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Jeremy - Hollywood Stuntman/Stunt Coordinator
75 Plays1 year ago
On this episode of the jobs podcast we get to chat with a professional stuntman and stunt coordinator, Jeremy. He has been a professional stuntman for 25 years in Hollywood, and has done stunts in numerous blockbuster films like the John Wick series, Pirates of The Caribbean, Baby Driver, Ford Vs. Ferrari, and many more. We do a deep dive into his early years learning the business, learning and instructing stunt car drivers, how he gained experience, his mentors, and much more.
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Transcript
Introduction and Early Life
00:00:11
Speaker
Hey, folks, you're listening to the jobs podcast and I'm your host, Tim Hendricks. Your time is valuable. I'm not going to waste it. Let's get right to the interview. Hey, Jeremy, how you doing today? Tim, I could not be better. Well, folks, we got a treat today. We got ourselves a bona fide fall guy on the show today, a real live stuntman that I've had the pleasure of knowing for a number of decades now. We're getting old, Jeremy.
00:00:36
Speaker
But um I know, I know, I don't feel old. I ah do not feel old. You're as as old as you feel up up between the years, I think is the phrase, or I just butchered it. But you know what I mean? So something like that. I guess you're only as old as you feel. So yes. Right. And I am. I guess I guess it's better than as old as you act. Right. Because my wife would say that I probably in the in the seven to eight year old, range right? Well, you got to stay young at heart. So I try, I try. Well, this is going to be interesting, Jeremy. We're going to dive into your career. I don't know. if Is the proper term still stuntman or I know you're a coordinator. You do all kinds of things, but, um, Ooh. Yeah. Yeah. So yes. Uh, you can say both. You can say both for now. Okay. Well, let's start with where Jeremy was born and just give us a little bit of a snapshot about your upbringing and, and just kind of your, your family. And and we'll just go from there.
00:01:34
Speaker
It was a cold, dark night in Farmington Hills, Michigan back in 1991. Yeah, I was born in Michigan. We stayed there for a couple of years. I don't remember it. Then we moved to San Diego. I lived there most of my life. There was a brief excursion out to the booming metropolis of Elk Falls, Kansas. Population, when we moved in, became 125 people.
00:02:05
Speaker
And then we were there for a little while in elementary school, my elementary school. and Then I moved back to San Diego and I went to finished high school in San Diego. Then I went to college in San Diego with, I don't know if you remember, but you went there as well. yeah And then, then after college, I kind of bounced around. I did some seasonal jobs and I spent, um,
00:02:29
Speaker
during college and after college, i mean I spent summers in Northern California, some kind of outside of Sacramento, which is if you fold California in thirds, that's in central California, everybody. And then a couple of summers, ah three summers in Northern California, true Northern California by Oregon. um And I love that. And then after that, I chased a girl to Colorado and ended up I loved it out there. And then I came back to San Diego for, um, I went out there for a winter, came back to San Diego for a year. And then I decided that I didn't want to work in a newspaper anymore, even though that was my major and I, I didn't mind it, but I didn't want to do it anymore. So I moved to, um, went back out to Colorado to do another seasonal season, but this time of the summer is out there.
00:03:24
Speaker
And then I decided that I didn't want to, if I continued along that path, I would end up living in the Outfitters parking a lot in a Subaru with all the other 30 year old washed up yeah dudes who don't take showers more than once a week. So. Two bad knees. Yeah, I wasn't 30 at the time, but i I saw that as my future. So in my early mid twenties, I thought, what can I do with my life? um And the,
00:03:53
Speaker
Director of the camp that I'd worked as a Christian camp in Northern California.
Discovering Stunt Work
00:03:56
Speaker
I worked there three summers every Every summer during training he part of things that he would say to people were hey if you love to do something Do it well enough and someone will you know, eventually some will pay you to do it so I literally in Colorado I literally made a list of everything that I thought I that I enjoyed that I thought was cool and it included things like snowboarding and rock climbing and hockey and motorcycles and cars and you know, rollerblading, which is still at the top of my list. Um, so anyway, I made a list. I even put stuff along the lines of I like to be outside. Um, I put down things that I didn't like. So, and I looked at my list and I thought, what could I do that would either, that I can either do as a vocation or that would allow me the income and the flexibility to do it. And somehow I don't even know how, but I came up with stunts. So I had a friend.
00:04:51
Speaker
who I met in college who ended up um transferring out of our school and went to another school in LA for film school. And he and I had been friends for a long time and I never really talked about work, but I called him up and I moved from Colorado and then moved to l LA and ended up crashing on his couch for a couple of months. And then crashed on someone else's couch for a little bit and then got a place with some friends and du dot da da da I figured I'd give it a year.
00:05:18
Speaker
And I am still trying to figure it out, but so far so good. So that's kind of the, it's kind of the reader's digest condensed version, right? The Cliffs Notes, if you will, what how I got where I'm got where i'm at. What was your first, I guess, um did you take some training classes about how to jump off of a building or how to race a car? Or what was your first like legitimate real step into doing some kind of stunt work?
00:05:49
Speaker
Good question. So I mean, I'd had a history of doing things I thought were fun. So I done stuff that, you know, looking back helped prepare me for it, but they weren't, you know, they weren't along the lines of I'm going to do this because I want to do stunts.
First Experiences and Networking
00:06:05
Speaker
But I talked to my mom about it. And when I moved back from Colorado, I let me amend my earlier statement. I didn't go directly to l LA. I went home for a little bit in San Diego,
00:06:15
Speaker
Not very long, it was very short, but I told my mom about it. My mom was very supportive. I mean, she wasn't a cheerleader of it necessarily, but she certainly didn't say don't do it. And I remember one day I came home and she said, hey, I saw this on the news and this was back before the internet. So you couldn't just Google anything about anything. And so when she saw a special on the local news in San Diego about a guy, a stunt guy who lived in San Diego, she got his name and number and wrote it down a little scratch piece of paper. and gave it to me, so I called this guy up, his name was Braden Hawk. I mean, talk about a cool name. Shoot, yeah. Dude, I mean, okay, if I'm, if I, Tim, Tim, I'm gonna, I want you to hire a stunt guy and you got two options. You got Jeremy Fry and you got Braden Hawk. I'm going with the Hawk, man, yeah. Of course, of course.
00:07:07
Speaker
Good, that's the right answer. So, I mean, I was ah i was up against it from the beginning. But anyway, I called up Braden, and of course, you know, he was more than willing to help me out if I just gave him some money. So he told me that he was gonna be doing a fire burn class. I had no idea, but that sounded amazing. So I went down, um wherever he lived, I remember, to his apartment, and I remember he pulled out. He had these pads, and I'd never seen pads like that. And one of them, we call him a gator back.
00:07:35
Speaker
They kind of come from motorcycle road racing, but they're basically the plate that you put on your back, and it kind of straps over. And he had this gator back, and I never seen, he told me it was a pad for your back, and it was all scratched up. And I said, what happened? Because I've used the pads, because I've worn pads for skateboarding and rolling and whatnot. And they get a little scratched up, but this thing was just gnarly. And I said, wow, what happened? He's like, oh, I got, we did this show. I got dragged behind a car. I thought, oh my gosh, I felt like I was in the presence of a celebrity.
00:08:05
Speaker
So I gave him my hundred dollars and we did some fire burns with some other people. I wish, man, I wish I knew who else was there. If they were, you know, if they were working people, if they were, if I, if my paths ever, if my path ever crossed there since then, I had no idea. But, um, so that was the very first thing that I ever did. That was kind of getting me on my, um, on my way. Now that being said, I'll backtrack when I was in Colorado.
