Do you want to be a stunt performer? Well, ask yourself these three questions:
- Are you prepared for the injuries?
- Are you prepared to starve?
- You don't learn to be a stuntman at school. So are you prepared for
the effort involved?
Even if you have answered "yes" to all of these questions, you still might
not have what it takes to make it as a stunt performer, says Jim Dunn. He
is the coordinator of a professional organization of stunt performers.
"Basically, you have it or you don't," says Dunn. He has years of
stunt experience.
Daredevils and extreme sports enthusiasts are more likely to make it than
people who prefer quieter sports. Dunn recommends that those with the right
personality for the field stay in shape, master as many sports as possible,
and try to get work as an extra to get their foot in the door.
The people who do make it as stunt performers pay a heavy toll for their
career choice, in the form of broken bones and bruised bodies. "I've
broken my legs six times....Broken both my arms. I'm generally in hospital
every few years," he says.
Dunn has doubled for stars like Robert DeNiro and Val Kilmer. He has numerous
films, television performances and commercials to his credit.
Stunt performer Mike Adams is another industry veteran. He specializes
in driving cars -- and how!
One scene he drove in required him to drive a car, slam it into a bus and
then flip over. But what made the scene special is this: "In the turnover,
I set it up near a cement wall. I got the car airborne and I got all four
tires against that wall and bounced the car off of it. That's the first
time that's ever been done."
Adams claims the tire marks are still on the wall to this day.
All this was for the pilot episode of a series called Viper. Adams, a stuntman
for 26 years, did all the driving in the series.
"The very first day on the show, I was driving that car 135 miles an hour
through the streets of Los Angeles. It was fun."
Danger seems to be Adams' business. He was a rodeo cowboy at the age
of 19. From there, he got into racing cars. Meanwhile, he began working with
horses as a stuntman. After many years and many injuries, he has since restricted
most of his stunt work to driving.
Adams explains the risks involved in his job. "If you're having a
very busy year and are working on big features [where the big stunts are],
there are going to be three to five times when you're going to be involved
in a stunt where -- if you or someone else makes a very small mistake -- it's
going to cost you your life. If your timing is off, it could cost somebody
else their life.
"Doing stunt work would be like playing in the NFL year-round without a
trainer or a team physician behind you," Adams explains. "We have to keep
fit, so we work out religiously."
Nancy Thurston is the vice-president of the Stuntwomen's Association
of Motion Pictures, Inc. She is also a stuntwoman. As an ex-member of the
U.S. high diving team, her specialty in the stunt world is high falling.
"Everyone's tossing me around!" she says.
In the 1997 Wes Craven horror movie Scream 2, Thurston doubles as Sarah
Michelle Gellar when the bad guys get rough.
"I get tossed through a window,...and then once I'm on the balcony
he grabs me and throws me off the balcony."
Though the glass is fake, Thurston's 40-foot drop from the balcony
is a tumble. Compared to what she's capable of, however, 40 feet is mere
child's play.
"I once did a 93-foot high fall for Drew Barrymore. At the beginning of
[Charlie's Angels], they had a montage of stunts during the credits....We
jumped off this 93-foot building and there was a huge explosion behind us,"
she explains.
And she lived to talk about it! While Thurston used to be a gymnast, a
simple tuck and roll isn't enough to survive a 93-foot fall. So how does
she do it?
A stunt performer lands in what's called an "air bag." Like a gigantic
balloon, the air bag is the bull's-eye of the high fall business: it's
a cushioned target these actors don't want to miss.
"We used an air bag that was 24 feet wide and 34 feet long and maybe 10
feet tall. Up there, you want the biggest bag that you can get to be comfortable
and to have a nice easy target," says Thurston.
She has learned to fall into air bags with confidence. But Thurston's
tolerance for discomfort is tested in other ways. During the filming of Titanic,
she worked through the night, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., jumping in and out of
the world's largest outdoor water tank -- full of icy cold water.
She says the water really was as cold as it looked in the movie. But however
unpleasant, she's excited to be part of such a smash success. "I got
to jump off the ship a million times and be in different lifeboats for different
scenes!" she says.
While she's had some great roles, Thurston is modest about her successes.
Quite simply, she does what she does because she loves it. "I love being outside
and I'm not a desk person. So I knew, I just knew, I'd do something
like this," she says.
"It's a crazy business, but we like it," says Thurston. "If somebody
wants to come out here and try it, go for it. Honestly, it's difficult
right now but nothing's impossible!"