HOLDING OUT for a hero..
Here’s everything you need to know as Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s action-packed adventure lands on the big screen… By Keeley Ryan
They were a part of two of the biggest movies of 2023 — and now Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling have teamed up for an action-packed big screen adventure. The pair star opposite each other in The Fall Guy, which landed in cinemas earlier this week. Colt Seavers is a battle-scarred stuntman who left the business a year earlier, so that he can focus on his physical and mental health. But he gets drafted back into the industry when Tom Ryder, the star of the mega-budget studio being directed by his ex, Jody Moreno, suddenly goes missing.
And with the lm’s producer working to keep Tom’s disappearance a secret from both the studio and the media, Colt has to perform some of the most outrageous stunts in the lm — all while trying to work his way back into Jody’s good graces.
Things get more and more complicated as the mystery surrounding Tom’s disappearance deepens — and Colt nds himself caught up in a sinister criminal plot. One which will push him to the edge of a fall more dangerous than any stunt.
The cast of the lm also includes Hannah Waddingham, Aaron Taylor-johnson, Winston Duke and Stephanie Hsu.
From a screenplay by Hobbs & Shaw screenwriter Drew Pearce, The Fall Guy is produced by Kelly Mccormick and David Leitch — who also directed the lm — for their company 87North, and by Ryan Gosling and by Guymon Casady for Entertainment 360.
The lm is executive produced by Drew Pearce, Entertainment 360’s Geoff Shaevitz and the creator of the original Fall Guy television series, Glen A. Larson.
The Fall Guy is inspired by the action-adventure TV series of the same name from the 1980s.
The show, which ran from 1981 until 1986, followed Colt Seavers — a stuntman by day, bounty hunter by night — as he used his skills and knowledge of stunt effects to capture criminals.
And Kelly previously told Empire about what drew them to the story and why they wanted to bring Colt’s story to the big screen.
She said,“we had an eye on this title because it’s a show that lit the fuse, not to date David, but of the ‘stunties’ of his generation.
“There were huge stunts done on that show: car jumps, crashes, high falls, crazy stuff every week and it was done practically.
“So, as kids, they watched it and got all jazzed as to whether they could live that life, the Colt Seavers life, and it turns out a lot of guys and gals that we know chose it.
“There was nobody better to tell that tale; it’s such a true connection for David to tell the journey of a stunt man. And it’s a
great title, so we had to hold on to that.” David previously told Collider how he and Kelly had been“ghting so hard to get Fall Guy off the ground before Barbie”— but things worked out for the best in the end.
He recalled,“the studio was really trying to pressure Ryan, if they could, like, ‘Could we squeeze Fall Guy in before Barbie?’we were trying to move up deadlines. “We were really trying so hard, and then nally, we just couldn’t make production work to where we could get it done before he had to go to Barbie.
“Now, in hindsight, it’s like the best thing that ever happened. So, you know. Problem, opportunity, folks.you just never know.
“That’s just how Hollywood is. But yeah, it’s really fortunate to be where Ryan and Emily are having such a well-deserved moment, and now we get to see them in our lm. At this time, it’s an incredible gift.”
And in an interview in November 2023, the pair told how The Fall Guy is a“love letter to stunts”and“a love letter to cinema”.
David said,“kelly and I have gotten to ip a lot of genres on their head — like John Wick with the revenge thriller or Deadpool with the superhero movie.
“We’ve gotten to do subversive, fun things, but we’ve never gotten to do a sweeping romance. And what better way to do a romance than by jamming it into this bombastic action movie?”
Kelly added to Entertainment Weekly,“it’s a love letter to stunts.
“It’s a love letter to cinema. And it’s actually a love letter to crews who make cinema.
“Coming out of what we’ve experienced this year, this is the time to do it. It’s just this big love fest.” Ryan opened up about how he got involved with the lm — and told how he felt it was an“amazing opportunity to focus on the stunt community”and the“incredible contribution that they’ve made to cinema”.
