SYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: How Stuntmen (and -women) Work | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hi everybody. Back to the Stuff You. Should Know summer movie playlist. And. this one is from January 2013. It's our. how stuntmen and women work episode. I. think your socks are going to be knocked. off by how hard these people work for. our movie viewing enjoyment. You enjoy, too. Welcome to Stuff You Should Know from. how stuffuffs.com. Hey and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh.

Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. And this is stuff you should know. Well, Jerry had an itchy trigger finger today. Did you hear in there? Yeah. She's ready. to go home. Yeah. She was like, "Come. on. 3 2 1 go. You guys aren't my entire. life." I know. We like to think we are, but that is we're like.1% of Jerry's. life. Yeah. She's giggling in there. She's quite the adventurer. Uh, how you doing, man? I'm great, man. I'm ready to jump from a tall building. or roll a brand new car, man. Sorry.

That's what I was going to ask you. So, I guess you did the intro for us. Go. ahead. Let's pretend like that didn't. happen. No, it's fine. Okay. Uh, you. were just doing what? The theme from The. Fall Guy starring Lee Major 1980s. awesome TV show with probably the best. truck ever featured in a TV show. The. That GMC, man. That thing is sweet. Yeah. Yeah. You know, dudes recreate. that truck. If you if you Google it, there's a lot of guys that have like. made that truck for themselves for good. reason, too. It's a cool truck. Yeah.

And it's interesting that the fall guy. points out a couple of the show itself. points out a very important things as. far as stuntmen go. One is that he had. to moonlight as a bounty hunter. Mhm. And that's kind of one of the things. we'll learn is that there's not a lot of. work out there and to go around, you. know, like it's tough to make it as a. stunt man. Yeah. you get punched. Yeah. And uh B, he's if you look at the lyrics. to that theme song, man, he is really. salty about not getting the glory and.

the girls. Yeah. Mainly the girls and. the glory. He he uh but when he winds up. in the hey, it's only hey. Uh so the song complains about not. getting glory or women. And that is one. of the hallmarks though of the stunt. person is to remain anonymous and to be. bitter about it, I guess. Oh, very few. stunt people you've ever heard of. Well, yeah. There the uh the Academy of Arts. and Sciences. They give out the Academy.

Awards, the Oscars. Motion Picture Arts. and Sciences. Yeah. Um they don't have a. category for stunt people. Nope. Never. have. And the reason some people give is. because they like to maintain the. anonymity and the illusion. Sure. That's. provided by stunt people filling in as. doubles for stars. Yeah. But you can win. a what was the award? You can win an. Emmy for best stunt coordinator. True. Or the stunt award. They have their own. stunt awards. Oh, yeah. The tourist. world stunt awards. Yeah, you can win a.

Tory. They took a uh they took a hiatus. I saw that there was uh 2010 and they're. having stuff for 2012. Couldn't find. anything about 2011. Really? Yeah. So, if you know what happened to the Tourist. World Stunt Awards for 2011, we are. curious. Interesting. Let us know. So, thanks for listening. Uh, so anyway, oh, uh, well, let's talk about the. history of stunt people. Um, they pretty. much have only been around as long as. you've had motion pictures, right? Yeah.

Uh, there there wasn't much of a need. for them before then. No. I mean, maybe. for like a show or something like that, like a Wild Bill Hickok show. Oh, I. guess I see your point. We call them. stunt men, but but really you you kind. of want to differentiate because you can. also say, "All right, so people who ride. horses on standing up on a horse's back, that's a stunt person." Yeah. Right. Um. a a guy who like is in the X Games, those extreme sports kids. Sure. That. all the kids are into these days. That's. a stunt. These are by, you know,

technically stunt people. What we're. talking about are movie stunt people. Sure. And the whole point to their their. craft isn't to like, you know, do a 580. on a bike unless somebody asks them to. What they want to do is create what you. would just take for granted like, "Oh, that guy just got clocked, right?" No, he didn't actually get clocked. That was. a stunt man who knows what he's doing, and that was a carefully choreographed. scene that just flew right past you. Uh,

but it still your brain still just. absorbed it as that man just got. punched, even though that didn't really. happen. That's right. And uh we will. probably slip into the word stunt man. here and there instead of stunt people. Of course there were tons and tons of. stunt women. Um but we'll say stunt. persons are stunt man. And. like luckily there are women now in the. back in the day they would dress men as. women to do stunts many times. Yeah. Um. there was a lot of crossdressing back in. the day. There was until they decided. hey women are people too and they can.

