7 Elite Stunt Performers Share Their Fitness Secrets

This story is part of Men’s Health‘s Action All-Star series, which explores the ingenuity, fitness, and bravery it takes to make the jaw-dropping movie and TV scenes we all love. Read all the stories here.

POP (AND BANG AND SMASH) QUIZ: How many stunt doubles did Ryan Gosling have in The Fall Guy? Answer: At least five, and that’s not unusual for a major action film these days as stunt performers become more and more specialized, and as digital technology evolves so it’s quick and easy to scan one person’s face and slap it onto someone’s else body. There are driving and motorcycle experts, martial arts, fighting, and weapons maestros, movement and Parkour creatives for all those chase scenes, as well as people who train to fall and jump (and everything in between) in dramatic ways. Executing high-level stunts requires professional athlete like athleticism and fitness as well as bravery and grit… for that seventh take when you’re set on fire and slammed against a wall. Use their tips to elevate your own performances.

Kortel ‘Korta-T’ Autrey

Motorcycle Stunts

SIZZLE REEL: Straight Outta Compton, Hobbes and Shaw, Black Panther Wakanda Forever.

WILD STUNT: “In Gemini Man I was riding a motorcycle chasing Will Smith’s character and he lobs a grenade at me and I pop a wheelie, then pick up the grenade off the ground one-handed. and then throw it back. It showcased my street-style riding which is from where I grew up in Watts, Los Angeles, plus other technical bike skills.”

FITNESS MOVES: “I have to be able to maneuver on the bike so I do a lot of core work. My go-to daily routine is a 12-minute session called Foundation Training—a series of bodyweight exercises that fire up your glutes, core, and stretches out your back. I also do a lot of motorcross and street riding.”

MENTAL STRENGTH: “Trust your skills, know your limitations. But you can’t doubt yourself, you have to get rid of doubt. If I’m feeling any stress, I talk to myself and remind myself of the prep I’ve done and compare it to something I’ve done that’s similar in the past. The jumps and stuff I do in my own time require more skill than the stunts I do on camera! Also, always leave some room for error, so if it’s a 20 foot jump I practice doing 25 feet.”

MOTTO: “Each one, teach one: I started a non-profit called Bikes Over Bang’n in Watts and it helps inner city youth and some adults learn to work on bikes, build bikes, and ride bikes and give them the skills to excel in life.”

MUST-SEE ACTION FILM: “Cradle 2 The Grave. Epic motorcycle stunts!”

Driving specialist Logan Holladay experienced up to 16 g’s of force while cannon-rolling a car eight and a half times in The Fall Guy. During the stunt, he gripped his harness and braced his core.

Holladay’s insane roll earned him a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. 

Logan Holladay

Car Driver

SPECIALTY: “Cars, motorcycles, jet skis, boats—drifting, sliding, jumping, crashing anything motorized! I started racing motorcycles at age 5 and later won the Baja 1000, then started doing motorcycle car commercials and then got into stunt driving.

SIZZLE REEL: Need for Speed, Inception, 6 Underground, The Fall Guy

FITNESS SKILLS: “During The Fall Guy world record 8-and-half-cannon roll, my body endured 16Gs of force and it helps to have great core strength because you cross-your arms and hold the safety harness straps during a roll like that. To nail the 225-foot truck jump in Fall Guy I had to really hang onto the steering wheel because you have to drive when you land. I strength train five times a week for two hours and mountain bike to keep my reflexes sharp.”

MENTAL STRENGTH:“Good stunt work is all about preparation and breaking down the stunt into simple steps. I know what marks I need to hit and focus on each step. I’m not a daredevil—nothing could be farther from the truth: the stunt I do are very calculated.”

MOTTO: “Be precise.”

MUST-SEE ACTION FILM: “Days of Thunder. My dad did all the driving for Tom Cruise on that one.”

Vincent Bouillon flying high in the French action comedy Super-Héros Malgré Lui.

Bouillon with Keanu Reeves on the set of John Wick 4.

Vincent Bouillon

Martial Arts/Tricking

SPECIALTY: “I did karate and aikido when I was a kid and then more extreme martial arts, gymnastics and capoeira. I combined those skills and started ‘tricking,’ doing demos with flying pinning kicks with a group called Cascade and that led to stunt work.”

