I don’t know about you but I have always been fascinated by people who work as professional stunt people. The risks and dangers are so high and the thrill is so intense. These people are truly daredevils. Why do they do what they do? Why do they risk their lives for entertainment purposes?
Recently I met a professional stunt person named Austin Gill while he was filming the eighth installment in the Fast and Furious film franchise on the streets of Manhattan. I spoke with him about his profession and, why at his young age, he is choosing to pursue that route. Here is what he told me.
Ben Arnon: How did you become a stunt actor?
Austin Gill: I became a stuntman through family, as many people do in this industry. My father and uncle were professional motocross racers at a young age and got into stunts through their knowledge and experience with motorcycles and cars. They both work as Stunt Coordinators or Second Unit Directors now but as I was growing up, they were mostly doing the stunts themselves.
So from an early age, I was exposed to a life of racing motorcycles, driving cars, gymnastics, and whatever other physical activity I could find. When an opportunity presented itself to my dad, he got me a job on a film called "Extreme Dating" when I was around eight years old. Through that job, I was "taft hartleyed," meaning I was eligible to receive my SAG (Screen Actors Guild) card, and from there, I was able to work on any job after that.
Through the years, I worked on films over the summers or in between school semesters until I finally graduated college just over a year ago. Now I work professionally and I am incredibly lucky to be able to work with the crew on Fast and Furious 8, which is comprised of some of the best stunt men and women in the industry.
What are the three craziest or scariest stunts you have ever performed?
As for the craziest or scariest stunts I have ever done, I am definitely not high on the notable mentions list as I am so new, but I do have my own stories that I am proud to tell. One quick honorable mention is what’s called a "dead man." On Captain America 2, I was playing an ND (Nondescript) soldier running towards an explosion. When the explosions goes off, I get blasted back. Well, to do this, I was put on a dead man, which is really just a piece of tech line attached to your body and then attached to an immobile object like a crane or a cement blockade. I ran full tilt until the line drew taught and snapped me back to the ground. The stunt was simple but 'dead mans' are notorious for being hard hits and I got the full effect of it that day.
Anyway, some of the more 'crazy' stunts I have done were just recently on Kong: Skull Island. We were in Hawaii for a few months where I had the opportunity to do a lot of ND stunts, as well as double Thomas Mann for a few scenes. During a scene, Thomas's character is blasted by a few different explosions so I got to fill in. I was put on what they call a ratchet, which is a system rigged to yank me up into the air as if I was just blown up. So the special effects team set their fire bombs while I was gelled up with fire gel for precaution and on "Go," fire erupted out of a massive, ancient gorilla skull, and I was sent flying fifteen feet through the air to a half-inch pad buried in the wood chips. We did it a few times until we got the shot and then moved on.
On top of that, on that same show, I did my first decelerator. Basically, I was hooked to a wire which was hooked to a device rigged to slow my acceleration down until stopping just a few feet above a box catcher we had built days before. During the shot, I am supposed to fall from a helicopter suspended by a crane forty-five feet in the air. So, after days of testing and building box catchers, we were ready to shoot. On action, I hurled myself to the floor of the helicopter, bounced out of the open door, and free-fell head first thirty-five feet until my decelerator kicked in and slowed me to a stop in under a second.
Now these may sound crazy and I'm sure they are to some people, but when I hear stories from some of the stunt men and women that have been doing this for a while, it blows my mind. These people are so talented and so good at what they do that it’s almost impossible to live up to their work.
Are you scared when you're performing stunts?
As for the fear that comes with job, it’s more of a feeling of adrenaline. While sitting at one, ready to shoot, my palms sweat, my heart races but once they call action, all of that fades away and it’s all second nature from there. I do my best to get the shot they are asking for but it also has a lot to do with keeping your judgment in tact. I would never sacrifice anyone’s safety or my own for a shot. We can always re-do a shot or a scene, it’s only a movie.
But I will mention, just earlier on Fast and Furious 8, I had to crash a few cars into a pile-up of cars and that feeling of fear did not subside as I started driving. I approached the pile of cars at about thirty miles per hour, and my instincts kicked in, saying "brake!, brake! brake!" but knowing what the shot was, I kept my foot on the accelerator, braced my arms on the steering wheel and drove three-quarters of the Prius' engine into a suburban in front of me.
We of course, took safety precautions and included safety belts and knee pads and made sure nothing could go wrong during the crash but it is very exhilarating ignoring your instincts and crashing a car. But as for real fear, I have never been put in a situation where I felt like there was any danger to my well-being and that is due to the amazing stunt coordinators I have worked for. The number one job of a stunt coordinator is to keep people safe.
How do you learn how to do what you do? Is there any formal training?
As I mentioned earlier, I grew up in a world full of stunt-related sports. I raced motorcycles, I trained in gymnastics, I played football and pole vaulted through high school so I was always preparing myself for this job, even if I didn't know it at the time. As for stunt schools, there are some out there but nothing very formal. I remember I used to train at Bob Yerkes' backyard facility. He had high falls set up, a trapeze, sword fighting instructors, trampolines, and tons of people with similar interests to learn from.
But on top of Bob's backyard, there are places like JAM (Joining All Movement Center), Tempest Freerunning, Rick Seamen's Driving School, and many others that teach stunt-related skills. Anyone could train to be a stuntman if they took the time and found places online. JAM is great for martial arts, tricking, fighting, and body awareness while Rick Seamen's course will teach you how to slide a car and Tempest will teach parkour and freerunning. There is no correct thing to learn to be a stuntman. Movies require special skills all the time but the main things to know that will help the most would be fighting and driving. At least from my experience, that is where most people get hired.
Do the actors you're doing stunts for typically appreciate the work you're doing?
Because I am so new, I have only dealt with actors on a few occasions but from my experiences, everyone has been very friendly to me and has welcomed my service as a stunt person. There are a few known horror stories out there about certain actors who don't acknowledge their stunt doubles, or push their doubles away or hide them from audiences but I am in no position to speak on any of them as they are just stories I've heard.