act and do stunts right just like guys. can. We could put them in danger just as. much as well. Exactly. So, um, so there. wasn't much call for stunt people for. movies before movies, just by. definition. Sure, don't be ridiculous. But right out of the gate when we. started making movies, we started. needing people to do stunts. And the. earliest people who were doing stunts. were actually comedians, slapstick. comedians. Like Buster Katon had a very. famous early stunt, Steamboat Bill Jr., is that what it was in? Yeah, the very. famous. You've probably seen it in uh.

like you know Hollywood uh Legends of. Screen clips and things like that on. AMC. Yeah. Uh it is the famous shot. where the front facade of a house falls. down and uh on well would have been on. Buster Katon but he uh is saved because. the attic window uh or attic door was. open. So it just falls all around him. And there was some careful measuring in. place because if he would have been off. by a few inches he would have been dead. Yeah. And um that was a real thing. Like. the earliest stunts were nothing but the.

real thing. Like um apparently if you. had uh I don't know somebody hanging. from like the construction the skeleton. of a steel skyscraper. Yeah. You needed. that shot. That's what the guy did. Yeah. And they and Ed the Grabster wrote. this one, of course. And Ed points out. that back in the day before they were. were like, you know, before they called. them stuntmen, they were just like, "Let. me go find someone crazy enough to go do. this." Exactly. And that guy uh that. that guy at craft service looks crazy.

enough to do it. And let's go see if he. wants an extra 20 bucks. Yeah. And he. does. Yeah. Because back, you know, in. 1902, 20 bucks was a lot. Sure. Um so as. the the film industry grew and grew. early in the 20th century, um we went. from just nothing but slapstick comedies. to things like westerns and action. flicks. And all of a sudden, those. people who really can ride on the back. of a horse standing up became stunt.

people as well. Um, and as as stunts. became more and more complex, the idea. of having somebody whose job and. specialty was to just do the stunt and. make it look like the actor, the star, sure, was doing it started to really. develop. Yeah. And then uh flash forward. even more, the 60s and 70s is when. things really came to their own as far. as stunt technology, developing things. like uh squibs, which we will talk about.

for gunshots and uh uh air rams. Is that. what they're called? Yeah, it's like a. like a pneumatic lift. Yeah, it's. pneumatic. Just shoot you up into the. air like with a um human cannonball, right? But like so if somebody um if a. grenade blows up by somebody and you see. the dude fly through the air and he was. on a ram. That's right. Um and then. other things like airbags and uh and you. know more technology with cars with the.

roll cages like it just got more and. more complex. Right. And now of course. we have CGI which replaces a lot of. stunts in many cases sadly. Not. necessarily to um a better effect. Like. all I have to say is Kingdom of the. Crystal Skull. Yeah. Where it was like. they suddenly cut to drawings of. Harrison Ford swinging on a lasso. He's. famous for doing his own stunts though. He didn't do him in Kingdom of the. Crystal Skull. Well, that's cuz he's 89. years old and he would die. He was.

awesome in Bruno. I didn't see that. Was. he Harrison Ford was in it? Yeah. For. for about two seconds. Did they do like. gay jokes to him or something? They. didn't even get that far. Oh, okay. Yeah. Did he just shut it down? Yeah. It. was hilarious. Uh, but anyway, so, um, stunts like the the I guess throughout. this progression of the field of stunt. people, um, safety's gotten better and. better is what I think we were just. trying to say. To the point now where. they're not even used. It's CGI. Yeah.

Um, but there's there's always going to. be room for stunt people. Oh, yeah. Uh, and the fact that it's gotten safer is. is much better, but there's still. there's an element of risk to it. No. matter what, as Grabster points out, if. a stunt didn't present some sort of. risk, there'd be no need for stunt. people at all. The actors would do it. Yeah. But the actors can't always do it. That's right. Uh, and when you want to. call in a stunt person is when they. either have a specific skill that. they're really good at like um fake.

martial arts or I mean real martial arts. but fake hitting and kicking or um fake. martial like chu Kuang like stuff you. just made up. It's a lot of like just. front kicks in the air. That's what you. practice. That's. um sword fighting, stage combat like. we've talked about stuff like that. Uh. they are trained to fall. they are. trained to, you know, safely fall. Uh, I. guess I should point out and it just. basically it's a safety factor on one.

hand and it's a financial factor on the. other because you can't have your main. actor, actress going down with a broken. leg. Yeah. For four weeks. So, you put. your stunt person in there and keep your. actor all nice and safe in their. trailer. Yeah. Or you want to be. shooting uh two things at once. So you. have your second unit out there shooting. the the fast cars whizzing by in the car. chase. Then you have your first unit. shooting the actor inside the car. driving a lot slower and acting like. it's really fast. But shouting and like.