SIZZLE REEL: The 355, John Wick 4, The Killer

WILD STORY: “The biggest, hardest stunt that I have ever done was on John Wick 4. My stair fall at Montmartre in Paris, as Keanu Reeves’ stunt double. I had to fall down 224 stairs. During the second take, I hit my head against a step which knocked me out for a second. I sat down for a few minutes, and the director Chad Stahelski also came to check on me. At the very beginning of the shoot, [Stahelski] asked me what my name was. I replied, ‘Vincent Bouillon’ He said, ‘Wrong answer. You should have said John Wick.’ After my fall Chad asked if I remembered my name. I replied, ‘Yes, my name is John Wick.’ I could see in his eyes he was pleased and we could finish this sequence.”

FITNESS SKILLS: “Being at my best means being as responsive and versatile as possible. My training is therefore based on practicing several martial arts disciplines, tricking/acrobatics, and, obviously, working out for cardio, strength, and explosiveness.”

MENTAL STRENGTH: “Mindset can be improved every single day. During workouts, for example, when our body is totally tired, don’t give up— do 1, 2, or 3 more reps. If you have a very hard week, you can still train in the morning or late in the evening. Little things like these build determination and mental strength. The best way to deal with fear is to be attentive to the moment, stay focused on the essential things to do, and see your goal clearly in your mind. Fear is a human reaction. I think we just need to be able to use it to make ourselves more attentive.”

MOTTO: “Dream as you will live for ever. Live as you will die tomorrow.”

Keir Beck on the set of Mad Max Fury Road.

Keir Beck

Stunt Rigger

SPECIALTY: “Rigging is a huge part of the action creation process, anything involving scenes where performers fly, crash, fall, or leap. One of my favorite stunts is the opening sequence of Casino Royale. Daniel Craig jumps from one construction crane to another in a foot chase. It took 11 weeks of prep.”

SIZZLE REEL: Matrix Resurrections, Mad Max Fury Road, Fast X



FITNESS SKILLS: “Being an arborist (tree surgeon) in my former life I still climb trees as much as I can. I also strength train, swim, trail run, sea kayak and mountain bike. I call this my adversity training, following in the footsteps of Marcus Aurelius. So, if it’s hot, cold, raining, windy or rough seas I am into it. This type of training allows me to work 10-14 hour days in any conditions and not be fazed. Sometimes I even put rocks in shoes, just to be uncomfortable.”


MENTAL STRENGTH: “Being aware of what you are thinking and feeling is the key to controlling your fear. If you allow fear to show, it will filter into everyone around you, including the cast. Control your fear and remember to smile!”

MUST-SEE ACTION FILM: Mad Max Fury Road

MOTTO: “What have I missed and how can I do it better?”



Troy Brown does a 150-foot fall in The Fall Guy. “If you’re an inch off at 150 feet, when you get down to the ground, you’re off by ten feet,” he says. 

Brown with Ryan Gosling on the set of The Fall Guy.

Troy Brown

Falls

SPECIALTY: “High falls, you know when people fall off a roof or out of a helicopter and land on an air bag. My dad Bob Brown was an OG high-fall specialist and did an epic 187-foot fall out of a skyscraper while on for fire for the Taurus World Stunt Awards on ABC in 2002. I grew up jumping on a trampoline and did my first 20-foot fall out of a helicopter into the ocean in Key West at age 5 in The Pacifier.”

WILD STORY: “For the backward fall out of a helicopter in The Fall Guy, I trained the same trick, a full-twist double back, at 80-feet, then 110 feet, then 130 feet. The get-off or launch is critical, if you’re off an inch at 150-feet that’s ten feet on the ground. It’s critical to do it the same way every time. On the day, I warmed up at 110 feet and we did one take at 150 feet. My dad helped me nail the positioning at the start via an ear piece, “Two inches to the left.’ I’d adjust and he said,’ One to the right. OK, you’re hitting the air bag’ That boosted my confidence. We had wanted to do it from a flying helicopter but the insurance said ‘too gnarly,’ so we rigged a helicopter fuselage to a crane.”

FITNESS SKILLS: “I need to stay limber, so I stretch every day for 15 minutes, then do strength and trampoline work five days a week, and motocross for cardio on weekends. On the trampoline I practice getting my body in weird positions in midair and finding a way to land on my back. You learn how to twist and rotate faster and slower.”

