Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Chris Hemsworth's stunt double Bobby Holland Hanton is Hollywood's busiest stunt performer

Episode Date: October 20, 2020

Bobby Holland Hanton is Hollywood's busiest stunt double! He has worked the last 12 films doubling for Chris Hemsworth including Thor, The Avengers, Men In Black and has also worked on Mission Impossible, The Dark Knight Rises, Game of Thrones, Inception, Wonder Woman, Captain America and dozens of other films. He chats with Chris Van Vliet from his home in London, England about how he got started as a stunt performer, the training that goes into each stunt, his workout routine, his thoughts about the Oscars not having a stunt category, his most dangerous work on camera and much more!   Please subscribe and support the show by supporting our sponsors!INDEED- Get a $75 credit to boost your job post by going to http://indeed.com/BlueWire BETONLINE- Get a new sign up bonus by using the promo code BLUEWIRE at http://betonline.ag Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up, y'all? It's Druski, and I've teamed up with Mountain Dew to produce a hilarious new basketball podcast called The Do Zone with Drewski. Learn the backstories of your favorite ballers and celebrities like Jamal Murray. Did you have like a favorite team? Was it the Raptors at the time or no? Was the Raptors even started around that time? Come on, bro. I ain't that old, Phil.

You're talking like I'm 50. Taylor, Rokes, Asian Wilson, and many more. You won't want to miss this. Listen to the Doozone with Drusky on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. What's going on, my friends? before we get to the episode, I am so pumped to welcome Abner Mares to the Blue Wire Podcast Network. Abner is a world champion boxer, Olympian, sports commentator, but the title that he's most proud of is being a dad to two little girls. On Blue Wire's new podcast called On the Hook with Abner Marz, we'll hear from Abner, his family, fellow athletes, and other people who made him the boxer and the man that he is.

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Chris Vennie All right welcome back to another audio adventure on the Chris Van Fleet show this episode is brought to you by Indeed and Bet Online and I can't even begin to tell you how interesting this conversation is I feel like stunt doubles have some of the most

thankless jobs in the film industry. I mean, they're a huge reason why movies look as awesome and as believable as they do. And Bobby Holland-Hanton is an absolute beast. Also, I want to shout out my dude, Brad Lambert, who connected me and Bobby to have this amazing conversation. And while I do a lot of wrestling interviews, because, yeah, I'm a wrestling fan. At the end of the day, though, this show is all about figuring. out what makes great people so great. And that's exactly what Bobby Holland

Hanton is. He is at the top of his game. And even if you don't recognize his name or his face, you have 1,000 percent seen some of his work. And when I start listing off some of the movies he's been in, you'll be like, oh my gosh, yes, of course. I've seen all of those movies. Now, by the way, if this is your first time here, make sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or or follow if you're listening on Spotify. And if you are listening on Apple Podcasts, leave a review. And I'm going to keep reading one out on every single episode until we get to that magic number. It's not really a magic number.

It's just a number I made up. It's an arbitrary number, but it is a specific goal. 2,000 reviews. That is the goal here. And the goal is 2,000 reviews by my birthday, May 19th. So we're going to keep reading one out on every single episode. As my way of saying, thanks for being part of the show. Alex Herbandez titles this one, 2K.

One review from the 2K that's needed. Oh yeah, and the podcast is pretty cool too. But more importantly, let's get to the 2K so we can get that off the start of the podcast. Well, thank you for the review, Alex. And I couldn't agree more. I'd like to get to 2K so we stop reading these. Well, at the same time, I like shouting you guys out, like you, Alex. So thank you for taking the time to leave the review.

please keep these reviews coming. Let's get to 2K. We're like, I didn't look at the number exactly, but we're a little over 700 away. I think we can do 700 in the next seven months before my birthday. Yeah, yeah, we got this. So Bobby Holland-Hanton is one of the busiest, if not the busiest stunt doubles in all of Hollywood. He's worked as Chris Hemsworth stunt double for the last 12 movies, but he's also done stunt. in films like The Dark Night Rises, Inception, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Skyfall, yeah, our man here is James Bond, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Mission Impossible Fallout, the new Batman movie, and the list goes on and on and on, Game of Thrones as well.