00:08:30
Speaker
In the summer that I decided to move to LA, I was a whitewater guide, and I'd done that for a bunch of summers in Northern Cal, so I was doing it in Colorado, and I loved it. I still miss it. The rivers are just such a fun place to be. oh yeah ah But anyway, i when i knew ah when I made the decision to go to LA to do stunts, I made the conscious decision to also talk to the guests in my boat if it ever came up because you know a lot of you hit a lot of rapids, but there's also some some still water and some paddling time. There's some you some good discussions going and you talk about things. Anyway, people would say, oh, what are you gonna do after the summer? And I would tell them I'm gonna go to LA. And i would ah I would say that hoping that someone might
00:09:10
Speaker
have some kind of connection, because I had no clue what I was going to do at that point. I just knew I wanted to go to LA. I wanted to do stunts. I figured I'd move to LA, but that's as far as my plan had gotten. You were just networking. I was networking before that word was invented, and I had no idea what I was doing. And and I talked to a lady. Again, i man, my i'm I ah regret not taking better notes. My memory I can't do anything about. It's not the best one. I wish I would have had better notes that I would have kept, because I know I wrote it down. But this lady said that she knew someone And his name was Scott Rogers and she gave me his number. And so I called this guy up. She gave me another number two and I called them and they never ever called me back. But Scott Rogers did. And it turns out, looking back on it, ah Scott Rogers is probably, there's no one any smarter in the stunt world than Scott. He's very established. He's very successful. um And he's become a very good friend ah since then. But I had his number and he,
00:10:10
Speaker
He ended up getting me my first job. um It's jumping ahead a little bit. I mean, I won't be late. I won't make this too long. I'll try not to drag this out too much, but just fine when I did decide to do it in LA, my mom knew a lady somehow, I think through church or something like that.
00:10:29
Speaker
who knew someone in LA who owned a studio, a very tiny studio, and so she got me a job. um this late My mom talked to this lady, and this lady got me a job at this studio, and so I got a job at a little studio, and I thought I'd meet stunt people. I didn't meet a single stunt person, but it was film and video. They shot a lot of commercials, a lot of food commercials in particular, some music videos, some TV shows a little bit, and occasionally a feature would come through there.
00:10:55
Speaker
But it ended up being, I worked there for, I don't know, I want to say several, a handful of years, a bunch of years. And it was good. It taught me a lot about set etiquette. It taught me about people and networking and all that good stuff. So yeah, it was a bunch of little things. I was networking without knowing that I was doing it and trying to meet people.
00:11:22
Speaker
I do believe it was divine. I do believe that God, I thank him for you know for where I'm at because there is really no excuse for someone as as little talent as myself to be where I'm at. So he it stuff really came together. ands Um, and so now jumping way ahead.
Growth into Coordination and Directing
00:11:43
Speaker
So now I've been in the business for about 25 years. Um, I've been coordinating now for probably the last, I don't know, eight or so. Um, some people start courting a lot earlier. I, I'm a slow learner late bloomer and I, I kind of waited. I i didn't push it yeah it. It just kind of happened, uh, which was nice. I feel like, you know, by the time it happened, I still felt unprepared, but looking back on it, I was.
00:12:09
Speaker
You know, I'm glad I didn't start any earlier. right Not because I couldn't have done it. I just, you start courting too early and I think you miss out on a good period of time when you can learn a lot as a performer. yeah So but I was a performer for a long time. and then Coordinating then fairly recently I've I'm starting to make the I really transition but I'm kind of branching out into official directing. I got the DGA so I'm Doing some second unit stuff here and there and I really like second unit I'm sure we'll get into that in a little bit But yeah what that is but anyway, so that's kind of where I'm at now. I still perform I'll still get behind the wheel. I do a lot of car stuff just as an FYI started out hitting the ground and whatnot yeah vehicle work car work in particular is kind of the
00:12:54
Speaker
kind of what everyone wants to do. And I kind of stumbled into it, and not completely blindly, but I've always been into cars and love cars. And so when I moved to l LA, that was, I kind of gravitated towards the cars and then met the right people. Again, I, you know, very, very blessed to have been introduced to the right people. And yeah, so I still drive, I coordinate a lot now and direct when I can.
00:13:21
Speaker
Now, be honest, when you rent a rental car, do you drive it like a bad out of Hades or, you know, do you drive it like a stunt car? Or am I driving like a little old lady? Yes. Right. According to the insurance documentation, yes, we drive when we follow. Well, yes. and if I'm such a, I'm so straight laced dude. i'm so I'm so boring. I'm so boring. i it's well It's shameful, man. In fact, I was on this show, and they sell they used to, when you go on location, they used to drive you over in a van. If you need to go to set, there'd be a van to pick you up the hotel, take you to set, and then take you back to the hotel the other night. then And now, it's pretty much exclusively, um they give you a rental car, and you just get yourself wherever you need to go. okay
00:14:14
Speaker
So, but there was kind of a transition period when they would, and maybe they'd give the stunt team one car. And so I was on his show and I had the car and I had to drive, you know, we we were all piling in all the, you know, in the cars to get to work. I remember on the way home, we were in the kind of the middle of nowhere, New Mexico, and I'm driving and I got a car full of three or maybe four other stunt guys. And they're like, ah, Jeremy, you probably can, you probably, you know, just like you said, you probably just,
00:14:43
Speaker
ah Completely wreck your every rental car you get and I told them the same thing I told you which is no I come on you've never gotten Western with a rental car like no and they started just Hounding me about it. And so we're coming down this road and we're going into town and There's this long right-hand turn curve into town. It's a real small town and it's getting kind of dark It's dusky. It's like golden hour, which is beautiful time. The lights great and the shadows are long and and we're coming into town and I can kind of look down the road and I don't see anyone.
00:15:18
Speaker
And so I, and I'm cruising down, you should slow down for this turn. Well, I start kind of towing into it and go faster, faster, pretty soon they realize, oh wait, wait, wait, whoa, what are you doing? Whoa, whoa, whoa. And I ripped the e-brake and i I hung the back end out and I slid the car all all the way around this corner full of the guys into town. And dude, they would have thought, you would have thought that I just won like the Indy 500. Like, oh yeah, dude, you just drifted into town. It was the,
00:15:46
Speaker
So yes. Was that before Tokyo drifter after? Oh, this was, uh, it must've been after. Okay. All right. So yeah. Yeah. So yes, I have, I have who in the car. I tend to not do it just because I said I'm a goodie, goodie. Right. and You know, you talked about the very tenous you talked about your specialty being driving. Are there I mean, it seems like with stunts, there's just an endless number of specializations that you could rabbit hole as you could go down as far as well. This is the person that does this the best, you know, firework or car work or jumping or falling or whatever.
00:16:27
Speaker
Do you find that people typically will gravitate towards one and they just, that's all that they do, or does everybody have their favorites, but they all just kind of do all the stunts? It used to be that you needed to know as much, as many different disciplines as you possibly could. And it's still valuable, but being an all-arounder was the only way you'd really get work, especially if you were, you know, one X, so you know, doubling the lead.
00:16:55
Speaker
You gave all the characters numbers. you know they're Your top build per guy or girl is one, and two, and three, and four, and so on and so forth. And then when you double someone, you get that number plus an X. on the So if you're doubling, you know I doubled Luke Temple in the show, he was probably number four, so I was four X on that show. But if you're doubling the lead, you're one X. So okay yeah, if you're one X, you better know how to do a lot of stuff, because there's a good chance that that guy or girl is going to be doing a lot of stuff. but you know more and more things have gotten more specialized. So you you'll get a show, especially superhero shows, but you know a lot of shows, and the bigger ones more so, the the ones that don't have the money less so. um But to a large degree, they hire specialists. So you have a show, let's say your lead actor has to, he it opens up, he's a boxer, he's boxing da da da da, and then later on he's riding a horse, and then
00:17:48
Speaker
And then maybe he, um, then he gets in a car chase. And then at the end of the movie, he's, he's doing a motorcycle thing. Well, you know, usually it used to be you'd hire one guy and he'd do it all. Well, now, you know, they, the level of, you know, so skill and whatnot has, and what the audience is, what the audience typically wants that the the level is so high that you will bring in a ah boxer to double in for the, for the boxing scene. And then you'll, you'll bring in a, um,
00:18:17
Speaker
I forgot even what the next thing this guy, imaginary character did, but you'll bring a specialist for all that stuff. You'll bring in a car guy, you'll bring in a motorcycle guy, you'll bring in a fight guy. Now there are some things that are pretty common, fights. Fights are pretty common, you get a lot of fights.
