A Former Stunt Performer Shares Tricks Of The Trade

Fresh Air

NPR

Tv & Film, Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.4 • 34.4K Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2024

⏱️ 52 minutes

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Summary

Filmmaker and stunt coordinator David Leitch says it's easier to do stunts himself than direct his stunt performer friends. "You are responsible for their safety," he explains. "Your heart goes through your chest." His film The Fall Guy is about the unknown performers who put their lives on the line. He talks with Terry Gross about barrel rolling cars, being lit on fire, and doing another take when everything hurts.

Also, Ken Tucker marks the 50th anniversary of Roxy Music's Country Life.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for this podcast and the following message come from Dignity Memorial.
0:05.0	When your celebration of life is prepaid today, your family is protected tomorrow.
0:10.0	Planning ahead is truly one of the best gifts you can give your family.
0:14.0	For additional information visit dignity memorial.com.
0:18.0	This is fresh air. I'm Terry Gross.
0:21.0	My guest David Leach is a former stuntman who directed the new film, The Fall Guy, about
0:26.0	a stuntman who ends up having to execute spectacular stunts in his real life in order to save
0:31.8	the film he's working on, regain the love of the woman who's
0:34.9	directing it, and save his life.
0:37.8	Inspired by the 80s TV series The Fall Guy, Leach's new film is a blend of action film and Rom Com,
0:44.0	starring Ryan Gosling as the stuntman, and Emily Blund as the camera operator-turned-director.
0:50.0	The film is a tribute to stuntman, and the risks they take in spite of their lack of recognition.
0:55.6	It's the actors the Stuntman doubled for who win the awards and the fans love.
1:00.6	In the Fall Guy, Gossling's character is the stunt double for the biggest action star on the planet, who also has one of the biggest egos.
1:08.0	The opening scene of the fall guy is a series of clips from action sequences in which the stunts include
1:14.4	tumbling down a rocky cliff riding a motorcycle over the roofs of several cars each
1:19.9	car a distance from the next getting getting thrown through a bus window, running through a
1:24.9	battlefield surrounded by explosions and getting blown off the ground. While we
1:29.8	watch that, we hear this voiceover narration by Ryan Gosling's character. You'll hear
1:34.8	lots of motors explosions gun fire and shattering glass.
1:40.3	They're in almost every movie.
1:43.0	You just don't know that they're there.
	...

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