FAVORITE MOVIE: “Hooper with Burt Reynolds. It has a humongous high fall out of real helicopter.”

MOTTO: “You gotta want it.”

Ben Jenkin stunt-doubling for Ryan Gosling in The Fall Guy.

Jenkin performing a stunt on a rig in The Fall Guy.

Ben Jenkin

Stunt Double & Performer

SIZZLE REEL: Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Fall Guy, Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Spiderman: No Way Home, Fall Guy

FAVORITE STUNT AND WHY? “Oh this is a tough one! Honestly, everything I did in The Fall Guy is up there for me! Shutting down the harbor bridge and surfing across it on a bin truck door. Getting lit on fire 8 times and slammed into a rock. Getting hit by a car twice. Jumping from a moving car to a helicopter. It really was a dream job!”

SPECIALTY: “I have a background in lots of different sports which I feel play a big part in my skillset in stunts but my main background is in Parkour. I started around 14 and trained with some of the best around the world early in my career. Parkour is such an important skill when it comes to being a stunt man. It helps to be in great cardio shape. When performing you have to do take after take all day long. I like running, riding my bike and doing rounds on the bag. But it’s also good to lift weights. Being strong helps keep the injuries away and take the big impacts we incur.”

TRAINING ROUTINE: “The “10 thousand hours” or parkour training will always be in my back pocket for stunt performing and its something I’ll always be so comfortable with so my training consists of learning new skills and getting them up to a good standard whether that be martial arts, wire work, high falls, wrecks. There’s always something to learn.

MENTAL SKILLS: “You have to be mentally strong to be a good stunt performer. The amount of pressure you have to deal with insane. You have 300 people watching you with cameras do a stunts that you’re already scared to do. You have to have a strong mind so you don’t crumble.”

BEST ADVICE: “Well working with David Leitch was a massive honor for me. His career as a stunt performer was incredible. Then to see someone who started in the field that I’m in make his way to the top and is directing some of the biggest movies in Hollywood is such an inspiration. He was the perfect director to take on The Fall Guy and he knocked it out of the park with a brilliant movie!”

MOTTO OR FAVORITE QUOTE THAT GUIDES YOU IN LIFE: “Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever.”

WHAT’S YOUR ACTION MOVIE OF ALL TIME: “Top Gun: Maverick. Best movie ever made.”

Aaron Toney doubling for Anthony Mackie as The Falcon.

Aaron Toney

Stunt Double & Coordinator

SIZZLE REEL: Toney has spent over 20 years as one of Hollywood’s most capable stuntmen, with credits in blockbusters like Pirates at the Caribbean: At World’s End and Rush Hour 3 (doubling for Chris Tucker). After doubling for Anthony Mackie on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Toney followed Mackie to the MCU to don the wings of The Falcon, including for the miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He also doubled for the late Chadwick Boseman, as his Black Panther and currently also works as a stunt coordinator for 87elevenaction.

SPECIALTY: Martial arts (mainly Taekwondo), acrobatics

CRAZIEST STUNT: “Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I was doubling Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, and it’s the scene where Steve, Natasha, and Sam are being chased by Winter Soldier and he rips the steering wheel out. We all hunkered down – Amy Johnston (Natasha), Chris Brewster (Steve), and me – on a car door “sled” that was pulled along by a tow line. We jumped the car door off a small ramp that had a camera rigged pointed up underneath to catch the impact. That was fun.

Special FX/stunts rigged the car we came out of to roll in front of us as it barrel rolled down the highway on the bridge. The car was basically wrapped in a wire and pulled so it unraveled like a top on its side down the highway. We had a front row seat to all of it. Thinking about this stunt again now, this part was super hairy and technical. Hats off to our Stunt Coordinator Andy Gill and the Special FX team. We all walked away safe. My shirt was nice and shredded.

I remember this stunt setup being the most nerve racking for me. I’ve done car bailouts before, did one on Rush Hour 3 doubling Chris Tucker. But this was different. I had a newborn son, so I was a bit nervous. I like to call stunts like these “Question your life choices” stunts. It’s funny cause everyone wants to be a stunt performer ’till it’s really time to be a stunt performer.”

This article appears in the July-August 2024 issue of Men’s Health.

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