00:18:34
Speaker
Cars are fairly common.
Industry Specialization and Physical Fitness
00:18:36
Speaker
Motorcycles aren't very common. Fire's not very common. um There are guys who specialize in those things, but they aren't able to kind of exclusively you know just do that. There are some people who all they do is drive. It's still hard to get work if all you do is drive, but it can happen. And fights, you can definitely get work just as a fighter, but the problem with that is if you're doubling someone as a fighter, you're probably getting beat up And if you're getting beat up, you can do that for a while and it feels great, but you start getting 35, 40, 45. You can still do it. There are guys who do it, but you know it's um it's ah it's a young man's sport at that point. Yeah, it's certainly hard on the body over time, I would imagine.
00:19:19
Speaker
It is, it is, and that's why I, again, I feel so fortunate to have gotten into car work, because um you know there are guys I know who, they are known as ground pounders. they They will hit the ground, you ask them to do, and before you finish a sentence, they're they will have thrown themselves into the air and against whatever hard obstacle is nearby, and they'll just do it. And it's it's great, I mean, you you want that, but at the same time,
00:19:46
Speaker
When they get home, they're they're paying the price. i i um I feel very fortunate that i my body's in really good shape. so um It's because I might feel I didn't do anything for so long. I was such and such a nobody, nothing in high school and even college to a large extent. I didn't do anything, so I kind of preserved like like little but my little tender body. It lasted a lot longer than I could get.
00:20:12
Speaker
Some people save themselves for marriage. You saved yourself for your career. That's how that works, right? amen That's right. Don't touch me. Don't touch me. I'm just curious. I know some of the movies that you've been in, but give us a quick snapshot of of some of the highlights of your career as far as um what what the audience may have seen you do. Okay. Let's see.
00:20:35
Speaker
um i man I mean, if you, yeah. All right. Let's see. A fun one was baby driver. That was one of my highlights. Uh, Ford versus Ferrari was a great one. Um, I did the first three John Wicks. Um, I have, I did drive.
00:20:53
Speaker
um I mean, these are movies that I had kind of a major role in. Black Panther, Black Panther II. I mean, and there's tons of other ones that either weren't as popular, like Madam Web. There's movies that not many people saw that were really good. That's kind of a bummer. um What was it? It was um The Last Stand. That was a great one that not many people saw. yeah And it's a popcorn movie, don't get me wrong. it's not It's not a tearjerker, it's not gonna change the world, but but it's kind of a fun movie in it. sure We did some really cool driving stuff in it, really cool driving stuff in that one. um So those, I mean, gosh, there's, I don't know. I thought yeah there's a- We're in the Pirates of the Caribbean, didn't you do some of those? What's that? The Pirates of the Caribbean, didn't you do some of those?
00:21:45
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I did Pirates 2 and 3. I didn't didn't do tons of driving on those. There's a joke. I didn't do any. There's no driving as Pirates. Yeah, I know. It took me a second. Sorry. Yeah.
00:22:00
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Um, see that's, that's yeah. I obviously had no, uh, no problem with the ladies chasing me down and I have no game. I can't make a joke to save my life. So yeah, pirates was fine. If I was pirates two and three was fun. Um, I did master and commander. That was one of my first jobs. Swordfish was my very first job. Um,
00:22:25
Speaker
Yeah, there's, you know, it's funny, you can spend, I can work, I can spend a year and work on four films sometimes, because I'll be on them from beginning to end, or I'll work on for a long periods of time. And then there's other weeks, I'll work on four shows in one week, because I'll go in for a day on this one, a day on that one, a day on the the other two. wow um Yeah, so my list you know, some people the number of shows you worked on can sometimes be a little deceiving, you know mine I've got a pretty long list. There's people with way more. Yeah, there's people a lot less, right? But there's people less numbers of movies but who have worked a lot longer than I have just because that maybe they they started coordinating earlier and they Every year they just do three shows. So um It's a little it's a little deceiving. So I've worked on a lot I've been very fortunate to work on a lot of a lot of stuff Silicon Valley. I did that for a season. Hmm
00:23:12
Speaker
I remember, and I've known that you've done this for a number of years and it was always kind of cool. and But then I went and I saw a baby driver in the theater. And oh yeah I remember sitting there and I'm like, Holy cow, man. I know that guy. I don't know how he's I just I was um I was legitimately impressed. And not that I wasn't before, but I was like, Kelly, man, this guy's legit. And I know him. And I was like, wow that's kind of cool. I've known him for, you know, decades now. So ah if yeah anybody listening has not seen Baby Driver, you have to see that just for the driving alone because it's epic.
00:23:48
Speaker
Well, I appreciate it. You know, I tell you, dude, it's kind of nice to work on a movie that people actually watch and enjoy. Yeah. there Lord knows I've done a lot of stuff that I was like, Oh, this is gonna suck. And then no one ever watches it because it's lame. Yeah. But um yeah, those movies are ah really good. um The Ford versus Fry was another one that people really enjoyed and it's fun because you you know we did some fun stuff on it and then when people actually go and watch it, it's kind of nice. Right. what did What do you like most about your job if someone just asked you on the street, what's the one thing about your job that you like the most? What would you say? oh That's a good question. I don't know. I would say there's one
Career Highlights and Industry Changes
00:24:30
Speaker
thing. I will tell you this.
00:24:32
Speaker
I'll tell you this, in the 25 years of what I've been doing, I've probably maybe three or, I think twice, maybe three or four times at the most. Have I ever either gone to bed or woken up and not wanted to go to work?
00:24:50
Speaker
yeah So that's the part I like the most, right like which is kind of a non-answer. I like it. I like what I do. So I just, it's never, it's not work. it's It's fun. It's great. I love it. It can be super challenging. Don't get me wrong. And it definitely, what I like the least about it is it definitely takes a toll. ah it's it's It's not an easy career.
00:25:12
Speaker
at least the path that I've taken um on the family. And there's people with a lot whose path has been a lot well less conducive to a healthy family life. yeah But I am away a lot and it's it can be challenging. I've got a rock star of a wife. It's still not easy. So that's the part I like the least. But man, I just, I guess the part I love about my job is that I love my job. um i liked I like that its it it varies. It's never the same thing. I like that I,
00:25:43
Speaker
I love the people I work with. We're all kind of, cut but and especially the, you know, you kind of, not, you know, I don't know if you know this or not, but there's so many people in the, in the industry. There's not a lot of work in it. There are working some people, there's tons of them, but there's not tons of them. There's a, there's a handful. It's, you know, relatively speaking, it's a fairly small number, but there are a lot of people that you can pick from. And so you can, you kind of tend to gravitate towards people who are kind of like-minded. Right.
00:26:10
Speaker
And so I love that. I love the people I work with because we all, a lot of us have the same sense of humor and the same approach to things and the same demeanor and the, you know, so you're, you know, in the same kind of competitive spirit, but the people I hang out with were competitive, but it's all super friendly. It never gets.
00:26:29
Speaker
you know we We can be very competitive, but at the same time, and i'm i'm I'm trying the hardest I can to be the best, and then if I'm not, I'm i equally excited and supportive of my friends who just beat me. i you know as i I'm happier that they, even though I didn't want them to win, I'm happy i'm happier that they won than if I had won, and it's mutual. There's a lot of ah lot of a mutual admiration society kind of thing going on, and it's um it's really cool. i i just I just love that. I love um i love that I get to do fun stuff. and um Yeah, it sounds like you've found your people. Well, I get to work with some of the best in the world. The very first job, I ah get there, and dude, I'm telling you, I'm a nobody, and I so i still, I believe that, and at that time, I was even more of a nobody. I showed up, and I'm talking to these other stunt people. I'm like, oh man, what ah what do you do? how to you know what's What's your kind of background?
