STUNT CASTING

Ryan Gosling is a stunt man on a mission in a meta action caper.

Few people know stuntwork like David Leitch. The director of Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train cut his teeth as a stunt performer, before becoming a stunt coordinator and founding 87eleven Action Design with Chad Stahelski (with whom he made John Wick). So when an adaptation of 80s TV series The Fall Guy - which starred Lee Majors as a stuntman-turned-bounty-hunter - leaped on to his desk, it was a no-brainer.

‘[Producer Guymon Casady] was like, “I got The Fall Guy. Would you be interested?”’ Leitch tells Total Film. ‘We were like, “Uh, yes, of course. It’s totally a story that’s near to my heart.”’ Working again with his wife and producing partner Kelly McCormick, Leitch is updating the show – and protagonist Colt Seavers - for the present day, with a screenplay by Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3, Leitch’s Hobbs & Shaw).

There were a few essential ingredients from the show they were looking to retain. ‘The things that I thought we really needed to hold on to were the resilience in Colt’s character; the fun, sort of behind-the-scenes insider aspect of what a stunt guy does; and then sort of the blue-collar hero that Colt is,’ says Leitch. ‘I did want to contemporise the stuntman’s journey… It was a different era when they made that Colt Seavers show. This Colt Seavers – maybe there’s a little bit more of anecdotes from my journey as a stuntman.’

Here, Ryan Gosling plays Seavers. He’s a weary stuntman who frequently doubles for preening movie star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). As well as the opportunity to play more of an everyman action hero, Leitch explains that, ‘the next thing that was really exciting to [Gosling] was, tonally we have romance; we have comedy; we have a thriller element; and we have action. He’s got every tool in his toolbox, and he gets to paint with every brush that he’s really honed over the years. Most movies only let you use one or two. He got to use all of it.’

Because The Fall Guy isn’t just action – though there will be a ton of that, with Leitch beaming that the world of story, which centres on the making of an OTT sci-fi film, means ‘we could just drop a stunt in there’. The setting provides ample opportunity for meta commentary and insider jokes. There’s also a sparky, bantering romance between Colt and his ex, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), who’s now stepping up to make her directorial debut on the aforementioned sci-fi extravaganza. ‘Their chemistry is so great, and they’re actors at the top of their craft,’ continues Leitch. ‘They continually made it better every day. We worked on the scenes all the way until we shot them. They’re great storytellers, and so it was really great to have them collaborate and make those characters come to life.’

The nature of the film meant that Leitch could go all-out with some bucket-list stunts, including high falls (used much less frequently in these days of CGI and wireremoval) and spectacular vehicular leaps. ‘We’re celebrating stunts,’ says Leitch. ‘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 film will help shine a light on his former profession, and give some much-needed kudos to the stunt performers who risk it all to bring action scenes to life on screen. ‘That was always one of the goals,’ he admits. ‘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.’