The Fall Guy Stunt Ryan Gosling Was Forbidden From Doing
This post contains minor spoilers for "The Fall Guy."
David Leitch has lovingly crafted "The Fall Guy" as a homage to the stunt community, with a seasoned yet luckless stuntman named Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) at the center of the film's gravity-defying shenanigans. Colt's talents are quite literally overshadowed by the actor he doubles — glib superstar Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who brazenly boasts about doing his own stunts and robs Colt of recognition. To make things worse, Colt undergoes a stunt-related mishap that plunges him into a pit of self-doubt and shame, but little does he know that he is yet to experience something far more nefarious: dangerous, hidden schemes that rival ones in a riveting action-thriller. All hell breaks loose, and a string of insane, audacious stunts ensue. If you're interested in /Film's glowing review of the film, you can read it here.
With stunts being the heart of Leitch's film, Gosling did some of his own stunt work, including the opening scene where he had to drop backward off a 12-story building while being held up with wires. However, the actor revealed to People that there was a particular stunt he refused to do, as his kids asked him to avoid doing it at all costs:
"My kids didn't want me to be set on fire ... Even though I said, 'Well, it's actually, technically the safer thing to do because there's a lot of protective stuff involved,' [his kids said] 'No. No fire.' So I didn't do it."
As Gosling was strictly forbidden from engaging with anything fire-related, Ben Jenkin, one of many of Gosling's stunt doubles on this film, accomplished the task instead — not once, not twice, but eight times.
The Fall Guy pays tribute to the insane stunts that enliven stories
Apart from the 12-story building jump, which demanded "a long, very involved take," Gosling also performed other stunts, including cool-looking flips and fights that were meticulously rehearsed with stunt coordinator Keir Beck and second unit director Chris O'Hara. When asked about doing his own stunts, Gosling told People that it was crucial to do some of it to "get closer to the work his movie was honoring," and that these experiences helped him understand what stunt professionals do on a daily basis (albeit on a much smaller level).
Emily Blunt, who plays gifted camera operator and director Jody Moreno in the film, spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the fresh insights she learned about the mechanics of stunt work from Leitch and the stunt team, including the fire burn stunt that Gosling had ultimately refrained from doing:
"I just learned today from David that doing a fire burn, where you get set on fire, is actually potentially one of the least dangerous or risky things if you are covered in the [fireproof] gel and the winds are right. He said it's one of the easiest things to do, but if it goes wrong, it can quickly become one of the most dangerous things to do. Ben Jenkin, who was one of Ryan's stunt doubles, did the fire burn."
Both Gosling and Blunt reiterate the painstaking work that goes into stunts, where there is always room for human error despite safety measures and the best industry practices. These high-risk, high-reward efforts are often overlooked or underappreciated when we talk about cinema, and "The Fall Guy" intends to rectify that, with its high-octane action sequences that propel the summer crowdpleaser toward its climactic, feel-good finish.
"The Fall Guy" is in theaters now.