00:27:23
Speaker
and du to a T, they were all, oh, I was NCAA champion. I was on the Olympic ah Taekwondo team. I was like all of them. And I thought, oh my gosh, I hope they don't ask me because I have, what am I going to say? i I worked at the studios down the street and I i know what a C-stand is. right you I had nothing. I had no, ah had no,
00:27:50
Speaker
um No pedigree, no background, no nothing. but You had drive. like You had drive. I didn't at the time. yeah I didn't really. I kind of picked it up later, but I'm just saying that I get to work with people who, you know, I just worked with them. I got to hire this guy who was the bronze medalist in the and not the recent games, but In the Olympics for the United States Wow gymnastic, you know and I've worked with other guys who are also who have also competed in the Olympics and But it just really need to work with them and then you get to work the actors too and quite frankly That's you know, it was kind of interesting at first and it's it's now just it is what it is. It's they're just people sure um But some of them are actually really cool. They're really I You know, some of them are
00:28:41
Speaker
I don't know, it's it's like anyone. You meet some people, you get along with them, you hit it off, and other people, it's pleasant, but you know when when you part ways, you probably will never see them again. So it's the same with actors, they're just people. some Some of them you kind of hit it off with, and others, it's a good working relationship, and that's about it. yeah But that's kind of cool too. It's neat to very interesting to talk to.
00:29:02
Speaker
celebrities about stuff, you know that about things happening in the world, about but same the exact same things that everyone else talks about. When you talk to your buddies at the fire station, you're like, oh, you got to check out this video. And someone's like, oh, I saw that. Sing with you know whoever whoever the movie star is. Like, oh, you got to see this video. Like, oh, that's funny. Oh, did you see this one? right And then they'll show me you something that they saw that was funny. it's it's Then I kind of step back and go, man, these guys are making the movies that everyone's watching. And they're still watching other people's little videos. they're You know, they have kids who are, you know, cutting out at school and they've got, you know, nanny issues and, you know, all kinds of, all their problems. And it's, it's kind of funny that, you know, everybody poops. That's a great t-shirt. Everybody poops. Everybody poops. Yeah. So you let's go back just one second. When you were talking about when you were new.
00:29:55
Speaker
and you showed up and now you're in the position that you're in with the years of experience under your belt. If someone came to you and said, what what kind of person would be good in the stunt work? Do you need to be an extrovert? Do you need to be a bronze medalist? What kind of advice or skill sets do people need to be successful in your career?
00:30:21
Speaker
um Well, it's interesting. You can be successful with a wide variety of skill sets. I think the the overall thing that I would say is if you really want to do it, you can do it. You can get in. If I can get in, you can get in. That's not facetious in the least.
00:30:43
Speaker
It's a mindset. Anytime you hear someone go, oh, you know what? It might be kind of fun. I might want to try it. like Don't even bother. Don't bother. You might make it, but you might but you probably won't. yeah If you do make it, it's kind of a shame because you're probably not going to last. Then you've taken jobs away from people who want it more than anything. They give their you know their're left kidney to get to where to have an opportunity. so right If you want to get it,
00:31:08
Speaker
and you're willing to put the work in and you'll do anything it takes, you you can make it. So that's kind of the but disclaimer. How to get in, you know, what do you need? Like, what's the, there's really not, there's not any one kind of recipe for it. I will tell you that I think what really helped me out is that I'm a hard worker.
00:31:33
Speaker
I might not be the best, I might not be the smartest, but no one's going to out hustle me. so Yeah, consistency. Yeah, yeah, consistency, consistency and being smart for me, that was a big part. I mean, i in in high school, man, my best friend was my computer. I took AP classes. I played trombone in the marching band. I was not i was not a jock. I was not cool. um But, you know, I spent my time and I worked on, you know, the academic aspect, a lot of it. And I think that was very beneficial to me, you know, because I i look at things
00:32:08
Speaker
pretty analytically. I i i enjoy, I guess what would be classified as engineering kind of things. So um I can, I'm very logical and very mechanical. So that kind of fits a lot of stunts. There's a lot of rigging involved, even car work. It's all, you're trying to figure out what, how can you make this thing do that? You want, you want this car to do that. You want this guy to fly through the air like this, or you want You want it to look like you did something, you want it to look like you smashed into this thing, but you didn't. So what, you know, how can we do it? So for me, a lot of it, a lot of my success I would attribute to being, trying to be like thoughtful about things, trying to anticipate things, trying to look ahead, like, Oh, what's that guy gonna eat? Oh, that guy's, that guy hasn't, my, my boss there, he's probably hasn't had a water in a long time. So I'm gonna go grab him a water. And if he doesn't want it, then I'll go put it back. If he does, then I'll have it for him.
00:33:05
Speaker
You know, that kind of stuff. um Being a nice guy. i i I will tell you, there are guys and gals who are very talented who Have not been hired and i've been there for the and i've overheard these discussions Who have not been hired because they don't people don't want to work with that personality. Yeah, so um, I mean a lot of guys who have that and gals who have those personalities do work and so there's Sometimes that personality that might be off putting this one person might be the reason you they get a job with someone else. Um, Someone who's cocky and arrogant I know the people that I work with aren't typically
00:33:44
Speaker
Um, so they might not run in my circle, but there is something to be said for asking someone, Hey, can you do that? And they go, absolutely. Yep. No problem. Like that. Yeah. I don't know if they're telling me the truth or not, but that's, I would much rather hire that person than someone goes, ah I don't know. Maybe. Yeah. You know, so.
00:34:04
Speaker
whether it's true or false, that can get you in the door. So I will tell you, you can get in. Anyone can get in. It's staying around. what what What gives you the staying power is a different, kind of a different question. And in that regard, I think a lot of it is personality. yeah You can can be super smart, super good, super, super talented, but a person, a bad personality can, that spreads fast. So. right Yeah. whats I don't know if that totally answers it. There's introverts, extroverts, all kinds of different personalities. There's a spot for everyone. Sure. What changes have you seen since you've been in the industry for so long now? What what are things that you no longer do? Or what big you know industry changes have you seen in your career? How is it evolved? What's that? yeah it's it's um Yeah, it's evolved a lot. um
00:34:56
Speaker
It's become increasingly specialized. When I started, it was kind of trending that way. And that's my saving grace. If it was not that way, I would, I don't know, I'd i'd like to think I'd still have a career, but I don't know that it'd be nearly as successful. um But because it kind of got specialized and because I got, I i i spent 12 years at a stunt driving school. And so you learn, you know even me, slow learner, 12 years, you you you better learn something. so So I got into car stuff.
00:35:25
Speaker
and so when i get when i When I get a call for work, its i mean now it's kind of kind of wonder if it's for it might be for coordinating, but I just assume it's for driving. yeah i don't I do get calls for other stuff, but it's unusual. so it's It's a specialized world.
00:35:47
Speaker
um Is CGI a big part of what you do? I mean, I know in the movies it is, but… Oh, yeah, yeah. i' I'm sorry. I forgot what the original question was. Now I know. How does it change? So that's one way it's changed. It's become more specialized. Another way it changed… The other big things is exactly what you just said, CGI, computer graphics, VFX.
00:36:07
Speaker
Um, I mean, when I first started, I don't even know if we had VFX people and now that's a huge department. They might've been there. There probably were some, but it wasn't very common. You're old enough to where it was probably claymation. So, you know, it probably was. Yeah.
00:36:25
Speaker
chair Yes, yes. ah ah scar um Yeah, CG, it the computers are big. In fact, I remember when it started to really come around, people were saying, oh man, it's going to put stunts out of business because you know, you just use, you know, the actor just stands there against a blue screen and then you make them look like they're falling out of a, you know, out of an airplane. Right. but I mean, it's definitely our, our, our world and our scope of work has, you know, has shifted and changed a bit, but it hasn't necessarily, it's probably, maybe it's cut down on our work a little bit, but I don't know. I there's probably hasn't, maybe it has, but the very least it hasn't, hasn't killed it. It certainly definitely hasn't killed our, our, you know, the stumble community. So I don't think you could ever, I don't think you could ever take the human ah aspect of it completely out. It may.
