People are loving Ryan Gosling’s The Fall Guy for being a touching tribute to the stunt community. David Leitch's big-screen adaptation of the classic Lee Majors-led show really goes all in on the action. The Oscar-nominated leading man had four stunt performers doubling for him in the movie, Gosling did perform a few stunts of his own. However, his life partner, Eva Mendes, “wouldn’t let him” do one particular stunt, and I honestly can’t blame her.
According to NPR the Notebook actor performed a fight scene inside a spinning garbage bin on the street and surfed on a metal plate dragged by a truck. Those two endeavors alone are quite impressive. Interestingly, though, producer Kelly McCormick told The LA Times that Eva Mendes put the brakes on one stunt, which would've put her partner in a very, let's say, hot situation:
Ryan is scared of heights but he was like, ‘It’s called “The Fall Guy’ — I’ve got to do it. He told me his wife [Eva Mendes] wouldn’t let him let us set him on fire.
I don’t blame Eva Mendes for putting a stop to that. Being set on fire, especially without previous stunt work training in that department, may not have gone well for the talented actor. It’s a good thing that Mendes, who reportedly married her Place Beyond the Pines co-star in 2022, is always looking out for her man. For example, the Hitch actress called out the Ken haters back when Gosling received flak for taking on the role of the Barbieland resident. At the time, she said that she was "proud to be this Ken’s Barbie.” I’m sure he’s thankful to have Mendes in his life as well along with their two daughters.
The newly released movie The Fall Guy has the Canadian actor playing a stunt performer trying to find the missing star of his ex-girlfriend’s movie. As Ryan Gosling was only playing a stuntman, he had the help of stunt doubles Logan Holladay, Justin Eaton, Troy Brown, and Ben Jenkin to do the film's high-level action maneuvers. While the A-lister didn’t break a Guinness World Record with his stunt work like Holladay did, you can still credit Gosling for the stunts he accomplished, like falling backward 15 stories on wires.
Believe it or not, the Drive actor's motivation to make a stunt movie goes back to his time as a teen actor starring on Young Hercules. He knew that all of the action scenes done for that kid’s series were done by stunt performers risking their lives only to “disappear into the shadows.” By actually portraying one of those stunt workers, he saw the tough path stunt guys take and that they deserve more praise for their place in Hollywood. Hopefully, the time will come when an Oscars category dedicated to stunt work is instituted.
Right now, though I'm just glad that Ryan Gosling made it through production in one piece. It's dicey to play with fire in the figurative sense, but that's absolutely the case in the literal sense. Shout out to Eva Mendes for being honest and not risking the father of her kids getting a bit singed.
You can watch the professionals at work by heading to a theater and checking out The Fall Guy, one of the biggest 2024 movie releases, now!