moving the steering wheel back and forth. a lot. Yeah. And maybe there's somebody. rocking the car. What's that called? Uh. poor men's process. Yeah. Is uh Yeah. So. when you I guess we should say this. So, when you're in a car, you either have a. a camera rig on your car where it's the. real car with cameras attached to it. We've done that. Or the car is on a. process trailer, which means a lot of. these shots you see with someone driving. and you're like, they're not even paying. attention to the road. Yeah. It's cuz. the car is sitting on a trailer being. pulled by a truck, right? Or it's got a. little rock to it. Little rock to it. Or.

you do the poor man's process was when. the car is not going anywhere and you. have PA's pushing on the outside, pushing on the outside. Little tricks. with lighting to make it look like uh. headlights going by. We've done that. It's really neat in the end to look at a. scene that's poor man's process and. think, "Wow, they're really not even. moving and it looks so good." Yeah. Yeah. See if you can pick it out in the. Stuff You Should Know TV series. They. can probably pick it out. So, um, yeah, it's financial. It makes sense. Also, uh, one of the other reasons people use.

stunt people is they come with a set of. skills that the average actor doesn't. have. A particular set of skills. Exactly. That makes them very dangerous. to you. Uh, and so it's you can either. hire a stunt man who looks like your. star to carry out like a combat scene or. sort of look like your star or you can. teach your star, you know, spend all. this extra money and time training the. star this skill in a crash course. So it. just most of the time it makes sense to. just hire a stunt person. Yeah. And you. know, chances are these days you're.

going to get a mix in a big action. movie, you're going to get a mix of all. three. You're going to get some CGI. Yeah. You're going to get some stunt. people. And these days, you're going to. get real actors doing some of the real. fake fighting. Doesn't Tom Cruz do a lot. of his own stunts? Yeah, I got a list of. actors who prefer to do their own. stunts. I didn't mean to jump the gun. No, Cru the Cruz is famous for that. I. was reading this and I was like, I. wonder if I would do my own stunts. I. would do some I I would say, sure, I. want to learn how to sword fight. Teach. me. Like, that's something I want to. know. And I'm certainly not going to. shell out for it myself ever. So, let's.

go ahead and and learn. Now, it's a good. point. I would do my own stunts. It. depends. The heights, no way I would do. that. I would jump off of something. Uh, so California state law and of. course there's shoot movies all over the. place now. Um, and the union rules in. Hollywood have really made it uh pretty. safe these days, but you're still going. to find injuries and your occasional. death on set, which is really awful. Yeah. Well, there always have been. pretty much from the beginning deaths.

and injuries. Howard Hughes. Yeah. the. movie Hell's Angels, which we must have. talked about in the Hell's Angels. podcast. I'm sure we did because I think we. talked about the origin of the name. which was from the air combat. It was. that Yeah, that's what they think. The. Fighting Hellcat. Yeah, I think that was. one of the theories. Um but uh there. were three maybe four fatalities. Yeah. Because they were doing like real dog. fights with airplanes and there were a. lot of crashes. Yeah. So that was a. movie where people died. Yes. Uh very.

famously, The Twilight Zone, uh the. movie, um Jennifer Jason Lee's father, Vic Maro, and two little Vietnamese kids. died uh when a helicopter crashed into. the water, man. Where they were crossing. a river. Um that's on YouTube, by the. way. I know. It's pretty awful. It is. And I saw it recently because I was just. curious. I'd always wondered how it went down in. my head because I've heard the story. since the movie came out, since I was a. kid. And I was wondering like exactly.

what was the logistics and how did that. go down. It's pretty bad to watch. It is. because it just goes totally out of. control. It does. So I would not. recommend that. Um but you do have to. enter your age by the way to watch that. video. I saw Yeah. Um and on set uh the. AD is ultimately responsible the. assistant director for everyone's. safety. Uh and in fact on our own little. TV show when we had fake guns on set. just as props. Yeah, like we didn't even. use them in the scene, but just to have.

a fake gun on set, the AD has to. announce to the whole crew and show them. the gun, say, "It's fake. It's not real. Look at the barrel. There's no bullets. There's no nothing. It will not be. fired. We will not be shooting blanks um. or dummy cartridges." And it's just, you. know, even on a stupid little silly show. like ours, you got to be really careful. with that stuff. Yeah. So, Chuck, uh, because of this incredibly high-risk. um, profession work, the stunt people.

must be paid out the yin-yang. True or false? Well, they make a good. rate, but like we said earlier, there's. not a ton of work for the amount of. stunt people trying to get work. Oh, okay. Uh, and that was when I used to. work out in LA as a PA. I would always. try and talk to the stunt people when I. worked on jobs where they had stunt. people because they're just really. interesting. Yeah. And um, to say the. least. And they would usually bemoone. the fact that there's not a ton of work. and, you know, they're all kind of.

