David Leitch Says He Hopes His Film THE FALL GUY Will Celebrate the Underrated Profession of the Hollywood Stuntmen
Stuntman-turned-director David Leitch started his career as a double for actor Brad Pitt, and he is now taking that experience and pouring it into his upcoming film, The Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. “We’re celebrating stunts,” Leitch says in the new 2024 preview issue of Total Film, which hits shelves this week.
“When we’re doing a movie about stunt people in this world of stunts, we just felt we had to be authentic to that, and do it practically.”
Leitch is hoping that The Fall Guy will shine a light and give some long-awaited credit to the stunt performers who risk it all to bring action scenes to life on screen. The director explains:
“That was always one of the goals. I think that’s speaking to where we’re headed with the Academy. How can we get stunts recognised? Obviously there’s that, but it’s not about fame and glory and anything like that. They’d love to be able to celebrate with the rest of the below-the-line crew in the joy of making movies.”
The movie is inspired by the series that ran from 1981 to 1986, and it starred Lee Majors as a Hollywood stuntman.
The synopsis reads: “He’s a stuntman, and like everyone in the stunt community, he gets blown up, shot, crashed, thrown through windows and dropped from the highest of heights, all for our entertainment. And now, fresh off an almost career-ending accident, this working-class hero has to track down a missing movie star, solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job. What could possibly go right?”
Gosling stars as Colt Seavers, “a battle-scarred stuntman who, having left the business a year earlier to focus on both his physical and mental health, is drafted back into service when the star of a mega-budget studio movie—being directed by his ex, Jody Moreno, played by Blunt — goes missing.”
While the film’s ruthless producer Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso), “maneuvers to keep the disappearance of star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) a secret from the studio and the media, Colt performs the film’s most outrageous stunts while trying (with limited success) to charm his way back into Jody’s good graces. But as the mystery around the missing star deepens, Colt will find himself ensnared in a sinister, criminal plot that will push him to the edge of a fall more dangerous than any stunt.”
The movie also stars Stephanie Hsu, Teresa Palmer and Winston Duke. The Fall Guy is set to hit theaters on March 1, 2024.
via: Gamesradar