We talk about how he got started as a stunt performer. What it's like being Thor and what his workout routine looks like to become Thor, what goes into the stunts that he does, and his thoughts on why the Oscars don't recognize stunt work as a category, which is still crazy to me. You're going to love this. So please, ladies and gentlemen, welcome Bobby, Holland, Hanton. Well, it's such a pleasure to be joined by you. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. No problem at all. Thanks for having me, mate. You know, you look so much like Chris Hemsworth in those famous photos that we've seen. But sitting here right now, you're like, you know, you're like a kind of Chris Hemsworth.

Yeah, mate, I dealt that very much. Yeah, I mean, it would be nice to look like him. That would be sure. You know, that'd be pretty good. But yeah, this is, you know, not everyone can be that lucky, I guess. Yeah, I guess not. So, I mean, you're known as being Chris Hemsworth's stuntman, but you've also done stunt work for so many other people. And when you look at the list, it's incredibly impressive. Chris Evans, Henry Cavill, Channing Tatum, Chris Pine, you pretty much are Batman in the Batman movie that's coming out and Dark Night Rises. I mean, this is an incredible resume. Yeah, I mean, I did the Dark Night Rises for Christian Bayer and Batman.

Not the, I worked on the new Batman that's coming out, but I didn't stumble for Batman. Okay, so you're only Batman in one of the movies. Correct, yeah, in only one, yeah. How do you even get into something like this? Do you know what? My background was gymnastics. You know, I started gymnastics when I was four years old, and then I stopped competing for Great Britain when I was 17. So if you imagine that, I classed that for me as a physical degree.

You know, and once I was 17 and retired, I played semi-pro football for a couple of years, soccer, what you guys call it? And then, you know, I got into acrobatic shows, and then I built up, you know, live acrobatic shows and stunt shows into commercials, TV shows, and then into film. So it was, you know, it's been a life journey, you know. I love that you're talking about how you played soccer. And I can see in the reflection behind you. You are currently watching a game right now. What's on? Ah, that is Wolves and Shuljanaid.

Is that reflection coming in? Oh, it's fine. I was just like, oh, this is just so ironic that I can, that you're talking about this and I can see it. There we go. Ah, but what if you're going to miss something now? No, it's all right. I can just have a look in a bit. So what's all good?

So what was the first film credit that you got? James Bond, Contmasolis. Wow. Yeah, man. That's amazing. Most people are, you know, struggling to get their first credits. And that's an incredible film to start on. So if we look back at that film, where can we see some of your work in that?

I mean, yeah, absolutely. It was a dream come true. I got the phone call to audition for it. And I'm just like, is this a real phone call? I'm pretty sure there's someone's trying to prank me. But I was lucky enough to, to, to, get the job and I was supposed to work on the show for five or six weeks and ended up being six months. My first stunt on film was the balcony jump in Panama. It's when Bond is talking to

Jeffrey Wright's character and he has to get out this slum in the Panama as all the guys are coming through to chase him. And I run up the stairs and jump across across a balcony. So two a m in the morning in the slums of Panama. It's my first, first done an introduction into the film industry. So So then, you know, I did a fight for, I was stunt doubling for Neil Jackson against Bond in the inner room, smash the door, go through a knife and scissor fight, and then get thrown through some doors by the other stunt double Ben Cook. And then I went to Sienna and did the rooftop sequence in Sienna. Wow. So is there like a, is there stunt training that you need to go through in order to be able to figure out how to do all this? Yeah, there is. I mean, there's a criteria here in the UK. the elite at six disciplines. I think there's around 12 disciplines that you can choose from. I chose,

obviously, gymnastics, trampoline and high diving. Because of my background, I literally just had to take the tests and I passed. So I kind of had three skills straight away and it sometimes takes people five, six, ten years to train to get onto the British Dunn Register. So luckily for me, I had those skills anyway, took the exams and passed and then I chose kickboxing, swimming and scuba diving as my last three to qualify. Wow. So I think that people know how this works on the acting side of things. You're given a script. You audition for this and you go from there. How do you land rules? Do you know what? I think my introduction into the film industry when I was 23, when I was double bond, you know, I was working with Gary Powell, is one of the, you know, the best coordinators in

the world and has got credits. He's done the last three bonds, or the last four bonds, sorry. So when I got the job with him and I worked with a few. other guys in the UK, your name quickly goes around if you do a good job. And then straight after that, I did Prince of Persia with his brother, Greg Powell. And then I met a whole lot of English stunt performers and coordinators from that show. And then it's kind of word of mouth. It's not the same as, I mean, there are auditions here and there. You basically go in an audition for a stunt coordinator if you're new. But if you, if you've already done a job at high level and people, you know, can see and know what work you've done.