scrapping for the same piece of cheese, but that's like everyone in the film. business. Sure. From crew to the lead. actor, you're all you're all after that. same piece of cheese. Yep. Um, and we've. worked with some stunt people, too. Yeah, you'd be surprised when you need. to call in a stunt person. I worked on. this one commercial where the was just. like bad traffic on the highway that the. the shot was and cars had to just sort. of pull over to the side while another. car came through. All the cars that. pulled over to the side of the road had. to have stunt drivers. Wow. Yeah. I was.

like, I I could do that. But then I'd be taking bread off the. table of a stunt person, right? And the. whole production would shut down. That's. true. Um, okay. So, the most stunt. people, you say, because there's just so. little work for so many people, it's not. a highpaying job. A lot of people do it. for the love of it, right? Yeah. I mean, you can make money if you're experienced. and get tons of work, obviously, but. Right. I'd say those are the the few and. far between, but you'd have to love it.

because the hours are usually very very. long. Yeah. um to do a stunt is not you. don't just walk up and get in the car. and drive it and all of a sudden it. flips and there's an explosion and. you're hoping for the best, right? Like. when you see a stunt these things are. rehearsed over and over again, say for a. car chase, they'll go through the entire. car chase, but they'll do it at a low. speed, right? Um so that it's. choreographed, rehearsed, and everybody. knows what's going to happen when. Yeah. Um that takes a very long time. Uh if.

you need to flip a car, you need to do. measurements. The pyrochnics guys are. probably involved. Yeah, there's a lot. of standing around. There's a lot of. practicing, there's a lot of measuring, there's a lot of talking. And then if. for say you're doing something like in. in water, you're probably standing in. water the whole time. So you're doing. that for 14 hours. Yeah. It sounds like. some You would have to love your work to. do this. Yeah. It's definitely not a. glory job, especially factoring in the. anonymity factor, right? When you do all. this and you do it absolutely perfectly,

no one notices. That's the goal. Yeah. In fact, one of my biggest pet peeves is. when you do notice and you see that one. shot of the dude with a wig on that's. supposed to be Clint Eastwood, right? Yeah. Just disappointing. So, um you. were saying the second unit director. handles this. Um the second unit. director is in charge of shooting. stunts, but the person who's in charge. in like of the stunts themselves is the. stunt coordinator. Yeah. And that person.

hires the stunt people, plans the. stunts, oversees the stunts execution, does everything but actually sets up the. camera and all that or handles the. camera shooting it. Right. Yeah. It's. basically its own like a film crew is. broken up into many departments and. that's just sort of its own little. department headed by the coordinator. Gotcha. Like they'll have a budget to. work with and all that kind of stuff. just like any other department. So let's. talk about how they do some stunts. Okay. And actually the second unit uh. director a lot of times is a former. stunt person or stunt coordinator,

right? Uh that makes sense. Comes in. handy. Sure. Um let's talk about stunts. without fire. How about punches? How about them? Stage fighting man. Something we have not learned yet. That's pretty much a uh a must if you. want to become a stunt man. That's. lesson one is go take stage fighting. courses. Yep. learn how to sell a punch. as the giver and as the receiver without. looking corny and hokey and fake like. pro wrestling, right? But it's very much. similar to pro wrestling, especially if.

you've ever seen somebody throw a punch. in pro wrestling and you can hear the. skin slap. Yeah. That's because that. person was actually just punched. Yeah. The key is they weren't punched very. hard. Certainly not as hard as their the. jerk of their head would would say. Yeah. Suggest. You got camera angles and. you've got sound effects and through the. art of movie magic, it looks like a good. knockdown dragout brawl, right? And if. you've got like a really good stunt. coordinator, there'll be like a punch. that's sold and the person who's being.

punched is on a ram, so they fly through. the air afterward. Yeah, that's awesome. All right, gunshots. Uh, we talked about. squibs. Uh, a squib is basically you're. going to have a a chest metal chest. plate with a squib on the front of it, right, to protect your your body. And. it's a it's it's basically a little. blood packet that's rigged. electronically to explode when it's. supposed to. Uh, and so the plate in. between the squib and your chest.

protects you. Sure. Um, and maybe you. are in charge of you, the stunt man, are. in charge. You have a little button. Yeah. maybe to to explode the charge or. there's somebody else doing it remotely. Um and it it's pretty awesome. Releases. theater blood opens a hole in the shirt. Yeah. Pretty awesome. It is very. awesome. This I didn't realize though um. how they make bullet holes in like a. like a wall like a stucco wall. Yeah. I. I thought this was pretty ingenious. They drill the hole ahead of time. Um.

