On the occasion of the premiere of ‘The Specialist’, which hits theaters April 26, Universal Pictures organized a special event at the Nyumad Action Stunt School, in Alcorcón, Madrid. There we were able to see first-hand what the preparation of these actors specialized in facing the most dangerous scenes and situations on filming is like.
Before getting into the subject, the founder and director of the school, Gregory Bossard, gave a presentation in which he outlined the keys to the profession. He highlighted the most important aspects and reviewed some of the most important names who have dedicated themselves to the art of stunts. Starting with Buster Keaton, continuing with Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris, the first to introduce martial arts in action films, until reaching Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone or Tom Cruise, these actors have in common that They performed the dangerous scenes themselves in some of their most significant films.
‘The Specialist’ is a film that mixes action, comedy and a love story between the protagonists, Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, who play a stuntman and a film director. The specialist profession is divided into three disciplines: physics, mechanics and equestrian. In the film starring Gosling and Blunt there are two of these three disciplines, since there are explosions, car overturns, runs over, falls and fights. Bossard assured in the presentation that “The film has everything, the level is great, it is an example of everything that we specialists can do.”
Continuing with the event, it was time for the demonstrations and to see how these types of action scenes are prepared and performed with the specialists. After the fights with swords and shields, it was time for two of the most dangerous and most striking scenes that actors can undertake in physical discipline, that is, jumping into the void and burning each other like crazy. These types of scenes are those performed in fiction by Gosling, who takes on the role of Colt Seavers, an action double marked by a thousand battles.who, after leaving his job, returns to a film directed by his ex, Jody Moreno, played by Emily Blunt.
Although the film directed by David Leitch has its comic and romantic moments, it is focused on the specialist profession, to which he dedicates a tribute. In relation to this, the school director stated that “we are in the golden age of action”. The profession of stuntman is constantly evolving and they themselves make proposals to directors, for example, when recording a fight scene: “Thanks to the years of evolution of stuntmen, any actor is prepared to become in martial artist”. For all this, the profession is taking more prominence and being increasingly claimed. Specialists, in fact, have their own awards, the Taurus Awards, known in their world as “the Oscars of specialists.” Although more and more people are asking for their own category in the Academy Awards for this discipline.
Guinness Record 18 years later
‘The specialist’ has achieved a Guinness record after an action maneuver with an off-road car thanks to driver Logan Holladay who managed to complete 8 and a half turns of the bell, in a scene filmed on the beaches of Sydney, Australia. The previous record was held by Adam Kirley for twice as many action scenes, who had managed to perform seven bell turns in ‘Casino Royale’, starring Daniel Craig. In addition, the film directed by Leitch has also achieved two other records in the world of cinema, such as the longest-lasting bonze and the first landing without a parachuteas confirmed by Gregory Bossard at the event.
The director of the film was also a stuntman and his new production is based on a series from the 1980s. His intention with it is to pay tribute to this type of actors who put their lives in danger anonymously. “With ‘The Stuntman,’ I’m paying homage to my action stunt roots,” says Leitch. “We wanted to offer a level of action true to the spirit of the stunt community by incorporating techniques that have, in some ways, become a lost art.”
‘The Specialist’ premieres exclusively in theaters on April 26.