00:37:16
Speaker
May dented little bit but you still have to have yeah bodies in the that's an interesting yeah, that's it. That's an interesting comment because right now you're dealing with AI and People are saying things along the lines of look at this you give it a prompt and it can yeah and Whatever program they can create this scene this movie scene. That's amazing. They can but the problem is that yeah You can't really edit it as it's hard to it's hard to get exactly what you want You can you can say I want here make me a movie scene with a man and a woman having an argument and the woman jumps in a car and does a Does a drift out of the parking lot and down the street and then you get it But as a director you look at I go. I don't want I don't want to see it from that I want to see this they don't want this, and you know, it's not
00:38:03
Speaker
it's comeal it It is going to change our business, but i and everyone has been kind of freaking out about it. and i I don't know. I think it's going to be like see like what happened with CGI. you know Everyone thought, oh, it's going to completely revolutionize the industry. going to you know it's go a It's going to render this you know this stunt world unnecessary. And it didn't really happen. And I don't think my prediction is that AI is going to change some things. But I don't think it's gonna I don't think it's gonna up up turn the industry like some people are fearful of. I hope I hope I'm right. Yeah, I mean, I could be wrong. No, I agree with you. There's a creative element there that the human brings to whatever they're doing, that I just don't see. I mean, maybe in 100 years or something when computers are, you know, in our brains or whatever, but
00:38:54
Speaker
I just, there's a creative aspect that a human brings to the table that I just don't think an electronic device can compete with. And I don't see that happening. We're even seeing that now. If you watched a movie in the thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties, and you saw a dude standing on the edge of a balcony, you know, 18 stories up.
00:39:19
Speaker
You know that that's a real dude standing on the edge of his balcony, 18 stories up. right You know, he might be safety off. He might have a line on him in case he falls, but that's a real dude there. Now you have got you know, you have You have anything, anyone doing anything. You have guys on fire jumping out of buildings and landing on and and no one cares anymore because you go, oh, it's CG. ah yeah I can't tell you how many times I've done stuff that people look at and they go, oh, it's CG. I'm like, no, no, no, that's not. that's We actually did that. That is a real car really sliding around and just missing another real car.
00:39:55
Speaker
So, you know, it's, um, I, I had thought and I hope it still happens.
Debate on Human Element vs. AI in Movies
00:40:01
Speaker
And I think it's going to really happen with AI that movies will be kind of known as, Oh, that was all practical. That's all real. There's no CG in that. Or there's, or, you know, and in the future, there's no AI. Those are all real people, real actors, real, whatever. Right. And I think, I think that people are,
00:40:19
Speaker
I, I, I don't know, maybe just wishful thinking and I'm, and I'm fooling myself, but I think that people would prefer and really care. They would much rather see a movie with real people than AI. I, there's something about what, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. It's human nature is funny. And as we evolve with, you know, technology, it's, you know, who knows? Who knows? Maybe, maybe people will care. Won't, you know, won't give two rips, but not, I think you've got a valid point, Jeremy, that,
00:40:47
Speaker
the throwback to someone truly showing their craft as an actor. And I know that you may not have speaking roles, but you are performing for the audience just like someone who stands there and in quote Shakespeare, for example. Yes, um I'm an actor, I'm a thespian. But for someone that has that skill to truly transport the audience, and we've all been there where you watch a movie, and for a moment, you forget you're sitting in a movie theater and you feel like you are there.
00:41:17
Speaker
that is Yeah, that's the goal, isn't it? Yeah, that's the art. i don't Yeah, I don't know that you get that with animated with animated movies, for example. no i mean i I've cried at some of them, so i mean they definitely can be touching, but I don't know that you actually feel like you're really in a someone else's world right with an animated movie, and I don't think that AI is too far removed from that. that you would If I know it's AI, i I mean, I only know my own perspective. I know that I will be checked out if it's, I actually feel a little deceived. Yeah. When I see something like that, sure especially, you know, even online these days with AI, I'll read something, wait a second. That's not even a real person. No one even wrote that. That's or that picture. That's not even a real, that's not a real person in that picture. I feel like I'm being deceived. I want nothing to do with it.
00:42:03
Speaker
And maybe that's just, you know, old man yelling at the clouds here, but i I don't know. I just think that even, even young kids, I think they like it and they might not care as much, but you know, if it's an AI or not, but I don't know, a real person doing something real. It's, yess yeah, I think there's something, I think there's a value there. AI can be entertaining, but it doesn't have the authenticity that a human being brings to it. That's just, in my opinion, yeah from one old man to another. I guess the real question is, ah guess the real question is does that you know do people care? ah Some people do and some people don't.
00:42:36
Speaker
so yeah I hope that people care enough that, um mean look, here's the deal, man. We're not curing cancer. right we're not We're not ending world hunger. We're making movies. and you know there is a There's a little place in the world for that that's kind of nice, but if people end up just being completely satisfied with AI-created movies, then we're and we all are out of jobs, it's not like we're losing some critical component of ah of the world that we really need. So i that's i say that's the downside of my job. i wish i wish what I wish that at the end of the day, I felt like I was i had done something noble.
00:43:13
Speaker
And not everyone can do that, so I'm okay with that. But man, Tim, I have nothing but respect and admiration for what you do. And I know you're going, oh, it's just a job, but whatever. But that is amazing what you do. The lives that you literally say, the lives that you help, you know you give community senses that the sense of of safety and rescue and knowing that if I get in trouble, I've got I've got Tim Hendrix at my back. He can help me. Man, my stupid allergies. Man, if i if I'm getting chased by a bad guy, I got Jeremy Fry. and he can He can get us away from the bet from the cops. Yeah, you know that's true. It's not going to happen. But anyway, so it's not a noble thing. So if movies, you know people want to watch AI movies and that that makes them happy, then that's the whole point of a movie is to get you out of the real world for a little bit. Yeah. That little escapism is nice every now and again.
00:44:06
Speaker
Yeah, but I don't want some fake computer-generated person. um I'm i'm not i not interested in that person trying to woo me. I don't want to turn my soul over to that person. Yeah. Well, speaking of AI being a colossal failure, we've already decided that. um What would be your best advice for someone that's new to your industry?
00:44:31
Speaker
You know, mistakes are going to happen where human beings failures occur occur from time to time in our careers and our lives. how do you How would you advise someone to deal with failure in your career? Oh boy. Well, I would advise you to postpone any failure until your career is pretty solid and you are established.
00:45:00
Speaker
industry and you're establishing the industry. That's about the best advice I can offer. I mean, everyone fails. You just got to be careful because bad news travels fast. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, on a personal level, I don't even want to say it's just so cliche. You just got to try to learn from your mistakes. Yeah.
00:45:27
Speaker
I will tell you this, i I see mistakes happen a lot. And there's not much more frustrating to me than someone who will not accept responsibility because, oh my gosh, man. I see stuff happen and it's, oh, the car, the car just,
00:45:48
Speaker
You know, it's so dumb. Like I turned the wheel and the car didn't move. Like that doesn't happen. Right. It does not happen. I hit the brakes and and there were no brakes. and Here, let me check it. Well, they seem to be fine. Well, they weren't that well, no, that's not how it works. Just own up to it. You're married to it. So well, I, dude, I had this one. I had this one job. So like, I know cars, I know cars very well. And I love cars and I'm very mechanical and I like to know why things work. So I'm,
00:46:17
Speaker
ah Not only do I know kind of how to get a car to do what it's supposed to do whether I could do it or not It's different Kate, you know be different question, but I know how they're supposed to work and I know So anyway, we had this guy You supposed to do this thing where he basically drives up to this car and stops About it comes in nice and hot and stops about I don't know I don't know six feet short of the car he comes in and And when he hits his brakes, I thought, oh my gosh, he's going to T-bone my buddy. Because he was coming in hotter than he should have. It was fine, you know, whatever. And then he just slammed on the brakes and he locked them up. And as soon as you lock up, well, your front wheels in particular, you're along for the ride. Yeah. You can lock up the rear wheels and then kind of play the front brakes and you can really control that. That's fine.