It kind of goes that way. It's word of mouth, really. So there's not really auditions for me for stunt work. In the same way that like other people that are working in, you know, the production department or the craft services department, they don't need to audition after they've kind of been in the world for a little while. Yeah, exactly. Well, exactly that.

Yeah. I mean, it's, I guess if you do a good job, you know, you get remembered when another show comes up. I mean, right now the UK is. so busy with film and TV, and it has been for the last 10, 15 years, if I'm on it. Well, I'll say 15 years, probably 13 years since I started. It's been, you know, all the studios are fully booked. So it's hard to even find locations here in the UK. So it's very busy. I mean, people know you for, you know, becoming Thor for being the stunt double for Thor, but your actual

first work for Marvel, I believe was as Captain America, right? Yeah, it was. I actually did, I did Bond and Persia, and then I did a little bit on Harry Potter, the last two Harry Potter's, and Inception with Chris Nolan. And then I went to New Orleans and did Green Lantern for D.C. And then I came back to the UK and did Captain America First Avenger. So that was my first marble picture, yeah. Wow. And then from there did they go, you know, you're kind of actually a good double for Hemsworth. No, not at all. I actually, the stunt coordinator, Steve Dent, who I work with a lot, is a friend of mine. got the job to coordinate Thor 2. And originally I was called in to stunt double for Loki. And as soon as I got the call to do the job,

I was like, yeah, absolutely. And there was talk of me potentially going to New York and doubling Josh Brolin in Men in Black, three, I think it was, for another coordinator and second director that I work for, Wade Eastwood and Simon Crane that I work for as well. And then I said yes to Thor,

but I kind of, I guess, in my heart of hearts, I kind of, I didn't want to, I was like, look, I want to start that with a Thor. So I just started training like a madman about six weeks before the shoot, or before rehearsal, sorry, started training like a madman. I went to work and Steve was like, wow, you've put on a lot of muscle mass. What's going on? And, you know, I explained and said that I'd really love the chance to be one of the four doubles.

And he was like, yeah, absolutely, man, you've worked hard. So, yeah, we'll give you a go. And, you know, the rest of history. I've been with Chris now for the best part of nine years. I think we've done 12 films together. Wow. So now when Hemsworth signs on for a film, are you just part of the package? Yeah, I am.

His contract is stunt double. So especially if it's an action movie, then, you know, wherever it is around the world, then I go with him. And like I said, that's 12 movies we've done now back to back since 2012. Wow. And when you look at your real, it's just incredible work that you've done. Congratulations and everything there. Thanks, ma'am.

I've got to think that the tough part about being tied to someone like Chris Hemsworth is if he gets bigger, you got to get bigger. If he gets leaner, you got to get leaner. Dude, I actually spoke to him today. And we was like, you know, what kind of size we're getting into for Thor? He's like, you just text me back saying big. And I was just like, okay, dude, thanks. He's probably the hardest person in the world to stun double four because he's a man mountain, dude. He's six foot four in the costume, or six foot four, whatever. In the costume, he's certainly six foot four. And he's just looks like he's been carved out of a big block of ice. And I'm 6'1, so I have to wear two and a half inch lifts in my boots, and I'm not

naturally as big as him. So I have to, you know, train a lot and eat a lot to get anywhere near his size, and I'm still, still not close. So, you know, I do my best. I say not close. I get close and I do my best to get as close to him as possible. And, you know, it's worked for this long. And, you know, we've got Thor coming up. So I'm starting to train for that now. and it's going to, you know, I'm on a strict diet and training program now until probably next June. Wow. So when does filming for Thor 4 begin? I'm not totally sure when it starts. I will start prepping fairly soon, I guess. I've got to do my own work here and start training and start getting, you know, into shape for it and start getting ready. But who knows? I mean, I know that it's the next thing we're doing. I don't actually know on timescales of when we do it. I mean, I'm very much interested in fitness and nutrition.