and then they cover it up with like. putty or paper or something and and. paint. with a squib in there. Yeah. And. they blow that squib out and it makes a. bullet hole. It's pretty cool. It's. ingenious. It's simple, it seems like, but it's very ingenious. Well, especially when you watch a movie, ideally you're getting lost in the. movie, not paying attention. But if you. watch like a John Woo film or something. Yeah. and you see just like a wall get. riddled with bullets. Just think about. all the time. Yeah. Took it took to set. up all those squibs and like what if the. actor trips in the middle of it? You're.

just like, uh, we have to do it again. Yeah. Which is no good. And in fact, big. stunts, uh, they go with many, many. cameras on stunts that you don't or. can't recreate because of either danger. or money. Yeah. And like some of these. shots have like, you know, a dozen or. more cameras shooting time, which makes. a lot of sense, of course. And Grabster. points out that another reason why you. don't want to do a big take like that. more than once is because every time you. do, the danger for the stunt person. multiplies. Yeah. And I was like, how?

And then I thought, oh, well, doing it. more, right? Yeah, your your chances of. of injury are increased the more you. carry out the more times you carry out a. dangerous act. So, yeah, that's how it. multiplies. Uh, getting back to squibs, these days a lot of uh directors are. opting for CGI blood and uh and bullet. wounds. Um, but supposedly Quint. Tarantino, and this is out by the time. this comes out, Jango and Chain. Man, I. can't wait to see supposedly he uh had. 100% real squibs and the blood like.

they're supposed to be the bloodiest. nastiest squibs that Hollywood has seen. in years. Is that right? Yeah, it's. supposed to be pretty awesome. Yeah. Have you seen a machete? Yeah, that was. pretty bloody. Yeah, that was bad. though. I didn't like I agree it was but. it was still pretty bloody. Uh they also. have blanks. If you are firing a gun on. set, it is uh probably a blank. You. would hope so. It's not the same as a. dummy cartridge. No, a blank actually. fires gunpowder, has gunpowder, and. fires what's called a wad. It's like.

paper or wood or plastic. And um but it. does not obviously have shot or or. bullet. No, but there's sometimes when. the bullet uh explodes, bits of metal. can end up being shot out as well. Yeah, that's how Brandon Lee died when they. were filming the chrome. Yeah, his was. actually an accident. There was a bullet. lodged in the barrel that they didn't. know about. What? I thought, "Okay, well. then I'm thinking of somebody else who. like was messing around with a gun.". That was Oh, man. I can't remember his. name. He put it to his head and pulled.

the trigger and like the water like the. gases or something killed him. Yeah, that was uh I can't remember his name, but it was on a TV show set and he like. goofing around put it to his head as a. joke. So, you should never mess around. with blanks. No, it's very dangerous. still. No, but there was a bullet in the. Yeah, there was a bullet that got the. guns mixed up and there was a real. bullet slug lodged in the barrel that. they didn't know about. So, it fired a. blank, but it ejected that other uh. thing in Brandon Lee died. I didn't know. that. Yeah, man. It was one of the.

biggest uh oopses probably in Hollywood. history. Yeah. You know, I guess you. could call it that. And I think he they. thought he was still acting and. continued to roll cameras for a bit. afterward. Oh jeez. Even. Yeah. Very. sad. Tragic. Um. are we to falling? Yeah. Which you'll. do. I won't do. Yeah. I'll jump off of. stuff. I've always done that. Well, they. use these huge huge airbags, right? Well, back in the day they did. And if. you and if you're doing a fall today, they still will sometimes, but generally.

these days they have like a bungee type. contraption. I would still demand an. airbag. Yeah. Um they apparently also. for shorter falls, they'll take some. cardboard boxes and they'll cut the. sharp corners off. Yeah. And you jump. onto that. Did you do that when you were. a kid? No. No. No. I I always would jump. into water. I would jump like onto the. ground off of like the credenza or. whatever and now I'm like I wouldn't. even do that. That's dangerous. Uh falls. used to be the thing like I'm sure you.

remember as a kid falls were a really. big deal for stuntmen. And Dar Robinson, remember that guy? No. He did the the. Sharkies machine fall. Okay. In Atlanta. and the Bert Reynolds movie. Nope. It's. very famous fall out of the Peach Street. Plaza Hotel. I was up in Toledo at the. time. It was still It was released in. Toledo. Not until you know. Sharks. machine one. Yeah. Uh wait. Off the off. of which hotel? He he went through a. window of the Peach Tree Plaza and uh. into onto an airbag. And it's just it. was one of the famous early falls in and.

