A movie that is all about stuntpeople is required to have great stunts. And considering that the new Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt action comedy The Fall Guy is also directed by former stuntperson David Leitch, who has made on-screen visual spectacle a calling card, that expectation is even greater. As it turns out, The Fall Guy doesn’t just have great stunts, it has World Record Stunts, and yet, the stunt team still won’t be in line for an Oscar.
Gosling and Blunt appeared at the Oscars together this year where they celebrated the stunt profession, but despite repeated calls for a stuntperson Oscar, there is no indication that one is even being considered Now the Los Angeles Times is making the case for one, and using The Fall Guy’s record-setting moment as a prime example of why it is needed.
The Fall Guy Set A World Record With the Canon Roll
The Fall Guy is a movie that sees Ryan Gosling lead The Fall Guy cast as a stuntman on a movie set. And while the actor did perform some of the stunts himself, it wouldn’t be much of an homage to the profession if it didn’t let the professionals show what they can do. David Leitch really gave them an opportunity with a canon roll stunt that set a world record. They got a car to roll over eight and a half times in a single stunt, the longest canon roll ever. David Leitch says he felt that a movie about stuntpeople needed to do something special with them. He explained…
The cannon roll was special. When I put it in the script, potentially setting a world record, it was like, ‘Hey, if we’re going to make a movie about a stuntman and an homage to the stunt community, we should try and do something big that’s never been done.
A stuntman named Logan Holladay performed the record-breaking stunt, improving on the previous canon roll record, which was “only” 7 consecutive rolls (in Casino Royale if you're keeping score). And yet, there will be no opportunity for recognition at the top movie awards of the year.
How The Fall Guy Crew Feels About Stuntpeople Not Getting Oscar Consideration
This is far from the first time that it has been suggested that stuntpeople deserve Oscars. Nearly every other individual element of the movie-making process is celebrated at the Oscars, but stunts still are not. The Fall Guy stunt coordinator Jack Gil says that because stuntpeople aren’t major stars (and many don’t want to be) the recognition within the industry is that much more important. He said…
There is no other department head in the movie business that has that kind of pressure where people’s lives are at stake. Stunt performers don’t want to be actors and walk the red carpet and all of that. What they want is to be acknowledged among their peers for doing something that involves real blood, sweat and tears.
New Oscar categories take years to implement, so even if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a new stunt category tomorrow, The Fall Guy still wouldn’t have a chance at the award. But it does now have a world record, and maybe, just maybe, that will draw more attention to the industry and help that Oscar exist someday in the future. We'll all be able to see the world record stunt when The Fall Guy release date arrives May 3.
