THE FALL GUYS
What does it take to be a real-life action hero? Men's Fitness speaks to five of the world's most daring stunt performers to find out what's required to go toe to toe with Tom Cruise trade blows with MMA legends and take to the skies as superhero stand -ins>>
hey say that if you stare into the abyss for long enough, eventually the abyss stares right back. The truth, though, is that for most of our lives the majority of us never even glimpse mortal danger, much less face it down on a daily basis. But there are those that do. Men who, for whatever reason, have elected to make a living out of putting their bodies on the line.
TAKING LICKS
For Adrian McGaw, absorbing high-impact punishment is simply part of his nine-tofive (not that the working hours of a stunt performer are ever that simple). Taking heavy hits are so ingrained into his lifestyle that his ‘wedding gift’ from Tom Cruise was getting thrown through a stained-glass window during the filming of an action scene for 2017’s The Mummy. For most of us, getting hurled through a glass window is an unconventional way to receive thanks from a co-worker; in most circumstances, a nice bottle of red tends to suffice. But stuntmen measure achievement by a different metric. For McGaw, a crowning achievement was his contribution to the realisation of the bruising fight sequence from 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, an iconic bathroom-demolishing
fight scene that went viral, featuring Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill and stuntman-turned actor, Liang Yang. Despite not featuring in the final on-screen sequence, McGaw still found choreographing and pre-visualising the scene physically punishing: “There was one time during the pre-viz that required crucial timing… we happened to not quite get the right rotation and Liang came down with his elbow in my sternum. I tore some ligaments where the ribs attach and I couldn’t breathe. They called cut and I just had to say, ‘Can I have a minute?’ That, for me, is the worst feeling ever.”
“I tore some ligaments where the ribs attach to the sternum and I couldn’t breathe. I had to say, ‘Can I have a minute?’”
CAN YOU KICK IT?
Chris Brewster is a 13-time martial arts world champion, who has donned the suit of multiple Marvel heroes – including Captain America and Daredevil – for some of the big screen’s most memorable ght sequences, including the eye-popping scrap with MMA legend Georges St-Pierre in 2014’s Captain America: e Winter Soldier. He learned early in his career, however, that being a stuntman required more than just a repertoire of ashy kicks: “J.J. Perry, who is a legend in the industry, told me that as a stuntman there are essentially two paths: you can be the guy who does the cool stu , or you can be the guy who can do the cool stu and is willing to take a hit. I told him that if we put cameras on it, I was willing to take his back kick, which is well-known throughout the stunt world to be one of the hardest hits that anybody can take. He liked that response and the very next day I was working on Avatar.” Dealing with pain to create cinematic legends is a necessary part of the job. For Brewster, his iconic long-take corridor ght as Daredevil, ghting o seemingly endless hordes of goons, lit up the internet when it released in 2015, and yet his on-camera exhaustion as he defeats opponent after opponent is real. Choreographed it may be, but the physically taxing nature of the work is beyond doubt.
LEAP OF FAITH
e spectacular nature of modern action icks means audiences are relentlessly hurled from one dizzying stunt sequence into the next, often without chance to appreciate the countless hours of work that go into creating such sequences. Dave Grant, an English stunt performer, is one of two physical stunt doubles for Daniel Craig in the upcoming Bond lm, No Time to Die. If you’ve seen the trailer, you will have seen Grant leaping from a bridge, clinging to a rope as he plunges towards oblivion. It’s a breathtaking moment that barely lasts a second, and yet it took a week of painstaking work to create.
“We were there days before the crew arrived,” says Grant, “prepping it, and doing a lot of bag tests.