or not early falls, but one of the. famous falls. What floor did he jump out. of? Oh man, I can't remember. Was it. pretty high? Yeah, I mean it was over. over like 150 ft, I think. Oh wow. Yeah, that's nuts. It was pretty cool. But. see, so imagine planning that stunt how. many times they measured Yeah. everything to figure out where the. airbags needed to go. And then they. probably supplemented it with additional. airbags. And if they loved the guy at. all, they did all this. Yeah. Stunt men, you when you go to talk to one, if. you're on set, you'll be disappointed by. the fact that they aren't these crazy.

dudes like you want them to be. They're. actually really sensible because they. want to work and earn money, right? So, they want to be really really sure that. no one gets hurt. It's It's a little. more boring than you would think talking. to them. Sure. But they are a little. nuts. Yeah. Well, you'd have to be at. least a little. What else, Chuck? Fire. How about fire? Yeah, I just saw Anchor. Man the other night. Remember when the. they had the street brawl and the guy on. fire just walks by? Yeah. Yeah. That's a. pretty serious stunt. Like when you are.

when you set yourself on fire. Yeah. Um. and there's a lot of safety precautions, but even still, it's you're on fire. whether you like it or not. Yeah. that. you're wearing all kinds of uh fire. protective clothing and fire retardant. and then you're smeared with the. flammable gel. Yep. You have a hood on. that protects you. Yeah. As well. Um and. there's an oxygen tank in there. So, you're basically just completely wrapped. in this outfit. Yeah. But yeah, the. flammable gels on and uh they light you. and then film you and you're going.

it's always the waving arms and the oh, this kind of looks the same. And then um. they people run over and put you out. with fire extinguisher. That's right. But they time it very closely as well. Oh, I'm sure. Cuz I I think it's kind of. like, well, if we go 12 seconds, he. actually will catch on fire. So, we can. shoot for 11.5, right? Uh explosions are a big deal. Obviously, these days there's so many. explosions in movies. Um sometimes they. cheat a little bit when what's called a.

technique called force perspective to. make it look like the actor is closer to. the explosion. Mhm. Um, and if there's. an explosion, you're probably also going. to be propelled with the air ram that we. were talking about. It's very, it's I. would call it a Hollywood trope at this. point. The explosion and the dudes. flying like 20 ft in the air. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was big in uh Commando. Oh, yes. Weren't there a lot of air rams. used in Commando? Many. More than I can. count. That was such a good movie. Uh, car chases and crashes. Yeah, they use.

rams as well. They may be attached to. the car. So, if a car needs to flip, um, you see people like going up on a ramp. or whatever. Yeah. Um, and they probably. use that if you're just trying to stay. on two wheels, but if you're trying to. flip, there's usually a ram that pushes. the car, pushes it off of the ground, and it flips. Or if you have one coming. out of the rear, it'll make it jump. really high. Oh, true. Like in Hooper. I. don't know all these movies you're. talking about. Oh, dude. Hooper was the. stunt man movie with Bert Reynolds. I.

didn't see it. Oh my god. Howal Nem, very famous stuntman, turn director, directed founder of the Cannonball Run. Well, yeah, and director of the movie. The Cannonball Run and Smoking the. Bandit and Hooper. Hooper was about an. aging stunt man, Bert Reynolds, who was. challenged by the upandcomer Jan Michael. Vincent. And um, of course, there's the. love relationship with Sally Fields. She. was in that, too. And uh, it was good. It was like the best It's sort of the. best stunt movie ever because it was. about stunts. Huh. And he had a rocket.

car in that one. That was a big rocket. car jump. Nice. It was the big climax. I. did not see Hooper. Oh, dude. You need. to see Hooper. What was I watching back. then? What were you? You were probably. watching TV and stuff, I guess. Yeah, it. was a little before your time. Secret of. Nim. Um, and like I said earlier, stunt. drivers, it's not all like a lot of the. stuff you're going to see on TV is stunt. driving, even though you might not think. it's necessary. Yeah. Apparently to just. pull off of the Sometimes. Sometimes.

not. How do you become a stunt man, Josh? Uh, well, apparently, as far as. Grainowski says, you basically have to. start off as an extra on the set, that's. not necessarily true. Okay. If you want. to if you want to go from the absolute. from from zero to stunt man in the. slowest way possible, then you would. start out as an extra on the set. You. have to be a screen you have to be a. member of the screen actors guild in. most cases. Yeah. Um, and when you're. hanging around the set, you identify who.

the second unit director or stunt. coordinator is and you hand them your. headsh shot. Th painted a path to becoming a stunt. person that we've kind of laughed at. It. is not the only path. But one thing is. for sure, to become a stunt person, you. need to get to know someone else in that. department. And that's really with every. film department. If you want to be in. wardrobe, you should get a job as a PA. and start hanging out with the wardrobe. people. If you want to be in makeup, start hanging out with the makeup. people. And that's just how it works in.

