Welcome to TOTAL FILM THE SMARTER MOVIE MAGAZINE

Stunts. While the word can be used to mean cheap attention-seeking antics, the stunts we’re talking about don’t get celebrated anywhere near enough. Awards season is over for another year, but we still haven’t reached a point where any major academies are giving out gongs for stunts (though they did get a notable shout-out from our cover stars at this year’s Oscars). In an industry that’s increasingly dominated by pixels and digital trickery, little can come close to the old-school practical magic of real-life performers risking it all for breathtakingly tactile on-screen action.

So it was a pleasure this issue to talk to the team behind The Fall Guy - a noirish action romcom (?!) that puts stunts at the forefront in the story of a stunt-performer-turned-bountyhunter. I also chatted to director-producer power couple David Leitch and Kelly McCormick, and stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, who have chemistry to burn.

Elsewhere in the issue, we’re returning to the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes via Kim Taylor-Foster’s interviews with the entire team, while Jordan Farley’s making (imaginary) friends with John Krasinski, who’s discussing his new film. Jamie Graham gets the lowdown on Alex Garland’s terrifying (near-) future vision in Civil War, and we’re chuffed to also have in-depth interviews with Jerry Seinfeld and Melanie Lynskey: two longtime TF favourites with very different upcoming projects.

No one risked life and limb putting this issue together – although I had to wait until dangerously close to our print deadline to pin down Mr. Gosling, which was pretty pulse-pounding…

Enjoy the issue!

CALL SHEET

THIS ISSUE’S EXTRAS

EDITOR-AT-LARGE (ACTING NEWS EDITOR)

I particularly enjoyed chatting to Cailee Spaeny for the Civil War interviews. She’s a proper film nerd and was cooing over the signed Sid and Nancy poster on my study wall.

REVIEWS EDITOR

The Dune: Part Two premiere was great, but thank goodness I avoided an awkward red-carpet fashion clash, opting at the last minute for jeans/jumper over a bum-revealing robo ‐costume.

CONTRIBUTOR

Owen Teague had just two books behind him on our Zoom call: The Inheritance of Orchídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova and Faith, Hope and Carnage by Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan. A reader of great taste!

CONTRIBUTOR

It was such a joy to speak to Melanie Lynskey. We had a good old natter about the Oscars, preceremony, and she was ‘crushed’ that Greta Lee didn’t get nominated.

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Spent a day on a set visit in Cape Town where I had to help an A-lister wipe her own fake blood off a lovely leather sofa. More on that in a future issue…

DEPUTY EDITOR

Had a very enjoyable chat with John Krasinski for IF. After old-school signal issues, we ended up in a high-tech-looking group chat on WhatsApp. ‘Oh my God. It feels like we’re in Gravity or something now.’