Action Stunts

When most people think of stunt men (or women) their minds usually rush straight to Hollywood, thinking the involvement is due to the filming of a major blockbuster that will soon be seen on either the big screen or other avenues like Direct TV deals. But that’s not always the case as evidenced by Broadway’s production of Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark. Yes, you read that right Broadway’s’ production of Spider Man. It seems that the musical version of the hit film has been wrought with stunt man woes that could rival anything out of the Hollywood hills. The show actually had to be cancelled when a stunt double fell 30-feet and plunged into a stage pit after his safety tether that clips to his back failed to perform. Fortunately the stunt double, Christopher W. Tierney, is also a dancer and was reported to have “landed on his feet” by his brother Patrick Tierney. The accident happened during the show’s big finale, when the Green Goblin drops Mary Jane and Spider-Man leaps to her rescue, but in this case the tethering to cut his fall failed and Tierney “just kept falling” according to Bryan Lynch, an audience member who witnessed the fall. The stuntman underwent back surgery and is expected to make a complete recovery partially due to his “strong body and an amazing attitude” according to his brother.

We had an earlier entry about stunt doubles, and so it seems somewhat fitting that we also include a few words on body doubles since the act of finding a perfect “double” for a body can very often seem stunt-like in its endeavor. As an example, body double Alisa Hensley has “stood in” for actresses Charlize Theron, Cameron Diaz and Nicole Kidman at different times. And get this. Hensley also acts as a stunt double having used her sculpted muscle by standing in for the female terminator in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. That’s what you truly call pulling double duty. Another noteworthy body double is Donna Scoggiins who shot to notoriety when her legs (and more) were used as a stand in for Julia Roberts’ in Pretty Woman. The use of body doubles is so rampant in Hollywood that film director Brian De Palma brought it to the forefront in the film by the same name in 1984 starring Melanie Griffith. The film picked up a sort of cult following as evidenced by (more…)