Cunning Stunts, A Podcast Series

Helen has been performing stunts since 2006. She tells us how she trained in gymnastics and martial arts from a young age, studied martial arts in Japan and how eventually her path led her to become a stunt performer. Since then, Helen has gone on to double many leading ladies and talks about feeling the pressures of weight-loss to be the best stunt double, whilst maintaining a strong and healthy physique for the job. We hope you enjoy.

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David was in the parachute regiment and solider for over a decade. His love for jumping out of airplanes continued when he became a stuntman, and he was part of the incredible stunt team that performed the opening sequence in Batman, Dark Knight Rises, which involved jumping out a Hercules Aircraft doing 130 knots at 13,000 feet. You will hear all about this in his interview as well as a very entertaining story involving a fight scene with Robert Downey Jr. David has an incredible list of credits including Bond, Batman, Reign Of Fire, Sherlock and Doc Martin, which is one of his favourite jobs and locations. We hope you enjoy.

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Marvin Campbell was an Olympic Gymnast and has gone on to be an accomplished Stuntman. In his interview he talks about this unexpected transition and some of his most exciting stunts, including working on the crane to crane jump on Casino Royale, and why you should always pack your pads when someone tells you “It’s a simple job”!

We also talk about something we haven’t discussed on the podcast before: Race. Marvin gives some insight into what it’s like to work as a black performer in an industry that is still overwhelmingly white.

At the time we release this interview there are approximately 442 members on the British stunt register, and only around 6% are black men or women, a percentage that obviously does not represent the diversity we need to be aiming for in the industry.

We also touch on a practice known within the industry as “blacking up”, where white stuntmen are made up to double black actors. Although this practice is much less common than it once was, it does still happen, and we believe it is valuable to talk about why that is the case. During this moment where every industry in the world is examining itself and its relationship to racism, we think it’s a good conversation for people to hear. We hope you enjoy.

Please note: Interview with Marvin recorded in April 2019

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Guiomar Alonso was born and raised in Spain and grew up around horses and sport. She was a Spanish Show Jumping Champion and studied physiotherapy, but her path lead her in to becoming a stunt performer. Since then she has taken the journey from Spain to the UK and become part of the British Stunt Register and community. Guiomar has an amazing list of credits and has doubled many leading ladies, including, Penelope Cruz, Gemma Arteton, Emma Watson and Caterina Murino. We hope you enjoy.

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Mike Lambert is an incredibly talented Fight Coordinator and has an impressive list of credits, including, Fantastic Beasts, Kick Ass and the Bond, Batman and Marvel franchises. Mike, now fluent in Cantonese, tells us how he started his stunt career in Hong Kong not knowing any of the language, and how this didn’t hold him back in landing a role in the film Unleashed, where he has an epic bathroom fight with Jet Lee. We hope you enjoy.

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The word Legend doesn’t really cut it when it comes to Rocky Taylor. He’s one of the absolute giants of the industry and he’s been lighting up your screens since the 1960s. He currently holds the record for the oldest stuntman still working, he’s been in at least 12 Bond films from Dr.No all the way through to Skyfall, as well as appearing in classics such as Indiana Jones, Superman and Titanic. In this Podcast, Rocky tells us about how he was the first person to know Roger Moore had been cast as James Bond, what it was like to teach Judo to Cliff Richard and he gives us the inside story of the accident he had on the set of Deathwish 3. We hope you enjoy.

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The word Legend doesn’t really cut it when it comes to Rocky Taylor. He’s one of the absolute giants of the industry and he’s been lighting up your screens since the 1960s. He currently holds the record for the oldest stuntman still working, he’s been in at least 12 Bond films from Dr.No all the way through to Skyfall, as well as appearing in classics such as Indiana Jones, Superman and Titanic. In this Podcast, Rocky tells us about how he was the first person to know Roger Moore had been cast as James Bond, what it was like to teach Judo to Cliff Richard and he gives us the inside story of the accident he had on the set of Deathwish 3. We hope you enjoy.

This is a very special episode, Brian ‘Sonny’ Nickels was an amazing stunt performer and an incredible person. Unfortunately we lost Brian earlier this year to cardiac arrest, he was a special friend, loving father and husband, with an amazing energy and passion for life. In this episode Brian tells us about both his professional and unlicensed boxing careers, what it’s like to fight Tom Hardy and what stuntmen get up to in the background of fight scenes! He may be gone, but will never be forgotten, loved and missed by everyone he met. We hope you enjoy this episode, with some tears and laughter.

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This is a very special episode, Brian ‘Sonny’ Nickels was an amazing stunt performer and an incredible person. Unfortunately we lost Brian earlier this year to cardiac arrest, he was a special friend, loving father and husband, with an amazing energy and passion for life. In this episode Brian tells us about both his professional and unlicensed boxing careers, what it’s like to fight Tom Hardy and what stuntmen get up to in the background of fight scenes! He may be gone, but will never be forgotten, loved and missed by everyone he met. We hope you enjoy this episode, with some tears and laughter.

Jo McLaren has had had an incredible career that has seen her make the journey from stunt performer to coordinator. In her Podcast she talks about being burned at the stake on Elizabeth, doubling multiple Bond girls, and ice-climbing on Vertical Limit. She also tells us a pretty amazing story about being left completely alone in the ocean. We hope you enjoy.

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