So walk me through a week of what training with Bobby is like. I guess it depends, really. It really depends on what it is and what we're, you know, if we are working on a Thor or an Avengers, you know, as an idea, I guess, you know, I'm training two, three times a day. and I'm probably eating eight, nine meals a day. A couple of those maybe being a protein shake or one or two as a protein shake. So, you know, I will hit, you know, weights twice a day. You know, I'll try and do in the morning and lunch and then in the evening. But maybe I'll do like a circuit because, you know, I do a lot of my own body weight stuff from gymnastics.

And I find that that kind of works. I feel like the muscle memory is there from gymnastics. So, you know, a lot of my own body stuff. So pull-ups, push-ups. air squats, you know, dips, etc. In circuits with sprint training, so I'm getting the heart rate up. And then, you know, and then I'll go back in the evening and do a, you know, or at lunchtime and do just isolate some muscle groups.

And a lot of that is arms because they're out the most. So, you know, work a lot of arms and try and eat as much good stuff as possible. High good fat, high good protein and high good carbs. Are there things you can do as a stunt performer where you can get the rust off, so to say, you know, if you haven't performed in a few weeks, is there somewhere you can go and do flips or crash mats or something like that? My garden, I can flip about my garden a little bit, and I can go to the local gymnastics club that I used to train at. But not really. It's about getting in the driver's seat

again now. It's, I will have probably best part of, you know, two, three months to, well, certainly three months where we start getting ready now. And then when I go to, you know, when I go to, you know, to start for prep, then we have rehearsal time. We get to break down the script and run through all the action sequences and what we need to do. So that kind of gives you a bit of time to rehearse everything. So, you know, but I have, this is the longest I've ever been out of the game for, if you like, since, you know, back surgery and then COVID.

I've been back and forth doing bits and pieces, but, you know, it'd be nice to get back to it properly, you know. Yeah, I think we're all looking forward to the way. world kind of getting back to some sort of semblance of normal. What would you say is the most difficult stunt that you've had to pull off? Difficult stunt I pulled off. I don't know, man. I mean, there's been, there's been a lot. And I, you know, my memory's not the best.

So I have forgotten about a lot. But do you know what? Up there for sure, as one of them is, you know, the balcony jump I did in Panama. As for Bond, my first ever job, there was, you know, it's 2 o'clock in the morning with three stories up. One balcony to another, I think I was slightly higher than the balcony that I was landing in. So that gave me a little bit extra, you know, time to travel. And I think, you know, I think it was about seven metres in distance in the end.

And I had no cables, no safety because the way that the camera, you know, was shooting and how they followed me behind. They, after I jump, they also see the street. So that was just part and parcel. And it was a difficult gag. And it had to be precise for me to do. And then again, I can go straight to my last show, which. was extraction and off the balcony onto the awning, onto the truck, onto the road. You know, that was a difficult gad to be able to repeat and do the same thing and land in

the same position and know where you are, actually. So, you know, there's been lots. But off the top of my head, I can just say those two from start to my career and now. With no wires, how do you practice something like that? You start at ground level. So we basically take measurements of the, you know, the, you know, the distances of my run-up and take-off and where I've got a land, et cetera, and we'll do it at ground level, and then we'll put some boxes down on the floor and we'll do it with boxes. And then we build a scath tower at the location and put crash mats all over it and make sure it's doable. And then once you're confident, you know, and the safety team and everyone around

you, the coordinator's happy. You sit down, you give it a go and hope for the best. Wow. On the flip side of things, what is the easiest stunt for you to perform on camera? I don't know if there is an easy stunt, mate, if I'm honest. Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say there's an easy stunt. Otherwise, it wouldn't be no point I was doing the game. Yeah, I think this is fascinating. Is there ever a time when you're doubling for someone and they're like,

Bobby, I got this one. Don't worry about it. Listen, every actor I've been lucky enough to work with. They've all been, you know, athletes and amazing performers themselves. So they're all capable of doing amazing things. and, you know, it's more of a case of strategically trying to plan it with production and timing. And listen, the risk is if Chris does something that he doesn't need to do and he gets injured, and then the film or production has to stop for three months while he recovers,

it doesn't work because there's dates that the studios have to stick to for the movies. So, you know, it's about using your common sense and saying, okay, cool, what do we need to shoot? Okay, look, and then we'll use elements of you and then we'll use Bobby as his stunt double and we'll do it that way. well oil machine. It's well planned out. And those things have to work to make everything work. It's not just one element. It's making them all come together. What's your opinion of the work that Tom Cruise has done over his career? I mean, he's amazing. I mean, the man is one of a kind, isn't he?

