“Fall Guy” star Ryan Gosling heaped praise on the “Waterworld” stunt crew at Universal Studios Hollywood as the hardest working people in the entertainment industry who deliver all the thrills and excitement without any of the fame and glory.
Gosling, his stunt doubles Ben Jenkin and Logan Holladay and “Fall Guy” director David Leitch watched a media and passholder preview performance on Saturday, April 27 of Universal’s new “Fall Guy Stuntacular Pre-Show.”
The limited-time “Fall Guy Stuntacular Pre-Show” runs through May 19 as an introduction to the three-decade-old “Waterworld” stunt show on Universal’s upper lot.
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Gosling and Leitch took part in the show — from a safe spot on the stage — as the “Fall Guy” pre-show unfolded on the waters of the Waterworld amphitheater filled with 3,000 spectators. Afterward, Gosling answered questions for the media.
“In our film, the character that I play started in a stunt show like this,” Gosling said after the pre-show. “A lot of great stunt people do. This is really where it all starts.”
The “Fall Guy Stuntacular Pre-Show” pulls back the curtain on how movie stunt performances are designed and brought to life with an original storyline created for the Universal live-action stunt show set.
“Growing up as a fan of film, I realized that so many of my favorite actors had stunt doubles. So many of my favorite parts of those films were the work of stunt performers and done by the stunt community,” Gosling told the Waterworld stunt crew. “You all have contributed so much to cinema. You’re the real heroes. It’s exciting to be a part of a film that shines the light on how much you contribute.”
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The “Fall Guy Stuntacular Pre-Show” features flipping Jet Skis, motorcycle wheelies, fiery explosions, towering falls and stunt performers engulfed in flames.
“I’ve had a stunt double for most of my life,” Gosling said. “It’s always been a strange dynamic because they come in and they take the hits for you. They do all the really incredible stuff and then they sort of disappear into the shadows. They hide their faces and pretend like they were never there.”
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The “Waterworld” pre-show serves as a movie tie-in to “The Fall Guy” theatrical release on May 3 starring Gosling (“Barbie”), Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”), Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”), Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”), Winston Duke (“Black Panther”) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (“Bullet Train”).
“The Fall Guy” movie, inspired by the 1980s television series, follows the exploits of former stuntman Colt Seavers (Gosling) who springs back into service when a blockbuster film star suddenly disappears.
The “Fall Guy” pre-show is being produced by the 87North production company behind the Gosling/Blunt star vehicle and other stunt-heavy action films like “John Wick,” “Deadpool 2” “Nobody” and “Violent Night.”