Exclusive: David Leitch and Kelly McCormick on stunts, John Wick and Action

Action. It’s an element as fundamental to cinema as air is to us. At least, that’s the typically profound comparison made by Keanu Reeves, arguably the most bankable action hero in Hollywood, and therefore the ideal person to introduce Action, a new docuseries that goes behind the scenes of the stunt industry that gives action movies life.

When your favourite actor is getting punched in the face repeatedly, there’s likely a stunt performer involved, and there’s definitely a stunt performer involved when a particularly heart-pumping chase scene culminates in one of the vehicles in question shooting off a cliff.

So who are these people, and what motivates them to pursue such a precarious career? That’s at the heart of Action, which goes in depth on the meticulous process of designing stunts, working with A-list actors and the sacrifices stunt performers have to make in order to chase their danger-filled dreams.

It’s a great watch, and to learn more we sat down with Executive Producers David Leitch and Kelly McCormick, who together also run 87North, a production company that specialises in action films. They are two of the Hollywood stunt industry’s most prominent figures: Leitch was once a stunt performer himself, before transitioning into directing, first alongside Chad Stahelski on 2014’s John Wick, before going on to direct, among other films, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2 and The Fall Guy (McCormick was a producer on all three), the 2024 action comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, which is itself about the life of a stuntman.

Among other things, we asked what it's like to be Brad Pitt’s stunt double, how technology has changed the stunt industry and, of course, for the lowdown on the craziest stunts the pair have overseen. Buckle up...

Shortlist (to David): Did you always want to be a stunt performer?

David Leitch: After college I zeroed in on it and moved to LA to become a stunt performer. It was all I wanted to do. I lived in a house with four other stunt performers who were all equally hellbent on getting into the business, and we taught ourselves how to do stunts. We went out and found stunt coordinators to take us on as mentors, and there was a whole process at the time called hustling, whereby you’d sneak onto a set to hand someone your resume or demo tape. We were all about that and there was a group of around six of us that have all had really successful careers that we fought hard for.

SL: You were Brad Pitt’s stunt double five times. What’s the relationship between stunt performer and actor like?

DL: You do get pretty close with an actor. The stunt performer is usually doing the rehearsals and working through the safety protocols, and you’re often involved in training the actor to do the stunt properly if they’re going to do it. You start to form a bond of trust. They have to trust that you’re going to help them get through it safely. I was a fight choreographer as well, and that means you’re designing scenes with their character in mind and have a lot of discussions with them about that. So the stunt double and the stunt performer can definitely become very close, yeah.

SL: Do you still get nervous as a stunt performer, or do you need to be fearless to be good at the job?

DL: It’s funny. Now I’m more on the producer and coordination side, I actually feel the danger more when I’m watching someone else do it than when I was a performer myself. Or at least that’s how it is for me. Back then I took the risk and trusted in my own abilities. If I made a mistake, so be it. But as a stunt coordinator you know what the consequences of it going wrong could be, whether that’s physical pain or a more serious injury, and the fear hits me more.

SL: You eventually made the jump from performing stunts to directing movies, with your debut being the first John Wick film - a film that this year celebrated its 10th anniversary- which you co-directed with Chad Stahelski. What was that transition like?

DL: It was not easy to make the jump. Kelly actually managed Chad and I at the time, and there was a real stigma about stunt coordinators and whether they could tell the whole story. She really championed us and got us out there, and helped us with our story chops; how to understand a story from the beginning, middle and end and not just the isolated journey of a character in the middle of a scene. We had a passion for telling stories through action and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Kelly found the John Wick script and it was pretty soon after that we were able to convince Keanu to do it. And that was our first shot.

SL: You must be pretty proud of the legacy of that film?

Kelly McCormick: I don’t think John Wick would be the series it, is with the reputation it has, if it wasn’t for the first one, and how much character David drove into the journey of John; how passionate he was about the loss of his dog and how emotional he was about having to return to his old life, which was something he really didn’t want to do. It became a revenge movie and if you hadn’t connected to John in such a deep way you wouldn’t have cared about any of the action across the board. The stunts are there to accentuate and exemplify the emotional arc of that character.

SL: What was the inspiration for a documentary series that focuses on stunt performers and goes behind the scenes on the industry?

KM: They’re a really unique breed of person, but they’re also really relatable and connectable. I wanted to make sure that people understood that there are people behind these really dangerous and supremely entertaining stunts, and that they’re equally passionate about their families as they are their careers. They have to give up a lot to follow their dreams. It’s important to inspire people to pursue their passion while reminding them of the sacrifices that can sometimes involve.