I mean, you look at all the films he's done and how many films he's done and how he looks now and the shape he's in. And I mean, he's always pushing the bar and I have no doubt the next mission is going to have exactly the same kind of impact as the last one. So yeah, he's a legend for sure. Even though sports may have taken a little bit of a break in 2020, your business didn't. You have to keep moving and that makes hiring more important than ever. Indeed is here to help. Indeed.com is the number one job site in the world because Indeed gets you the best people fast. Unlike other sites, Indeed gives you full control and payment flexibility over your hiring. You only pay for what you need and you can pause your account at any time and there's no long-term contracts.

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Don't forget to use the promo code BlueWire at betonline.ag. That's Blue Wire, all one word. Bet online, your online sportsbook experts. Is there someone in the stunt performing world that's like the Michael Jordan of stunts, someone who over the course of 20, 30, 40 years of their career, whatever, is just the top of the top? Yeah, I mean, there's loads. There's loads of those guys.

Hel Need them. Got the Vic Armstrongs. There's loads and loads. Wade Eastwood, Gary Powell. Like, the list goes on. like there's so many Ben Cook, Buster Reeves. I mean, I could be here all night telling you, there's lots. We're lucky enough to have so many amazing performers, coordinators,

fight arrangers, second directors and directors, you know, that are out there in the world that we're lucky enough to make these action films and bring them to life. There's hundreds. I would think that Bobby Holland Hanton's also on that list as well. I doubt it. I doubt it, mate. I doubt it. I'm just very happy and pleased to be able to work with some of the most amazing teams and people

and, you know, gets to travel the world and do something that I love. So I'm just, you know, very, I feel very blessed and lucky to be in this position. You know, the interesting thing about your job is you need to make it look as good as possible, but at the same time, the audience can't know that it's someone else. So when you're in these scenes, what's the secret to making it look like it's the person that you're doubling for? Do you know what? I think as a, and I think, every stunt double takes this on as part of the job is, and I guess this is what, you know, the audience don't realize that we do is when I go into a job and I'm stunt doubling for an actor, I, you know, when we're not rehearsing, when we are rehearsing, when we're on set,

I watch the way they walk, I watch the way they run, the way they move, how they, you know, their characteristics, because that is part of the job. There's no good doing an amazing stunt that looks nothing like how they would do it because that's the first thing the audience would say, well, that wasn't him. You've got to make a make. make it look as much as possible like them and really read into the character and try and be the character as they are, you know. And I think that's very, very important when I, you know, every actor that I've stumbled four, I've done the same thing. And with Chris, you know, I'll try and watch the way he walks, the way he runs and the way he moves as Chris, but also

he does things differently as each character. So I do that as well as how he does it as Thor or how he does it as Tyler Rape. But all of it's different. So do you have a moment where, you know, before production starts, you sit down, maybe you have a drink, maybe you have lunch with the actor and say, all right, like, how are we approaching this scene or what's your mindset in a scene like this one? Yeah, listen, I mean, I'm, you know, very, very close to Chris. As I said, we've eight, nine years and we've done these films together. We've worked very closely, and we both have a massive amount of trust in each other,

and, you know, that's a great relationship that we have. So we speak on a regular basis, and I'm like, what are you thinking for this show? And he comes up with amazing ideas. I mean, the guy's a genius. And he says, you know, I want to do this, this time. Or I want to move like this. And you're like, okay, cool. We'll start honing on that and start practicing those skills and get to the level that he wants to.

I mean, listen, we had to go from men in black straight to India and start prep on extraction. And we were, we arrived about 10 days from shooting. So we were every single day pretty much from morning to night, rehearsing. fights. He was going through his script. We were going through the techniques that all the stunt team and the fight team and the coordinator that came up with that they'd been working on before that for months to get it right. It's just lucky that Chris is that kind of action actor athlete where he can step into anything and picks up things very, very quickly. His eye-to-hand coordination is amazing.

