fourth-wall-breaking antihero, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), in Shawn Levy’s hilariously meta threequel, Deadpool & Wolverine, which is back in the #1 spot domestically for the fourth weekend. With Deadpool’s signature brand of acerbic sarcasm and self-deprecating humor, the raunchy action comedy often references the ...
“The Fall Guy” Fight Coordinator Jonathan Eusebio on That Insane Spinning Garbage Truck Chase
Another veteran from the John Wick brand of innovative and high-octane action, stunt coordinator Jonathan “JoJo” Eusebio was thrilled to work on stuntman-turned-director David Leitch’s action comedy, The Fall Guy. Due to the wall-to-wall stunts, he was brought in to assist the main fight coordinator, Sunny Sun. A member of Leitch and Chad Stahelski’s 87Eleven ...
“The Fall Guy” Stunt Designer Chris O’Hara on Helping Create Ryan Gosling’s Gonzo Performance
Hollywood couldn’t have found a more perfect director for Ryan Gosling’s stuntman rom-com The Fall Guy (in theaters now) than David Leitch. A body double-turned-stunt supervisor on dozens of movies, including John Wick, he understood the stunt world firsthand before moving into the director’s chair for Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train. To oversee stunts on ...
“Shōgun” Stunt Coordinator Lauro David Chartrand-DelValle on Lady Mariko’s Last Stand
In part one of our conversation with Shōgun’s stunt coordinator and second unit director, Lauro David Chartrand-DelValle, he shared details about the extensive choreography training for the cast and what made Lord Toranaga’s (Hiroyuki Sanada) fighting style distinctive. Now, we turn toward Toranaga’s two allies, the “Anjin,” English sailor John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), and the ...
The Samurai Sword and the Flaming Arrow: Inside the Stunts of “Shōgun” – Part One
It has been a very busy year for stunt coordinator Lauro David Chartrand-DelValle. Not only is he on one of this season’s most-watched scripted series on broadcast—Tracker on CBS—he is also the second unit director on FX’s critically acclaimed hit, Shōgun. Still maintaining its 99% Rotten Tomatoes score after a 10-week run, the historical saga ...
Defying Death With “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” Second Unit Director & Stunt Coordinator Wade Eastwood
“The action evolves with the story — I’m not trying to invent action just to invent the next big stunt. It’s got to be emotionally engaging through action and fit the character,” says second unit director and stunt choreographer Wade Eastwood of Mission: Impossible’s brand of character-driven action choreography. An accomplished fixed-wing and helicopter pilot, Eastwood ...
Best of Summer 2023: “Heart of Stone” Stunt Coordinator Jo McLaren on Taking Gal Gadot to New Heights
Jo McLaren is a longtime stunt professional who has worked on a slew of hit films and TV series, lending her talents to hits as disparate as Titanic, Dr. Who, and the Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, and Avengers franchises. As an in-demand stunt coordinator, she has kept productions safe while creating some of the most ...
“Heart of Stone” Stunt Coordinator Jo McLaren on Taking Gal Gadot to New Heights
Jo McLaren is a longtime stunt professional who has worked on a slew of hit films and TV series, lending her talents to hits as disparate as Titanic, Dr. Who, and the Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, and Avengers franchises. As an in-demand stunt coordinator, she has kept productions safe while creating some of the most ...
“Fast X” Stunt Coordinator Andy Gill on [Safely] Going Pedal to the Metal
Fast X roared into theaters this past weekend and delivered another pedal-to-the-metal, physics-melting action adventure. Director Louis Leterrier steered the tenth installment, which finds Dominic Torretto (Vin Diesel) and his beloved family of gearheads facing off against a ferocious villain with a passion to burn Dom and the family to the ground. There’s a reason why ...
“The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die” Stunt Coordinator Levente Lezsák on Orchestrating a Viking Melee
Action buffs who enjoy English history will find much to savor in The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die. The Netflix epic (now streaming) follows five seasons of The Last Kingdom to chronicle the bloody Battle of Brunanburh in 937 when native Saxons crossed swords with invading Vikings and warriors from Scotland. Both sides suffered ...
“Renfield” Stunt Coordinator Chris Brewster Sinks His Teeth Into Hyperkinetic Action-Comedy
Chris Brewster knows how to make a bloody mess. The stunt coordinator has been making the rounds in Hollywood for over twenty years now and reteams with director Chris McKay on Renfield, following their collaboration on The Tomorrow War (2021), where Brewster served as a fight choreographer. This time around, Brewster sinks his teeth into ...
“John Wick: Chapter 4” Stunt Coordinators on How They Crafted the Craziest “Wick” Yet
Editor’s Note: Leading up to the release of John Wick: Chapter 4 on March 24, 2023, The Credits is publishing a “Wick Week” of content, weaving stories about the film’s fighting style, and cinematography, along with an interview with director Chad Stahelski. Some mild spoilers follow. “No one department works by themselves,” says Scott Rogers, stunt coordinator and ...
“John Wick: Chapter 4” Fight Coordinator Jeremy Marinas on Building Balletic Mayhem With Keanu Reeves & Co.
Editor’s Note: Leading up to the release of John Wick: Chapter 4 on March 24, 2023, The Credits is publishing a “Wick Week” of content, weaving stories about the film’s stunts, and cinematography, along with an interview with director Chad Stahelski. Some mild spoilers follow. Jeremy Marinas knows how to fight. And for John Wick: Chapter 4, ...
Stunt Coordinator Freddie Poole Trades Jabs with Sylvester Stallone in “Tulsa King”
Stunt coordinator Freddie Poole has worked long enough with Sylvester Stallone that, although he may not be able to finish the actor’s sentences, he can sure finish his punches. So when the call came to oversee the action on the Paramount+ series Tulsa King, Poole didn’t hesitate. Stallone stars as Dwight “The General” Manfredi, an ...
“The Woman King” Fight Choreographer Jénel Stevens on Raising a Warrior Army
There’s a reason that the battle sequences in The Woman King look so authentic. The actors, from star Viola Davis on down, worked for months to get into physical shape to play an army of women warriors. They learned all the right moves from a team of expert trainers that included fight choreographer Jénel Stevens. ...
Trainer Gabriela Mclain on Getting “The Woman King” Cast into Fighting Shape
Talk about reading the room: actress-producer Maria Bello pitched The Woman King directly to Viola Davis in 2015 while standing at the podium to present her with a Women Making History Award. Davis immediately embraced the fact-based story about General Nanisca, who, in the 1820s, led an army of fierce 19th-century women warriors from the ...
“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, ...
