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Cape Town – I spent a day training with stunt performers and it is definitely not what you’d expect!
More often than not we overlook all the people who work behind the scenes in the making of a film, specifically stunt performers.
You may think you know what a stunt performer is, but do you really?
A stunt performer a.k.a a stunt double is someone who performs dangerous or other stunts specifically in film or television and often do it as a career.
Now that we know what a stunt performer is, I can tell you what it’s like to be one.
Watch what happened when I trained with stunt performers for a day here:
Meet Vernon Willemse and Grant Powell...
These stunt pros have been in the industry for 18 years and took me under their wing to show me what their day job is all about.
Their business, The Stunteam, provides training in the industry for pros and even beginners (like me).
“If you want to get trained you come to us. We do specialised training but we mainly concentrate on fight choreography as that is the most lucrative discipline of being a stunt performer,” Grant explained.
Now, this isn’t your regular 9 to 5 job and there are a lot of challenges in the industry.
Vernon said, “A big challenge is to keep the guys motivated and enthused when there is no work. The biggest however is insurance.
“It’s difficult to get the guys the best insurance because our job does entail injuries that are sometimes beyond our control.”
But it’s pretty fun too! When asked to sum up his job in one sentence, Grant said, “It’s exhilarating, challenging, exciting and special, a blessing and most importantly a privilege.”
So if I could survive a 4 hour training session then what does it really take to be a stunt performer?
Here are 6 quick things you might need:
1. Discipline
2. Self awareness
3. Focus
4. Fit and healthy lifestyle
5. Passion
6. Hunger to learn