00:47:13
Speaker
But as soon as all four wheels are locked up, you are done. You're done. You're you're a passenger and you're just you're just waiting for the car to stop on its own time. And he came in, he locked up all four brakes, all four wheels, and he skidded and I thought, oh my gosh, he's gonna he's gonna he's gonna just he punt Luke into the next lane. And he stopped about three inches short of putting his bumper through Luke's door. And his eyes were huge.
00:47:42
Speaker
and then they yell cut and I go over, he goes, oh yeah, you know, I just, ah you know, we just, the the brakes, we just gotta, we still have to bed the brakes. Like two. Bedding brakes has absolutely nothing to do with what just happened. right You almost smashed that very expensive car into the side of that car.
00:48:06
Speaker
and you screwed up and you are very lucky that that we're not picking pieces of cars off the off the ground right now. But he, you know, he it was not his, way it was the brakes, the brake, we have to bed the brakes. That's why that happened. I'm like, yeah false, fake news, not what happened. right So anyway, I told, so I go to Luke, I'm like, dude, Luke, how much you want to bet he's, what what's the, what's the over under on how how short he's going to be on this one?
00:48:38
Speaker
And sure enough, on the next one, he was a good 15 feet short. Yeah. so What kind of car was it? It was very funny. I mean, i don't I don't remember who the guy was. I don't know that he's done a lot of driving. And I guess that was part of it, too. like You haven't done a lot of driving. I mean, you have an opportunity here to really shine. Yeah. And honestly, honestly Tim, if he would have just come to me and said, dude, i've I really screwed that up. I came in way too hot. I would have had nothing but ah No, no judgment. No, no nothing. It happens to all of us. I would have had respect and admiration that he just owned it. And we, you know, and just say, all right, I'll, I'll, I'm gonna make the change. I'll fix that problem. It won't happen again. Yeah. And I don't care. i'm I'm the last person who should, you know, the past judgment on someone who screws up in a car, but, and I won't, but if you're not going to admit it, that's, that's kind of a different story. Yeah.
00:49:30
Speaker
If you weren't in your current career that you are in right now, what was there another
Career Reflections and Financial Insights
00:49:37
Speaker
occupation? I mean, you know, you could have been a rock star or something along those lines or a famous actor maybe, but was there another career that you thought, you know, if I could go back, I might give that a shot. Oh, what? what um Well, when I was in college, I thought, and it wasn't like a passion line. I just thought, Oh, I want to, I'll write for a car magazine. Cause I ended up being a journalism major and the professors were amazing at the school at our school. They were so good. The journalism department, the Dean Nelson, who's and still in charge of that department is off the charts. He's so good. So anyway, I thought maybe I'd be a writer, but, um,
00:50:18
Speaker
kind of I don't know why. I think maybe if I did so much writing in college, it kind of burned me out, maybe. I don't know. um I'll tell you though, i I do enjoy me some 12 o'clock to one o'clock. People's court will judge me on. Gosh. yeah Excuse me. Oh my goodness.
00:50:40
Speaker
Tim, she is administering justice to those in need on a daily basis. She is righting wrongs. She's making the world a better place. so I'll accept your apology. Thank you. and yeah I i think you would think I would have liked to have been an attorney, although I will tell you every attorney I've talked to, with maybe one exception,
00:51:02
Speaker
They don't really seem to like their job. right Again, I feel very fortunate to be where I'm at because if I had gone down that path, maybe I'd be one of those unhappy. Attorneys, you know, in my, you know, $5 million estate driving a new Bentley, just never wanting to go into work. I don't know. But as it is, I'm driving a 2005 Prius and loving every day. You know, speaking of cars, you've probably had the opportunity. I know in baby driver, you drove it as a Subaru WRX STI. I think is what it was. Was it not?
00:51:35
Speaker
ah Well, it kind of it was WRX that we put in this. We had a few of them with different configurations, but they were basically WRXs that we put STI drivetrains in. What types of cars have you driven and what were some of your favorites?
00:51:52
Speaker
um I drove some pretty cool ZR1, Corvette ZR1 in the last stand. and i Not because of that, but I've ended up with ah That was a ah geek out on you real quick. That was a C6 Corvette. It was a ZR1 package. but So i I have since it's got myself my own C6 Corvette. It's a ZO6, not the ZR1, but those are cool that was a cool car.
00:52:20
Speaker
um um Most of the movie cars we get are actually pretty lame. They're either not in good shape or it's lipstick on a pig kind of a thing.
00:52:33
Speaker
or They don't work very good. But when you get a car, it doesn't even really matter what kind of car. If it has a good e-brake and it's rear wheel drive, it's got a good limited slip differential, then you can do a lot with it. And those those can be very good cars. So we've been I've been on shows that have had cars that have been set up pretty good. um I mean, I got to drive my own drift car on one show. That was kind of nice because but my car I know my car and it's set up really nice. Yeah.
00:53:01
Speaker
um Yeah, I've driven i've driven a lot of a lot of cars, a lot of nice cars, you know cars when I'll spend more time trying to make sure the the seat massager is on my favorite setting than anything else. but Are they usually automatics or are they usually manuals? Usually automatics. Okay.
00:53:21
Speaker
use zealand um there There are a few times ah that you'll want, there are a few times that you would want a manual and there's been a few shows that I've, you know, kind of wanted one, requested one for various reasons, but usually automatics. Personally, I much prefer manuals, except for LA traffic, which Sizzox. Oh yeah, man.
00:53:39
Speaker
yeah lee yeah But ah no, automatics are, ah they're they're a lot easier because sometimes you're ah you're firing, you might have things to do with your other hand, with with one hand. You might be firing a gun out the window. You might be setting off some sort of a pyro charge or a cannon, for example. So you typically don't want a stick shift. it's not It's usually not ideal. and So usually what we get are automatics.
00:54:04
Speaker
ones with good e-brakes are nice, hand e-brakes or foot, doesn't matter. But these push button e-brakes also are lame-o. Yeah. I was thinking though, a lot of younger folks do not know how to drive a manual transmission. And so that could- Oh, that's so funny. On Batman versus Superman, we had, I don't know, we have 30, 40 stunt guys.
00:54:30
Speaker
And we had all these stunt cars with this one sequence. And they said, hey, we need all those cars. Move from that side straight to the other side. So all the stunt guys are you know kind of running over. again And once one guy goes, hey, Jeremy, could you move this car for me? I go, yeah. He was a young stunt guy. I'm like, hey, yeah why?
00:54:49
Speaker
I thought maybe I knew, but I was hoping I didn't know, and it turns out I knew. i was yeah He didn't know how to drive a stick. Like, dude, buddy, you need to learn how to drive a stick. right we had ah We have a good family friend who she um she didn't really know. She kind of knew how to drive a stick. She was kind of learning. I said, you need to sell your your car. You need a little pickup truck to haul a motorcycle, and you need to get a stick shift pickup truck.
00:55:16
Speaker
And she did it, and she did not want to because driving in LA, driving a stick shift in LA, it's hilly ah often and traffic and da da da da da, but she did it. And to her credit, now she can drive a stick, no problem. So yeah, yeah not a lot not everyone can, but you you definitely should, you should know how to. and Okay, well that's a good piece of advice. Yes. So what you had mentioned somebody early on in our conversation, I forget his name, he was kind of a mentor to you.
