Most people would be wary of a job that asked that they be set on fire, thrown off of buildings, and occasionally blown up but not Brad Martin.
As a kid growing up in the 1980s he was inspired by the crazy antics of Lee Majors in TV's "The Fall Guy," who was a Hollywood stuntman.
"I just remembered that that was a career that I had heard of when I was growing up," Martin recalled. "And I was like wait a second, that’s something that sounds perfect for me."
And it was. Brad Martin is now a stuntman, stunt coordinator and second unit director with credits on "The Matrix Reloaded," "Live Free and Die Hard," "Tropic Thunder," "Batman V Superman," and TV’s "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier."
Stuntman have occasionally been the focus of movies whether it’s Richard Rush’s trippy what’s real, what’s an illusion romp "The Stunt Man" or the raucous portrait of Australian stuntman Grant Page in Brian Trenchard-Smith’s "Stunt Rock" or Quentin Tarantio's recent "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." But perhaps the best known film about stuntmen is the one made by stuntman-turned director Hal Needham, "Hooper."
There’s also a new documentary out called "Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story," which explores the particular challenges of being a stuntwoman in Hollywood.
Mickey Facchinello is one of the stunt women featured in that film. She’s worked in the industry less than a decade but has already demonstrated her versatility in terms of dealing with the ever changing landscape for stunt work. So in addition to doing traditional action and doubling for stars she has also brought her expertise to the computer realm doing "pre-viz" or previsualization, which involves visualizing complex action in a movie before filming as well as motion capture for animation, video games and movies.
For this podcast, I speak with Martin and Facchinello about how to become a stunt person and what the job entails.
I also recommend that you check out my podcasts with stuntman-turned-director Chad Stahelski and with stuntman Fernando Jay Huerto paying tribute to Jackie Chan.
Then check out the new Geeky Gourmet where I show you how to make edible blood and then use it as a special effect in a movie.
And just like stunt performers have a team to support them, Cinema Junkie has a kick-ass crew that includes podcast coordinator Kinsee Morlan, technical director Rebecca Chacon and director of sound design Emily Jankowski.
If you would like to submit a Share Your Addiction or Cold Turkey, then email me at baccomando@kpbs.org and put Share Your Addiction in the subject line.