at’s where they weigh up a bag the same weight as me, then start ring it over the edge of the bridge – it’s to make sure that the dynamic stress on the ropes will support a human body. en by the time that’s all dialled in, they clip me in and there’s a staged process where you gradually jump out further and further until the time comes to shoot and you’ve done it many times.” e meticulous planning and singleminded focus required to safely complete such stunts is testament to the high standards of professionalism that these men exhibit. Ben Cooke is a veteran stunt performer, who won a World Taurus Stunt Award for his heart-stopping leap between two cranes as James Bond in 2006’s Casino Royale. He says planning makes perfect: “You must be con dent in your training. Stuntmen are very methodical and detailorientated. We aren’t daredevils. Stunts have to be performed for multiple takes, they must be repeatable. at means your head has to be in the right space.” Rick English is another veteran performer who also holds a Taurus Award for the ght sequence at the end of 2014’s
Kingsman: e Secret Service. He adds that it’s all about minimising risk: “If you think in a motorcycle crash, for example, you’re going to land on this hip, then put a pad on it, maybe atten a bit of kerb you think might be a problem. You do everything you can to make it as safe as possible, then you just have to rely on the skills and experience you’ve built up over the years to keep yourself safe.”
READY FOR ACTION
Of course, mental preparation is just part of the role. When the ground is rushing towards you at breakneck speed, your mind can only protect you so much. Physical preparation is a fundamental part of the job, with every stunt performer mentioned here telling us they train every day to protect and develop their bodies, while enhancing the range of skills that they specialise in.
“I train with CrossFit,” says Dave Grant (an approach favoured by many in the profession), “and I love it because it’s very high-intensity training. It’s varied, too, but if I do a lot of it I can bulk up, which means it’s not always the right type of training for me if I’m doubling a slender actor.”
Chris Brewster agrees that CrossFit makes for excellent all-round preparation for stunt work: “Our environment changes so drastically. Take the coolest move you can do, then it’s like, great, now can you do that with an extra 15lbs of wardrobe on? Or with a light shining directly in your face so you can’t see anything? Or with the oor slippery because it’s been polished to look good on camera? So I combine the CrossFit style of high-intensity training with plenty of explosive plyometrics.
en I add sports-speci c training in [such as martial arts or acrobatics], which allows me to keep doing what I do.”
Job-speci c body training is key to training for a role, ensuring a stunt performer is able to meet the unique physical criteria each project requires. “When we had to climb cables that were hanging o a helicopter for Mission: Impossible,” says Adrian McGaw, “I did a lot of dead-hangs and pull-ups, and we practised climbing
“Stuntmen are very methodical and detail-orientated. We aren’t daredevils”
to improve grip and finger strength. Because I knew that job was coming, I was able to train specifically for it.”
DOUBLE UP
When a stuntman’s reputation grows, they often find themselves being asked to double for lead actors. While this can lead to higher profile work, it also carries extra responsibilities, such as maintaining the exact physical stature as the actor they are doubling. Despite adding another taxing element to their continual body transformation, it’s a challenge they embrace.
“If you’re working on Marvel/ DC films, production will pay for the film’s lead to have a personal trainer and a nutritionist, and they’ll be put on a contract way ahead of the film to give them enough time and resources to physically transform into the character,” says Chris Brewster. “However, the stunt performer has to match the actor, and most of the time we aren’t paid for the months leading up to the shoot. It takes a lot of determination and focus, but it all kind of balances out.”
Adrian McGaw agrees, noting that on top of his job-specific training, he has to lift heavy just to play catch up with the sheer physical size of Henry Cavill, who he regularly doubles. “At the moment, I have to maintain a certain aesthetic to double Henry,” he say. “He’s bigger than I am, so it’s a never-ending gains-training goal, but it keeps me motivated. I also have to keep up the athleticism which goes with the job, though, including stabilisation, plyometrics and aqua-based stuff.”
SCREEN TIME TO SAVOUR
So why do it? What drives these men to continually hone their bodies and minds, knowing that most people will never even know their names? For Ben Cooke, it’s
simple: “When the reward outweighs the risk it becomes viable. Having your profession captured on the screen forever makes it pretty viable to me.”
It’s a straightforward take that is di cult to disagree with, the notion of creating something incredible that will last forever. For Rick English, perhaps speaking for all of his colleagues, it simply comes down to the professional pride that all of these men share: “I couldn’t bear to think that there’s something more that I could have done. If I think I could have trained harder or put more hours in, I’d be absolutely devastated, especially in lm where there’s one chance and then it’s there forever. If I didn’t do the best I possibly could, I know it would eat me up forever.”
“Having your profession captured on the screen forever means the reward outweighs the risk”