00:55:44
Speaker
um Yeah, Scott. Yeah. Is there anybody else in your industry or and during your career that's really kind of taking you under their wing and just said, Hey, I see something in Jeremy. I'm going to kind of guide him and teach him and I'm going to help him be successful. Um, yes, yes. Uh, kind of two people, one more, so one, one definitely. So Rick Seaman owned this, the driving school that I ended up teaching at and he,
00:56:12
Speaker
I found out who he was. I called him up and I said, Hey, can I help you out? And he said, Oh, I have this thing coming up this weekend, this charity race I'm putting together. So I went and helped him. and then And he saw that I could work on cars cause I was helping some of the people with our cars. So he said, Hey, do you want to come to my shop and work on some cars for the show? I said, yes, absolutely. So I went to a shop and worked on some cars for the show.
00:56:34
Speaker
And he said, well, you want to come out and work at the stunt driving, at my stunt driving school? And I said, absolutely. And yeah I don't think he knew this, but I had called him months before to ask him if I could work out there. He's like, ah, I don't really need anyone, but if you want to take the class, you can. I'm like, oh yeah, well, ah, it's this, this, this, and it's $3,000. Like, what? Jeez. $3,000. I don't think I've had $3,000. I don't think I've ever, I don't think I've made $3,000 cumulatively since I turned 18. So I'm like, well,
00:57:03
Speaker
Thanks, but no, thanks. And then he, but then once he got to know me, he's like, yeah, he'd come out and work at my school. So then I worked out there. So Rick gave me a chance ah for sure. He, that was a big part of how I got where I, where I'm at, was out there working for him. But Darren Prescott, he is now a in a, he always has been, or he has been for a long time, but he is a second unit director.
00:57:28
Speaker
He is highly sought after. He is the best there is. um When I met him, he was kind of transitioning into coordinating. And we kind of hit it off a little bit. We got to talking about stuff. And he he brought me on my very first, not my very first, well, it might have been my first big car job. um It was or born old tomato, excuse me, born old tomato out and shot that in New York.
00:57:54
Speaker
And so, and I've worked for Darren. I worked for Darren off and on for a little bit and then more and more. And then he had always, he had had a couple of guys kind of coming and going who were coordinating for him as he started ah kind of assisting him. And then they would kind of coordinate a little bit as he started the second unit direct a bit.
00:58:15
Speaker
And then he gave me a chance on Baby Driver. He said, hey, do you want to coordinate and drive? And I stupidly said yes, because actually doing both is not typically ah the best idea, although I will say Darren has a ah very well-respected career as a stunt performer. He is he is a guy who, you know,
00:58:41
Speaker
If he asked you to do something, you should just do it. Because if you don't do it, he'll just do it himself. right um He's very talented. um So i when he was when I was in the car, he could cover set. well you know I would kind of set stuff up as the coordinator. And then when we go to one, he could kind of cover set while I was going to one and doing the driving stuff. But typically, I don't i don't like doing that. right um But I also didn't know that I didn't like doing that cuz I hadn't really coordinated much for him I had dork done a little bit here and there but that was a big opportunity and then ever since then um I've done all of his shows sometimes I'm not available and sometimes he's taken to places and they won't you know, they won't pay for someone to come out sometimes they can't justify it but We're actually working together on a show as we speak. I Before you know, just a couple hours ago. He and I were in a meeting together about what we're gonna be doing next week Which is a big car chase
00:59:36
Speaker
Cool. where do you You've traveled some pretty neat places. I know a lot of stuff is in LA or that general area, but is there a certain are there certain parts of the globe that you travel to on a regular basis to film things, or is it just all over the map? No, there are definitely some some certain spots that ah that they do a lot, they film a lot at. I feel very fortunate that I have not gotten a lot of calls out of the country when I was single. It would have been amazing. I loved it. Yeah. Traveling was great.
01:00:06
Speaker
Now that I'm married and have four wonderful kids, I do not enjoy traveling. My wife, God bless her. She loves to travel me. Yeah, that's fine. I could take it or leave it. And I'm the one who six months out of the year is traveling and she's the one who forces stay at home. Does she get to go with you? Does the family get to join you sometimes on your trips?
01:00:30
Speaker
Rarely, rarely, but i'm I'm hoping that that can change. A big part of that is because a lot of times when I wasn't coordinating, when I'm just a performer, you know um I'm brought out for a couple of days, maybe a week. oh yeah I'm not really in charge of anything, so bringing you know i'm just I'm just a grunt. So it's kind of hard to bring the family. It's not impossible, and we've done it.
01:00:51
Speaker
um But now that I'm coordinating, I'm at places longer, so it makes sense either for them to come out for a long period of time if we can arrange that, or I'll be there for a while so they can come for a week now or maybe a week later. um but i So I have not traveled out of the country as much as or as often as some people. That being said, I've gone to i've worked in Mexico, Canada, um Europe. That actually might be A couple places in Europe. um I am supposed to be going to Dubai. Oh, nice. We'll see if that happens or not. I'm optimistic that it does.
01:01:29
Speaker
um It's ah it's a good good people that are you know at this stage. um um i i'm hope but i hope it where I hope it goes. You just never know until it actually happens. yeah Are there yeah but but traveling? Yes. I'm sorry. I'll, I'll in the States. Yes. There's a lot of work. Well, until recently, at least there's been a lot of work in Atlanta for the last, you know, decade or so ah before that hotspots were, uh, New Mexico. So I, I've been to Mexico a bunch. Uh, Louisiana was hot for a while. Um, New York. I've been in New York a bunch of times, um, some kind of random States here and there are Kansas worked out there. Yeah. Um,
01:02:13
Speaker
So I've worked in a bunch of different states, ah but Atlanta, ah those those are like the popular ones, New Mexico, Atlanta, um New Orleans, and New York are the, and actually I've done a handful of shows in Boston two years ago. Over the course of about a year and a half, I did three shows in Boston, which were really, I really liked it there. and And so my family came out for one of them. They were out there for a long time, I think a month or so.
01:02:42
Speaker
boston's that was there was a really funny history there in that city yeah i mean it's not it's not easy living in the hotel room that one we got uh kind of an apartment yeah um for the money i don't know how long we were there for but what doesn't matter but yeah i do like boston boston's great the people are great i like the history of it what i love about boston is it's When you're in the city, it kind of feels like New York. You can walk a lot of places, a lot of cool stuff to see, yeah but you can jump in your car and in eight minutes, I'm in a Trader Joe's parking lot with space. I like space. I like having parking spaces. When I drive somewhere, it's not a pet peeve by any means, but I really, if I'm going to go somewhere, I don't want to think about parking. I like to have big parking lots. Do you get a lot of speeding tickets? Nah.
01:03:36
Speaker
No, no, you're, i'm not you played by the rules. That's fine. I do, which is, and part of the reason is every time I screw around, I get popped. Yeah. I remember my buddy, I had a Mustang. I, when I learned to drift, I had a Mustang at a 96 Mustang, which was the worst, the lowest power Mustang GT I think they've ever made maybe is one of them. At least it it was ah the 96 GT, but that's what I had.
01:04:02
Speaker
And I had started drifting it, and my buddy said, we were at this park and ride, and my buddy said, Jeremy, I've had the worst day, man. Nothing would make me happier than to see you do a big drift circle in this parking lot. I'm like, no, I'm not gonna do it. Look, there's a car over there. It's in the way. I'm not gonna do it. And then I look over, the car starts up and drives away. You go, see, you have to do it.
01:04:27
Speaker
I thought, all right, all right, I'll do it one time. So i I go and I did one and it was it was all right. I'm like, hey, well I'll do a better one. So then I went, I really lit it up and brought I did it, dude. Oh, in in the in the driveway came this highway patrol came tearing in there.
01:04:49
Speaker
And right up to me, he was so mad. He was so mad. He goes, didn't you see me? I go, Officer if I had seen you, do you really think I would have done that? He goes, I was parked right there. He pointed over to where he had this car pulled over and it was literally right next to where I was at. Oh my goodness. And not only did you do it once, you did it twice. I know, I know the first one wasn't very good, was it? And he goes, and he was,
01:05:16
Speaker
He took my keys. I thought, oh my gosh, I'm going to get arrested. and I got ah ah got a reckless driving ticket. It was it was crazy. It was a misdemeanor. and he was not He was not happy. yeah so Yes, Tim. I have gotten tickets. Thank you. Well, um one final question that I think everybody is really interested in. You talked about doing stunt doubles earlier.