Hollywood. There is no degree. You can. get a film degree, but come on, that's. wasted money. Just go to work on a set. You get to know the people in the. department and then start bugging them a. little bit when they're not busy. Stunt. coordinators are a little testy because. there's a lot on the line, you know. Sure. So, you know, if you're a new PA. on set, don't run over to the stunt. coordinator and start bugging them right. away. pick and choose, right, your time. and then give them your head shot and. then give them your head shot. But yeah, I what what you're saying is that it's. apprenticebased. It is basically there.

are schools um one uh recommended. driving school, the Rick Seaman stunt. driving school. Yeah. Uh there's also. the International Stunt School. That. sounds pretty serious. And this is where. you can learn to do some of the stuff, but it's not like you exit with a degree. and then show up and say, "Now I'd like. to do stunt work." Right? All the rest. of you are fired. I have a degree from. the International Stunt School. Uh, and. Grabster points out that you should have. a large area of specialty rather than. one thing. I thought this is a very good.

point. Yeah, but that this not. necessarily true. I've talked to some. stunt dudes that say eventually you. would like to have a wide range of. skills, but a good way to get in is to. have one really specific skill that. you're great at. Um, and you might get. that call like this guy's good with wire. work or water work and uh or he's a hell. of a driver or a really good motorcycle. guy. Yeah. Um or a great skier if you're. doing like uh what was that? For your. eyes only. Yeah. Was that the one that. opened up the big ski chase? Never say.

never again. I I was definitely Roger. Moore. Okay. I think it was for your. eyes only. All right. But it helps to. have these skills. Like a lot of stunt. people are former motorcycle motocross. racers or car uh enthusiasts or they. know how to scuba. Forceback riders. stand for horseback riding. Yeah. So, a. lot of them had these skills just anyway. and they're like, "Hey, I can I've been. driving dirt track for 20 years. Might. as well make some money." Yeah. Film me. There's books out there, are there? So,

You want to be a stunt man by Mark. Aspet. Oh, that's a great name for a. book like that. The Full Burn by Kevin. Connley. Uh, Fight Choreography: The Art. of Non-verbal Dialogue by John Cring. And then Hal Nem's biography, stunt man. with a c a exclamation. Had to be had to. be. You got uh you said you have a list. of actors that do their own stunts. Yeah, I think most people know this. People like Jason Stathithm, famous for. doing his own stunts. Uhhuh. I see Zoe.

Bells on there. I thought she was a. stunt person. Well, she is. And she was. in Death Proof though as an actor, right? And they were like, I guess they. include her now because she did that. awesome uh hang hanging on to the hood. scene. I was watching that earlier and. it is just nuts. It's pretty cool. It's. like she's when she's hanging on it. looks like by belts or whatever. Yeah. And then she's but she's kind of sliding. still across the hood. Yeah. All it. would take is like a half an inch and. then all of a sudden she's gone too far.

and she's off the side of the car. Yeah, that was it. She's one of the best in. the business apparently. Man, that's. scary. Uh Bert uh Bert Reynolds used to. do a lot of his stunts. In fact, he got. injured uh pretty bad that led to some. bad health problems on set. Oh yeah. On. City Heat, the Clint Eastwood movie. Um. Bert Lancaster used to do his own. stunts. He's a tough guy. Yeah. Remember. the movie Tough Guys? He was in that. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think we mentioned. Ben Hur either. That's one of the famous. stunts ever. The the chariot race. Yeah. You want to tell them about it? Uh go.

ahead. What do you got? Oh, well there. was a uh stunt man named Joe Canut and. he was doubling for Charlton Hston and. during the chariot race, this big long. intense race. Yeah. Um he falls off the. chariot and is about to be run over but. in true stunt man fashion grabs it, is. being dragged. Yeah. Pulls himself back. up and continues on. Wow. And I think. that made it on screen, too. Yeah. It's. in the movie, but that was a real thing.

Like it wasn't a planned stunt. Like the. guy saved his own life. That's awesome. Yeah, it is. Harrison Ford, we mentioned. uh as far as the ladies go, Angelina. Jolie and Cameron Diaz are known for. doing stunts. Uh Arie Schwarzeneagger. Uh and Jackie Chan, of course, is very. famous for doing his own stunts. Sure. And it makes a difference, man, when you. can tell it's Tom Cruz on the side of. that mountain. Man, that was scary. Is. that really him? Yeah, Emily worked on. that shoot on that just that segment in.