And he's got a great background in, you know, physicality and he's very athletic. He's an amazing surfer and kickboxer, you know, trains as everyone can see a hell of a lot. He's an all-round amazing athlete. So that makes it a lot easier for everyone. It makes it a lot easier for me. It makes it a lot easier for the studios to have someone of his skill set in so many fields to be able to pull off some of the things that he does, which is nothing short of incredible.

Well, and a lot of that, you know, what you just said there describes you as well, incredibly athletic. You mentioned gymnastics and soccer earlier. What are the sports that you're still involved with now? Still involved with now. I try and jump around gymnastics as much I can. That's, you know, that's difficult sometimes and I'm getting older and it hurts more. So gymnastics, I try.

I'm playing a lot of tennis. I absolutely love tennis. I always have. But I'm having the chance now to play it more than I've ever played it, which I'm really enjoying. You know, I love football and I love the USC. And I'll try and go boxing and whatever it is that I'm doing, a bit of Pilates. You know, I'm obviously weight training a lot.

So I try and, you know, and, you know, stunt performers now, it's moved on so much. and every single year it moves on at a rate of not. So we're athletes and we have to eat well and train and keep ourselves in tip-top shape and keep training our skills to freshen them up because if you don't, as you know, you get rusty quite quick. I imagine so much of what you do is tied to mindset.

So if you're about to take on the biggest stunt of the film, what's your preparation for that? What's going on in your mind right before they yell action? Well, generally, the rule of thumb with something that's huge and it's a big, big stunt in the movie is that we will have a lot of time to rehearse it. We'll have a lot of time to get it right. And that means starting from the very bottom and, you know, building up in increments to make it as safe as possible. And that's not just me. That's working with the whole team. When we pull off something that's amazing, that's the whole team doing that, not just, you know, someone like myself doing it as the stunt double. That's everyone that's involved to make it work. And sometimes, you know, We'll rehearse a stunt for months to get it right, depending on how big it is, because it is, you know, the nature of what we do is dangerous. So we have to eliminate as much of that dangerous possible. And that takes time, you know, concentration and a team effort to make that work.

So, you know, for example, if I'm doing a big wire stunt, then we build up in small increments. You know, they'll attach me on the wire and they'll just give, they've done a hell of a lot of work before I even put, get put into the wire. they'll use a weight bag, they'll get it, you know, they'll be rigging and testing things all the time until they're ready for me to jump on. And then we'll test it and get it ready for, so it's shoot ready, you know, and then we can walk onto set, take away some mats, you know, and hopefully, you know, there's a lot of, you know, thought process that goes into it. They take notes, make measurements, so we can walk onto a set, rig the same thing up, and it should be exactly the same. And then we've got to shoot it. So the preparation is key. And that sets everything aside.

It's something that I guess a lot of people don't get to see on the inside and know that, you know, the stunt team are there probably, like I said, two, three months before we start shooting because we've got all the rehearsing to do. I mean, I guess when it comes to mindset, when it is actually time to do it, it's just like, oh, we've done this before. I feel completely ready to do this. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, listen, there's always the element of, okay, boys, we're going to go a little bit harder

because it's shooting and we're going to take away the match. So it's going to maybe hurt a little bit more. But at that point, you're psyched up for the gag. You want to do an amazing job and you want to, you know, once you've shot something and you're happy and you're proud of it, that's on camera forever. Something you can look back at and be very proud of in years to come. And hopefully I can look back at some of my stuff and be really proud of it.

This is actually something that Sylvester Stallone told me when I interviewed him. He said, you've got to remember every time you're about to do a scene that this is going to live on forever. Yeah, and that's a nice thing. I mean, I started out in live shows. And I love the, you know, the live audience is amazing. It gives you an amazing buzz. But if I'm honest, it lasts for about four or five shows. And then you kind of, you get used to it.

Whereas film, you know, you rehearse something for weeks or months. And then you've got to shoot on the day. And boom, that's done. We forget about that. We move on to the next. But once you've done something that you can look back at 5, 10, 15, 20 years later, you know, I'm looking forward to that. I've been doing it now for 13 years.

