Ryan Gosling 'Blacked Out' In Fear During One Of The Fall Guy's Stunts
There's a certain type of actor that likes to brag about performing their own stunts. Obviously, this kind of bravado is a given — and a source of tremendous excitement — when we're talking about martial arts stars like Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, and Scott Adkins. They can make physical combat look elegant and playful, or, in the case of guys like Adkins, just flat-out brutal. But we also hear likewise about folks like Harrison Ford, Angelina Jolie and, of course, Tom Cruise — folks who like to mix it up as much as they can (even as they advance into their 60s and, remarkably, 80s).
As someone who can no longer ride a rollercoaster without fainting, I envy these people for their fearlessness. What a gift — or a touch of madness — it must be willing to jump off a speeding van onto a moving car (as Michelle Yeoh did in "Police Story 3: Super Cop").
You'd think Ryan Gosling would be of the same devil-may-care mindset for having taken the lead role in David Leitch's "The Fall Guy," but, evidently, he lacked his colleagues' taste for (carefully monitored) on-set peril. And this was especially true of the film's first, invigoratingly staged stunt.
Ryan Gosling succumbed to his fear of heights
In a recent interview with Men's Health, Gosling discussed the one-take shot that opens the film, which concludes with a dizzying fall.
"We worked into the story that I would take a fall at the beginning. As we started to block it, it just felt more and more exciting to us that it be a part of this long one-take where you start in the trailer with the character, you follow him through set, up an elevator, up 12 stories, get harnessed in, and then dropped off the building. That that would be the best way to have the audience experience what a moment in the life of a stuntperson is like."
They pulled it off, but while Gosling can relate the details of the shot (having watched the movie), the fall itself is hard for him to recall. "I'm told that I did that, yeah — I think I blacked out for at least nine of those stories. I have a fear of heights and I knew it was coming."
To further illustrate how terrified he felt in the moment, Gosling cited an unexpected inspiration from one of the greatest comedies ever made.
How Gene Wilder influenced Ryan Gosling's The Fall Guy performance
When you check out "The Fall Guy" in theaters over the next few weeks, keep in mind that Gosling's performance model for the sequence was ... Gene Wilder in "Blazing Saddles"? I'll let him explain.
"If you've ever seen 'Blazing Saddles,' you know, there's that scene where Gene Wilder says he's totally calm [holds up a steady hand]. And then he says, "But I shoot with this hand" [holds up a shaky hand]. I had to in that moment pretend to be the coolest dude who's fine and not afraid of what he's doing, but I was very afraid of it. So yeah, that took a lot. I think I put sunglasses on in the scene just to hide the fear. [Laughs.]"
Of course, The Waco Kid regains his steely calm, and, given the numerous stunts Gosling participates in throughout the course of "The Fall Guy," it seems likely that he became accustomed to the danger of the job. But throughout the promotion of the film, the actor has always been quick to praise the craft of stunt work. Because a 12-story fall is one thing; flipping a car across a concrete road is quite another.