Stunt doubles are the unsung heroes of Hollywood. With The Fall Guy, director David Leitch hopes to honor their contributions to the industry while telling an enjoyable story featuring some of our favorite stars. Where do we sign up?
For those who weren’t watching TV (read: weren’t alive yet) back in the 1980s, The Fall Guy was originally a series that aired on CBS for five seasons from 1981-1986. It starred Lee Majors as Colt Seavers, a seasoned stunt man, or “fall guy,” turned bounty hunter. In the show, Colt regularly jumps from burning buildings, crashes cars, and risks life and limb to make his leading man look good—and he solves crimes. Heather Thomas played Jody Banks, a fellow stunt professional who helps him investigate mysteries and bring criminals to justice.
Growing up, The Fall Guy was one of Leitch’s favorite shows. He grew up to become a sought-after stunt double in his own right, standing in for Brad Pitt five times and performing Jason Bourne’s stunts for Matt Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum. Every time you saw Tyler Durden take a punch in Fight Club? Yeah, that was Leitch.
Leitch is also a director, writer, and producer who has helmed more than his fair share of action films, including John Wick (which he co-directed with fellow stunt pro Chad Stahelski), Atomic Blonde, and Deadpool 2. His unique experience both in front of and behind the camera makes him the perfect person to direct The Fall Guy, so he jumped at the chance.
“It is one of those TV shows from my generation of stunt performers that really lit our fuse and [made a lot of us] come to Hollywood with hopes of being Colt,” Leitch told Vanity Fair. “So it was really a no-brainer when the property came to us.”
In a new Super Bowl spot, we get to see Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) having an emotional experience in the midst of the action, courtesy of listening to Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well.” Relatable, Gosling. As always.
Who stars in The Fall Guy movie?
The role of Colt Seavers went to Ryan Gosling, who’s still riding high off his turn as Ken in the record-setting Barbie movie. He’s joined by Jody Moreno, played by Emily Blunt. Gosling is obviously playing a stuntman, but the story veers away from the television show by focusing on the movie-making aspect of the plot. Blunt plays a former camera operator who finally gets a chance to direct her first movie, but she needs her old friend Colt’s help when her egocentric leading man Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) goes missing during filming.
Oh, and did we mention Colt and Jody used to be an item? Cue the sexual tension….
The film also features Hannah Waddingham, who departs from her Ted Lasso character to play a smug Hollywood producer. Winston Duke plays a stunt coordinator and friend of Colt’s who assists in the crime solving, and, hot off of her Academy Award-winning turn in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Stephanie Hsu stars as Tom’s assistant.
So … does Ryan Gosling do his own stunts?
In a word, no. Although Gosling wowed audiences with his dance moves as Ken, he leaves the more difficult action moves to the professionals. Leitch promises tons of action and impressive stunts, even if they do get a little help from CGI these days.
As Leitch told Vanity Fair, “Obviously in modern cinema we have the use of CGI, and we use it liberally. But when we’re making a love letter to stunts and the blue-collar crews that make these movies come to life, we explored doing old-school high falls into airbags, and jumping a car as far as we could, and rolling a car as many times as we could.”
Gosling had several stand-ins on set. Logan Holladay did the driving, Justin Eaton (who has doubled for Captain America and Deadpool, among others) did all of the fighting work, and Ben Jenkins, who has a background in parkour, did the bulk of Gosling’s stunts.
“He got hit by the cars. He jumped over fences. Ben did a lot of stunts,” Leitch said. “He got an incredible stunt reel from this movie.”
How long do we have to wait to watch The Fall Guy?
The Fall Guy has a theatrical release date of March 1, 2024. Leitch promises the film will have something for everyone, from romance to satire, and of course, lots of explosions and toe-curling stunts sure to leave audiences breathless. Rumor has it that the original Fall Guy, Lee Majors, will also make a cameo.
(featured image: FilmDistrict)