I look back at stuff I did early on. And I'm like, holy shit, I forgot that I did that or I could have done that better or whatever. But, you know, in years to come, I hope that I can show, you know, children, grandchildren and say, yeah, that's me doing that. And they won't believe it, but at least I can tell them and show me. They'll be like, yeah, you're hiding your face. We can't tell it to you. Yeah, they're like, no, it's not you. It's the actor.

Is that, when you're in a fight scene, is the key when you fall on the ground to, like, cover your face up? It's something that we is kind of embedded in us, as stunt performers, as we know. know that it's not us. It's not supposed to be us. So whenever we land, you know, it's just the natural thing that stuff performers have is to try and not show your face too much, like look away from the camera or try and hide your face as much as possible. So it makes it easier when it goes to post-production that they, you know, nowadays, the technology is incredible that there's a lot of face replacement. But even so, it still costs a lot of money to do that. So we try and help out as much we can by covering ourselves. But, you know, listen, I'm, you know, I'm, you know, I'm the same as

everyone else. There's been times where I've, you know, forgot. Luckily, it's not many times, but I've forgotten and they're like, well, you just look straight at camera and you're like, oh, shit. Okay, cool. Sorry, guys. Let's go again. When you talk about, you know, it might hurt a little bit when you take the pads away. What's been your worst injury in your career? Unfortunately, throughout my whole career, not just done, to my gymnastic career, I've, I've had major back issues and I've I've had three back operations now and the last one was the big major one where I have now two titanium discs and six screws three either side and the small caging round the bottom of my L4 L5S1 level. So the back has has been the thing that's given me

the most trouble over my like I said gymnastics and stunt career. It's always been there and it's flared up. It's got worse over time and certain things have made it worse and there's been maybe three occasions where it's been really bad. But apart from that, you know, I've popped my shoulder out a few times. I've blown my knee out a few times. I snapped my groin off the bone, you know, duct to Longus and basically ripped it off 85% off the bone and then I actually slipped in the shower and ripped the rest off. So that was a pretty bad injury.

You know, I've had a couple. I've hit my head a few times, whiplash, sore neck, broken fingers, toes. But, you know, I'll pop the rib. You know, I think there's been a few things that I've done, but, you know, touch wood, it's been my back that's caused me the most trouble and the longest of time to try and recover from something. With all of this set and the amount of work

that goes into what you do, it still blows my mind that the Academy Awards don't recognize this as a category. Do you think that there will one day be an Oscar for stunt performing? I mean, I absolutely. 100% there needs to be something for stunts. I don't know if it's specifically for a stunt performer or a stunt team.

I don't know. I don't know how it should be. You know, we get recognized at the Emmys for stunt, you know, the team contribution and the stunt coordinator will get Emmys and, you know, SAG Awards, you know, won many SAG Awards and, you know, they're big awards ceremonies that recognize us. I baffled why the Academy doesn't. But I think it's well overdue.

I mean, stunts were before sound, which is incredible, you know. And I think, you know, importantly, Brad Pitt, you know, gave us a shout out with the last Academy Awards. And, you know, it's about time. I don't know what the reason is for it. There may be more to it than we know. But, you know, I hope it changes. And I hope it changes sooner rather than later.

It's funny that you say sound. There's two sound categories and not a single stunt category. Well, exactly. I mean, again, I'm baffled. I don't know. I just really don't have an answer why there wouldn't be and why there hasn't been. And the amount of times there's been petitions for it, what, you know, is it getting ignored? Who knows? It's not, I'm just speculating of what could be. But hopefully, again, hopefully, I think it's definitely, you know, well overdue. And it's, you know, it's massively deserved. So let's see. of film in general, what is your favorite film of all time? My favorite film of all time,

I've got a few good ones that I love. I'd probably say Paul Thomas Anderson's, there will be blood. Daniel Day Lewis is my hero. He's one of my, well, he is my favorite actor of all time. You know, him and Mel Streep are just, I mean, there's a lot of actors I've worked with, luckily enough, that are mind-blowing. But that's probably my favorite film. It's just incredible. Everything about that film is incredible. If there's someone that's watching this or listening to this right now that wants to follow the type of career path that you have, what are the first few steps that they need to take to be able to make this happen? I think first few steps, you know, I think what helped me was my gymnastic background, trampoline, high diving. That really put me in good stead for what I do as a physical stunt performer.

