Former OU gymnast makes movie debut
Chad Crumley has been performing in front of crowds for more than two decades. He was a standout gymnast growing up in the Chicago area. He was part of Oklahoma's national runner-up teams a few years back.
But he's never had an audience as big as he does now.
Crumley is a stuntman in "Black Panther."
The movie has become a smash hit, and it hasn't even been in theaters for a week. Anticipated for years and hyped for months, "Black Panther" earned nearly $242 million in North America alone in its first four days, making it the second-highest grossing movie opening of all time.
It beat out "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" and trails only "The Force Awakens."
Millions of people around the world have already seen "Black Panther," and if the number of screens showing it in the Oklahoma City area alone is an indication of
what's happening elsewhere, millions more will see it soon.
"It's still something that I can't really believe I got to be a part of," Crumley said.
A veteran stuntman might say as much, but Crumley is a newbie.
"Black Panther" was his first appearance in a full-length motion picture.
After finishing his eligibility with the Sooners in 2012 — he specialized in high bar and floor — he decided to go to graduate school at the University of Florida. His bachelor’s degree was in zoology, and he wanted to work with large snakes.
But when he moved to Florida, a few former Sooner gymnasts who were working for Disney convinced him to try performing. Many of the Disney properties have live shows that need tumblers, trampolinists and even trapeze artists. Crumley hooked on with "Festival of The Lion King" at Animal Kingdom and realized he wanted to keep flipping and twisting and flying.
"I figured I could always go back to school," he said. "To me, it was more important that I was happy."
And the more Crumley dabbled in the profession, the more he liked it. He eventually decided to experiment with stunt work and started learning from a longtime pro in Florida.
Some aspects came easily, namely falling.
"That's something not a lot of gymnasts think about — they've learned how to fall correctly so that they can get up and just keep going," he said.
But then, there are stunt skills that Crumley had to acquire. For example, he didn't know how to get set on fire.
"These are usually not things that people usually off the bat feel like doing," he said. He chuckled.
"It took about a month or so with me being honest with myself about how far I wanted to take it."
As he gained more experience and more confidence, Crumley started knocking on doors. He introduced himself to all sorts of people involved with movie and television production. He showed them his stunt reel. He explained that he would do whatever they needed.
In late 2016, he got a call from the fight coordinator with "Black Panther." They were doing a pre-visual of a fight scene — a mock-up, if you will, before shooting began — and they wanted Crumley. There was no guarantee that it would lead to a spot in the movie.
But a few weeks later, Crumley got a call back, and last February, he spent about a month on the set.
"From Day 1, it was really easy," he said. "I thought it would be harder to walk in there not knowing anybody. But everybody was just warm and inviting . ... It really made the environment a lot more relaxed for me to do everything that was asked of me."
Crumley knew the movie was going to be grand. The script was great. The actors were tops. What's more, all sorts of boundaries were going to be broken with a vast majority of the cast and crew being black and some of the strongest roles being played by women.
"When it got translated on the screen," he said, "it really showed a oneness between everybody."
Not only is this his first experience in a fulllength motion picture with "Black Panther," but he’s also more than a faceless stuntman who goes flying across the screen after something blows up. If you know where to look during the movie, you'll see the former Sooner.
So, where do you look? "I won't spoil anything," he said, "but there's a point in the movie where Black Panther needs to go to Korea in order to intercept a certain person. You'll see one of the main characters — her name is Okoye — and she's the female warrior. She has a few lines, and it kind of captures my attention."
He walks over to Okoye, grabs her by the shoulder and starts a fight in a big casino.
He wouldn't say if his character lived to fight another day, but Crumley sure hopes his career as a stuntman is just starting. After spending most of last year recovering from shoulder surgery, he hasn't done any more work in fulllength motion pictures, but having worked on one of the biggest movies of all time isn't a bad thing to have on your resume.
"I feel really fortunate to have just been given a chance," he said, "let alone to have done exactly what was asked of me."