He told Total Film,“i produced it with David [Leitch] and Kelly [Mccormick], and it was just such an amazing opportunity to focus on the stunt community, and the incredible contribution that they’ve made to cinema.
“I started on an action-adventure show calledyoung Hercules, so I’ve had stunt doubles my whole life.
“Stunt performers have been making actors into movie stars for over a century.
“It felt like it was only fair to turn the spotlight onto them. And who better to do that with than David Leitch, a former stuntman-turned-brilliant director?”
As for what drew him to Colt, who was played by Lee Majors in the TV series, the Drive actor said that the answer was simple. He continued,“i just thought that it was, in working closely with David, a great opportunity to shine a light on these people that aren’t taking the limelight, that really risk their lives and well-being a lot of the time to make other people look good, and to create these moments in movies that sometimes are really the best parts of the lm.
“And they sort of disappear into the shadows when its over.”
The 43-year-old also told how he had been a fan of Emily’s“for years”.
He said,“you can put anybody opposite her, and they’re better.
“It was just a joy to work with her. She really shows up, rolls up her sleeves, and helps you make the movie in any capacity that she can.”
Emily plays Jody Moreno, who is directing her rst lm — and she told how she“didn’t want her to be severe and tough and together”.
She told Den of Geek,“it’s okay for her to feel like she’s in way over her head. It’s okay that she’s white-knuckling it.
“And then, when Colt shows up, the thread breaks. I like that she’s just as messy and eccentric as the rest of them.
“We really worked hard on building those colours, so she wasn’t just some presupposed idea of what a female director should be.”
As for what appealed to her about the lm, Emily told how she loves“the system—obviously—of making lms”.
She said,“i think there’s a curiosity about how it’s done. And I think this is an opportunity for us to romanticise it and make a spectacle of it but also to show the reality and grind of what it really looks like when you’re making movies.
“The chaos, how everyone is held together with duct tape by the end of the movie.
“You get to see all those wonderful little nuances that ground it and romanticise it all the more at the same time.”
The action-packed lm also set a Guinness World Record while lming in Sydney, for the most cannon rolls in a car. Stunt driver Logan Holladay rolled the vehicle eight and a half times.
The previous record was seven, and was set by Adam Kirby while lming Casino Royale.
And at a special screening of the lm earlier this year, Ryan paid tribute to Logan — and told how he makes a cameo in the lm.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, he said,“he’s buckling me into a car for a stunt he’s about to do, and then he goes on to do eight and a half cannon rolls, which is a world record.
“Then, he pulls me out of the car and pats me on the back for the stunt that he just did. In any other movie, you wouldn’t know that.
“But in this movie, you do. There’s a lack of recognition for the contribution that [stunt performers] make to cinema and some of the best moments in lms that we love so much. That ends here.”
The La La Land actor told how there were many stunt performers who portrayed Colt on-screen — and“everyone had their own special skill”.
He continued,“it took like eight performers to make one Fall Guy.
“There were times when I was like,‘should we be making a movie or robbing a bank?’this is kind of the greatest bank robbing team.
“Everyone had their own special skill. It was like the Avengers or something. And, in fact, a lot of them probably were the Avengers. Just look at their CVS.”
And in a behind-the-scenes featurette celebrating the record-breaking stunt, David told how the lm is“a re ection of my experiences as a stunt performer”.
He said,“there really is a practical element to every stunt
“Stunt performers have been making actors into movie stars for over a century.”
we do in the movie. We’re making a movie that’s an homage to stunt performers — why don’t we make sure we’re doing the best and biggest versions of those? Maybe we can break some records.”
Ryan added that“an incredible amount of things have to go right and be perfect”for the stunt to work.
He said,“the day that we shot the cannon roll, it was de nitely the most emotional day I’ve ever had on a set — and it might’ve been one of the most tense days of my life.
“The record-breaking cannon roll was done by Logan Holladay. An incredible amount of things have to go right and be perfect in order for this to work.”
Emily added,“for David to have made this a love letter to the traditional way of doing stunts, it was just beautiful.”
The Fall Guy lands in cinemas in Ireland beginning
May 2.