As Ryan Gosling took the mic for a special screening of his latest film “The Fall Guy,” the Oscar nominee was eager to salute the stunt community — in particular, to show off the record-breaking stunt that his double performed.
“There’s a gentleman who buckles me into a car — that’s Logan Holladay — for a stunt he’s about to do,” Gosling told the audience assembled at the Grove in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. “Then he goes on to do eight-and-a-half cannon rolls, which is a world record. And then he pulls me out of the car and pats me on the back for the stunt that he just did.”
That’s what makes “The Fall Guy” unique, Gosling explained. “In any other movie, you wouldn’t know that. But in this movie, you do. The lack of recognition [of] the contribution that they make to cinema, to some of the best moments in this film and the best moments in films in general that we love so much, you know, that ends here!”
The crowd, which was made up mostly of press and stunt performers, cheered. “Let’s watch this clip,” Gosling then said, attempting to tee up footage of Holladay performing the dangerous stunt.
There was just one problem — Gosling and the “Fall Guy” filmmakers (director David Leitch, producer Kelly McCormick, producer Guymon Casady and stunt coordinator and second unit director Chris O’Hara) and his co-stars Emily Blunt, Winston Duke, Hannah Waddingham and Stephanie Hsu still had a moderated Q&A to get through.
“You did really well with that whole thing,” Blunt laughed, ribbing Gosling for the flub.
Over the course of a nearly 30-minute conversation, which was live streamed to theaters in New York, Atlanta and Miami, “Run the clip” became a running joke as Gosling attempted to throw to the featurette two more times. And once the clip began playing, it was immediately clear why the actor was so eager to “cannon-roll” things right along.
The thrilling footage shows Holladay perform that stunt, which involves fitting a cannon-like apparatus beneath a car that shoots toward the ground.
“As the vehicle reaches a designated speed, the mechanism triggers and propels the car into a series of rolls,” a press release explained. “Holladay executed the stunt behind the wheel of a modified Jeep Grand Cherokee fitted with an external fiberglass body,” breaking the previous record held by stuntman Adam Kirley, who achieved seven cannon rolls during the filming of 2006’s “Casino Royale.”
The behind-the-scenes clip underlines the ethos behind “The Fall Guy,” which pays homage to the unsung heroes of the movie business by prioritizing practical stunts and showing the method behind their magic. The Universal Pictures release is the latest effort from filmmaker and former stunt performer Leitch, whose banner 87 North is behind high-concept action fare like “Atomic Blonde” and “Bullet Train.”
Inspired by the 1980’s hit TV series of the same name, “The Fall Guy” stars Gosling as stuntman Colt Seavers with Blunt as budding film director Jody Moreno, a camerawoman who is primed to get her big break on a multimillion-dollar sci-fi blockbuster called “Metalstorm” — if only they can work through their complicated romantic dynamics and find the missing egotistical A-list star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).
When the event’s host, Fandango’s Naz Perez, asked Gosling how playing a stuntman changed the way he relates to fear, the actor pivoted slightly to explain how his appreciation for the profession has grown.
“I was on a kid’s action show called ‘Young Hercules,'” he began, referencing the short-lived Fox prequel series. “I’ve basically had a stunt double my whole life and there’s this sort of accepted dynamic where they come on set, they do all the cool stuff, they risk everything, and then they disappear into the shadows and we all pretend as though they were never there. Everyone else on set gets credit, but there’s some sort of understanding that they don’t.”
Then Gosling, who also produced the film, shouted out his stunt doubles, many of whom were in the audience.
“It took eight stunt performers to make one ‘Fall Guy,'” he said. “There were times where I was like, ‘Should we be making a movie or robbing a bank?’ … Everyone had their own special skill. It was like the Avengers or something. In fact, a lot of them probably were the Avengers if you look at their look at their CVs.” He continued: “It was just an honor to be a part of; I have benefited from their work and their help since I started, so to be a part of telling their story and, in some small way, trying to reflect just how vital they are and how important what they do is.”
With that, it was nearly time to watch the film. But first, Gosling and Leitch introduced Holladay and presented him with a special plaque to commemorate the Guinness World Record.
“If it wasn’t for Chris O’Hara and Dave Leitch for hiring me and asking me to do this, this would have never happened and I wouldn’t be standing here receiving this award. And for all your help Ryan at the Oscars and help with all of our community,” Holladay said, raising his certificate in the air as the audience applauded. “I love this team.”
The special screening built on the momentum the “Fall Guy” crew kicked off on Sunday night at the Oscars, where nominees Gosling and Blunt took the stage to joke about their “Barbenheimer” rivalry and introduce a special reel (produced by Leitch and McCormick’s 87 North) saluting the stunt community for their contributions to cinema. Then, they jetted to SXSW for the film’s world premiere, where it charmed the crowd with a delightful mix of action, comedy and romance, with Variety chief film critic Peter Debruge hailing Gosling’s hero as “one of his most appealing characters yet.”
“The Fall Guy” hits theaters on May 3.