Moab, the the rock climbing segment and. that's when famously Tom Cruz was like. four hours late and flies in on a. helicopter and like the whole crew was. waiting around all day for him. I hadn't. heard that. And then Oh, yeah. I mean. famous in my family. Oh, good. Yeah. And. now I guess famous to the podcast. community. Yeah. Cruz is not punctual. Well, he wasn't that day. Wow. Stunts. Have you seen Haywire? the. Soderberg movie. Uhuh. It's about uh.

assassin assassins basically. It's an. action movie. Sodberg's take on an. action movie. Uh but Gina Carano is a. former mixed martial artist and uh she. she's awesome and does her own stunts. What's her name? Gina Carano. I don't. believe I know her. She plays the lead. I She I think that was her first like. legit movie. She's known for mixed. martial arts. But um yeah, she does her. own stunts and she's ba haywire. Haywire. I'll check it out. I got. nothing else. I don't either. Pretty. straightforward. Uh, if you want to.

learn more about stunts, you can type. stunts into the how stuff works search. bar. And I said search bar, which means. it's time for listener mail. Josh, I'm going to call this uh things. we I guess say a lot. Oh, no. Yeah, like. No, no, no. That's not in there. Okay. Everyone says like, though, I. know, but I've pointed out here. They're. like you guys say like a lot and I've. started to notice and when I say it when. I hear the podcast I don't hear it when.

I'm saying it only later on when I can't. do anything about it. Don't don't beat. yourself up. Everybody says that. Like. there are articles written in in the New. Yorker about the use of the word like in. the 21st century. Okay. So you're part. of that crowd. I know you're no. millennial. I'm not. I'm an aged. person. Something's wrong with me today. Guys, before I start, uh I feel like I should. get out my adoration of the podcast. Always listen as I'm walking my dog.

Chloe. Keeps me entertained for hours. Um I love that uh you guys are still. going strong and I'm very thankful. I. have comprised a list, however, of words. and phrases used most often in the show. besides obvious ones uh like Chuck or. Josh or search bar. Let's hear them. In. no particular order, bada bing, bada. boom. Sure. He left off the bonjovi. She. Oh, she uh we'll talk about this later. or we'll get to that and then a lot of. times we don't. Yeah. I feel like I say. that a lot. I think it's hilarious when.

we we say that we're going to talk about. something later and then we just forget. to Yeah. Or I say all the time I think. we should point out and she didn't put. that in here, but I'll go ahead and. throw my own on there. Oh yeah, you do. say that. Um I'm making air quotes. Yeah. Uh I EG. Yeah, that's one of. yours. So pretentious. Uh that's a good. band name. That's usually me. Sure. That's obnoxious. Uh, sweat. We just talk about sweat a lot. Yeah, because of me. Uh, that's a standup guy.

I don't remember us saying that a lot. Do you say that a lot? No. All right, I'm going to take issue with that one, Catherine. Uh, on the up and up. I don't know. COA. Of course, we say. that a lot. Definitely. People always. ask it what it means. We never tell. We. never tell. And then, uh, have you seen. the movie? Ironically, that's about right. Yeah. And those are 10 things that we say a. lot. And that is she says she thinks. these are great. It comforts her and she. smiles. And that is Katherine Phillips. Thanks a lot, Catherine. That's pretty.

cool. Somebody's out there like writing. lists of things we say. It's nicer to. hear people say like, I take comfort. that except for the emails and we get. like you guys always say this and that. You say like too much. That's John. Travolta taking us to task. What? Uh. if you want to take us to task, whether. you're John Travolta or anybody else, or. you just want to say, "Hey, here's a. list of things I noticed because the. podcast or whatever, um you can uh join.

us on uh Twitter." Mhm. Actually, first. before we sign off, let's uh remind. everybody that we're going to be on the. TV again. The TV? Yeah. Saturday night. on Science Channel at 10 p.m. will be. the premiere of another Stuff You Should. Know episode. You can watch us each and. every week. Yep. TV show. Stuff you. don't should know. TV show 10 p.m. or. get it on iTunes the following day on. Sundays. That's right, Chuck. Just go to. iTunes and type in stuff you should know. and see what comes up. All right, so now. we'll sign off, right? Yep. You can uh. get in touch with us on Twitter,

syskodcast. You can join us on. facebook.com/stuffyou should know. And. you can send us a good oldfashioned. email too, stuffpodcast atiscovery.com. [Music]. For more on this and thousands of other. topics, visit housestuffworks.com. [Music].