And because I did it at such a high level, I think now it's, you know, I benefit from that massively. So I do know that a lot of my friends and some of the top stunt formers in the world have had a background at some kind of national or even world level that have really helped them going forward. Like if you're a motocross rider and you can do bike stunts in film or if you drive a car to a high level, I've got friends that were Formula 3 drivers. Or if you were a fight guy, you know, coming in and doing fight stuff, it really, really helps, as I'm sure you can imagine. So my advice would be, you know, if you're someone that has one of those skills or horse riding or fencing, it doesn't matter what the skill is. It just shows that skill shows your level of discipline and hard work and your work ethic. You know, and then you decide you want to get into film. Then you can start to practice the other skills and obviously practice the skill before you get into it, of course.

But I think that has always helped me and it's helped a lot of my good friends around me and some of the best form as I know. And I think having a physical skill level, I mean, to be a stunt performer, you need to be able to know how to land and take a hit. And, you know, that's obviously very, very important. So, you know, that would be my advice. With you mentioning work ethic, I feel like in your profession, it's like one of the most important things. If an actor flubs a line, you can just do it again. If you guys mess up a stunt, someone could get really hurt. Yeah, exactly.

And I guess that's when, you know, the rehearsal time that we speak. spoke about comes in and that's the whole team working together and to make it work is everything is really rehearsed out and prepped, you know, very early on and I do it over and over again. We all do. Some teams do it. I generally, you know, if I've learned a fight scene, I will go over it on my own shadowing the fight scene over and over and over again. So it's embedded and that's, you know, it becomes second nature. And then you can think about how to perform it. Once you've dialed in and you know what's next, then you can really start to enjoy it and start to do things a little we're different and make it look really natural once you know exactly what move is coming next

without making it look to, you know, like it's been rehearsed. That's also a fine line. But, you know, it's, it is dangerous. And I think because it's so dangerous, we, you know, it's something that, you know, we, like I said, rehearsals are key, mate. That's the, that's the key to everything. Kind of say, this has been fascinating. Bobby, thank you so much for your time. Mate, thank you very much for having me. Sorry, I'm just, I had the football on. I'm holding the phone.

I've been pretty badly prepared today for this. I apologize. And look, hopefully I can come on again soon. No, it's just been great hanging out with you. I know that everybody's going to go watch these films now and see if they can find you in these scenes. And I know I'm going to do that. Thank you very much.

I appreciate it, bro. And hopefully stay safe over there, guys. And, you know, especially not, you know, with the wildfires as well, but also COVID. I mean, hopefully we can all get back to somewhat normal very soon. Let's hope so. Thank you again, Bobby. Cheers, mate. Thank you for having me.

Much appreciate it. Oh, there you go, my friends. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Share it with a friend who's a Chris Hemsworth fan, maybe who's an Avengers fan, or just someone who would appreciate this as much as I know I did. Tag me on Instagram. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. Tag Bobby.

He is at Bobby Dazzler 84. And it's incredible hearing all the work and all the preparation that goes into a moment that may only end up being on film for a few seconds. But in reality, those few seconds will live on film, I mean, forever and ever and ever. That's the beauty of film. That's why we love film. We watch movies from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, whatever. And they're still as relevant today as they were when they were made, you know, 20 and 30

and 40 and 50 plus years ago. So next time you watch a Chris Hemsworth film, keep an eye out and see if you can spot any of Bobby's handiwork in there. I mean, this man is just an absolute beast. And I was so grateful to be able to share this conversation with him. I came across a Japanese proverb this week that I wanted to share with you before we end this episode. It goes like this. Vision without action is a dream. A dream without vision is a nightmare.

Hmm. Be great. Be grateful. Have a great week. We will see you on Thursday with the one and only. Matt Seidel. Jim Rome takes on sports Why? Because I have a job to do With rapid fire takes So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs On this notion today No idea what you're talking about You're complaining more than you like to breathe air

It's like you get up in the morning Only to complain and cry and moan on social media About things that you don't even understand He's the spitfire of sports smack Ticket banjov but get up in here The Jim Rome Show podcast What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform You've been warned.