SL: In the show we see that David Harbour is a bit of a natural when it comes to stunt choreography. Do you prefer to work with people like him, or do you enjoy the challenge of training actors who might take more time to get to grips with the intensity of the work?

DL: I enjoy both actually. We always had a mandate at 87North that we’d try to find people you might not expect to be action stars and turn them into them, which has always fascinated me. I think that’s partly because I have a background in education, and teaching someone how to get from A to B is really inspiring to me. We can take people of all levels and get them to the best of their ability, and then we create a filmic style that makes them look great. So the science of both how good they are and how we are going to execute on the film side is fun for me.

KM: When we did Atomic Blonde [another Leitch and McCormick production], Charlize Theron was phenomenal at picking up choreography, and great at selling it, which is part of the performance requirement to make sure a stunt looks really great. You have to sell it emotionally as well as physically. On the other hand, the fun thing about actors who maybe aren’t as awesome at stunts is finding their strengths and weaknesses and pairing them with a fighting style that accentuates those elements in their character in the film.

SL: How have advances in technology impacted the stunt industry?

DL: Stunt design runs the gamut of hard-boiled practical action movies like The Fall Guy, where we did everything we could to do real stunts, to Avatar, where James Cameron is using real stunt performers in motion capture suits, whose stunts are then taken and animated on top. There’s an essence of stunt design and stunt performance in all of these films. The modern stunt performer has to be aware of technology, and the modern stunt designer has to know how to use cutting edge tech, because a lot of films demand it. But I hope there’s always a need for movies that have the tactile nature of a real stunt; where you feel the stakes through the camera. When it’s a real building, and a real person has just jumped off it, you feel that as a viewer and that’s a thrill that visual effects might never be able to achieve.

KM: You have to be really thoughtful about where technology can help you and work against you, and as a co-ordinator you need to work out how to use it effectively. It makes it a more complicated job than it used to be, which I think is a positive thing, but hopefully people will still be jumping off buildings for as long as we’re around!

SL: What’s the wildest stunt you’ve been involved in, either as a performer or behind the camera?

DL: This will be a not-so-subtle plug for the show, but in The Fall Guy we did things that Kelly, myself and my long time collaborator Chris O’Hara have wanted to do for a long time, which is to celebrate the legacy of stunts. Setting the world record for the most cannon rolls was a pretty epic event: the physics of it, the math involved, the research, the R&D, rehearsals and then actually doing it was an amazing time. I had a lot of moments as a performer, but being part of the team that did it all in this movie was pretty special.

KM: A lot of the time we don’t like to point too much towards our own movies, but in this case I also want to highlight The Fall Guy. It’s the quintessential stuntman movie about stuntmen, and celebrating them. We actually missed the cannon roll world record the first time, but it was a beautiful crash that worked for the film anyway, so we were ready to move on. But then the stunt team came to us and told us we had one more car and a bit more time to give it another shot. It’s a pretty safe stunt compared to some of the other stunts we pulled off in that movie, but you’re still taking a risk. They went for it, though, and when they got the record it was such a euphoric moment. We all cried and hugged and it was incredible.

SL: Do you think stunt performers get enough recognition for what they do, or is the job to make other people look good?

DL: It’s part of the contract you enter into when you become a stunt performer, and there’s a satisfaction in knowing that you’re the person behind the curtain making it all look cool. There’s a song called ‘The Unknown Stuntman’ from the original The Fall Guy series and there’s a lot of bravado in that song. It’s about not taking the credit even though you know you deserve it, and that is something that stunt people love. But at the same time I think with modern cinema it’s time to really recognise the contributions of stunt performers and coordinators and the amount of work they do. We’re there to ensure the illusion isn’t broken, and that’s important.

KM: One of the reasons we wanted to make this show is because stunt people are just conflicted individuals. Their job is not to be seen and to not disrupt the bigger process that we’re all a part of, but at the same time they have egos, and they give up a lot at home to be there. It makes you think about all the people who go to work and maybe don’t get the recognition they’d secretly like, which is something anyone can relate to.

Available exclusively on LG Channels, adrenaline-fuelled docuseries Action, follows the 87North stunt team and reveals the captivating stories of ordinary individuals drawn to the electrifying world of action sports, martial arts, motor-cross and more. Available exclusively via webOS on LG TVs, LG Channels gives viewers access to 1,000s of films and TV series on-demand for free.

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