01:05:43
Speaker
Now I know what you look like and gosh, you're devilishly, devilishly handsome of course. But what um what are the, are there are there any famous actors that you have been a stunt double for? Yes. What you think this is the this is the question? They don't want to know about you know my My character or my outlook on life or my place. Plenty of other podcasts do all that good feel good stuff. We're here for the nuts and bolts. of it All right. All right. Who have I doubled? um Well, I'll tell you, I've doubled a bunch of people and it's the guy I've doubled the most. you I know you I know you would guess this if I gave you three chances, but I'll spare you. I'll spare you the Richard Simmons.
01:06:30
Speaker
the effort. Shut up. All right. Four chances. No. Dwayne, Dwayne, The Rock Johnson. Really? No. Yeah. I've doubled him, I don't know, four or five times. Huh? What do you mean? What do you mean, Tim? Well, I mean, you were always a fit guy, but you must have put on an awful lot of size since the last time I saw you. I actually have not put on weight, Tim. That's why I still feel good.
01:06:55
Speaker
No, just in the car. You can hide a lot in a car, but just driving stuff. so Oh, okay. So I did it on race which mountain. I doubled him on ah faster,
01:07:06
Speaker
I think was the movie, faster. I doubled him. Maybe I didn't double him in Hobbs and Shaw. I doubled Jason Statham for sure. i know Maybe I didn't double doing on that one. But I've doubled him a handful of times. um I doubled Keanu Reeves, who is unbelievably awesome. Yeah.
01:07:25
Speaker
um just a great guy I doubled him a handful of times for in a few movies um I mean dude I doubled a lot of people I just don't remember okay so what we do we do a lot of second unit stuff which is I do a lot of second unit stuff. on On a lot of movies, especially bigger ones, they'll they'll oftentimes have a second unit. So the main unit is what shoots the movie. And a lot of the movies, maybe most, just have one unit, one main unit, a director, a DP, the producer, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot. Well, some movies will have ah second units. And typically, the second unit is like an action unit.
01:08:05
Speaker
They go out and they shoot action, the the fights, the car chases, the whatever. Sometimes you'll have a, you might have a big movie that has a second unit and they just go out and shoot, you know, insert shots, you know, traffic lights turning from red to green, birds flying out of nests, you know, that kind of sense. But I'll be, I'll work on a a lot of what I do is on second unit. And on second unit, you typically do not have actors. You can, and they sometimes will send actors to you for coverage But second units are typically just stunt doubles and stunt people, and you're just doing the action stuff. So I've doubled a lot of people, and a lot of times you never even see them. So part of that you know causes me to not remember exactly who I've doubled, because I haven't always met the actors. But um I've been pretty fortunate. I know that's a very short list I just gave you. I didn't give you two whole people. no That's fine. I'm trying to think, man.
01:09:04
Speaker
But I've also been coordinating a lot so lately, so I haven't been doubling as many people. I've doubled a lot of people on TV shows, because my friends will have TV shows in town, and those are very conducive to quick, easy one or two days here and there. So you're doubling actors that might not be quite as you know well known. right But yeah, it's... Oh man, I... Too many to list.
01:09:34
Speaker
um I know I don't keep that. There's other guys who could just rattle off you know everyone they've ever doubled in their entire life. One other question I thought of before I let you go, because this has been awesome. Jeremy, I really appreciate your time. We talked about pay earlier as far as you know like potential earnings and whatnot, but it when you start in in the stunt field, are you typically, I mean, is it just like a salaried position or is it paid per job or is it a, surely it's not hourly because your car's only in the air for like six seconds. So what, how how does that typically progress as far as the way you're paid and the pay scale? like We.
01:10:19
Speaker
so you don't have to be it's not technically union it's a guild but you don't have to be in the union you don't have to be it's a screen actors guild we're part of the screen actors guild okay same same guild that all the ah all the actors are now you don't have to be in the screen of field to to do stunts but all pretty much, pretty much every movie, every big TV show, they're all SAG signatory, they're all union and you have to be in a union to work on them. okay There's some states that are right to work states that you don't have to, but you pretty much have to be in union. So all the shows I do are are SAG shows. um So when you're in SAG, there are there are minimum pays and you go on a SAG contract. Now there are different contracts for different,
01:11:04
Speaker
um different movies based on their budget. Um, but they're pretty much, I don't work, I, I have, and I don't, I'm not opposed, excuse me at all. And I enjoy working on low budget stuff too. Um, but most of the stuff I do, they, they fall in just the regular theatrical, uh, theatrical, you know, big budget kind of stuff. And so the way it works is you.
01:11:33
Speaker
As a performer, you are typically you're you're hired on a daily or a weekly. There are some three-day contracts, but they're pretty they're they're not pretty common. but It's either a daily or a weekly, so you get paid a minimum.
01:11:47
Speaker
um um i don't i think the I think right now, the daily is $1,207, like $1,200 and $1,207 I think is it somewhere somewhere along there is a daily so that's what you'd make for a day. Okay, that's for eight hours not including lunch. Okay um Then you you get overtime you get time and a half to ten and then you get double time after ten um We will make we get stunted we can get stunt adjustments, which is whatever the coordinator feels like paying you extra for what you did so if you show up and you're you're just standing there when a car goes by, you might not get an adjustment. If you're standing there and the car and the, you know, you're supposed to jump out of the way of the car as it goes by, you know, you might get, I don't know, 300 bucks, 400 bucks, 200, 100, you know, who knows? right There's no, it's whatever the guy wants to give you. If you do, if you go and you, you, you do a big car crash, you might get eight to $12,000 adjustment for that. Okay. So then that that's, that's,
01:12:51
Speaker
that adjustment is then added on to your base rate. And then the two of those together combined to calculate your hourly rate. And then that is what they use to figure out your overtime. So there's other things that there's other penalties and whatnot that they that are tacked in there. If you don't, they don't break you at six hours for lunch. There's meal penalties that they have to pay.
01:13:13
Speaker
There's stuff like that. so I will tell you, it's a lot more lucrative than I thought. When I first started, I had no clue that you could even make money doing it. I was still in the mindset, oh, I just want to go do fun jobs. right that's why was That's why I was ah you know working at a ski shop because I just wanted... The job itself wasn't cool, but I wanted to s ski. and so That job, it brought a a season pass with it and I had three day three or four days off, I had three and four days off a week alternating. and So that's why I did that job. And so I did stunts, I just thought it'd be a fun job. I had no idea you could actually make a living at it. And I had certainly had no idea you could actually make a pretty good living at it doing it. Now, that being said, you do make good money when you work.
01:13:52
Speaker
but it's getting to work that's hard. So when you first start off, you pretty much need another job. And the problem is you have to have a job that's super flexible because you you might get a call for the next day. You might get a call, you you know are you available for four days next week? Or hey, are you available for, you know I need you for two weeks coming up no next month or in two months. So you have to have a job that's flexible. And that that's a tricky thing when you're getting started is
01:14:24
Speaker
you know how are you going to pay your bills? You're waiting tables and whatnot. You are. In fact, that's my favorite Halloween costume. You dress up as a waiter and people say, oh, what are you for Halloween? Like I'm an actor. Right. Because you're just doing whatever you can to pay the bills and you and you know Uber driving or Lyft driving, whatever, taxi driving.
01:14:43
Speaker
self-employed kind of stuff. That's pretty good. sure you know you can you can you know If you have a flexible job. so my For me, the stunt driving school, it didn't pay great, it paid but I also live very cheaply. um I've always been pretty frugal. I lived in One of the worst parts of l LA, my rent was $250 a month, and I drove an old beat up Chevy pickup, and I shopped at thrift stores, and I ate cereal. So yeah ah my my monthly nut was pretty was pretty manageable, so I didn't need a whole lot. and But as I started getting into driving, i needed I was spending, I was going to the track every other week, every three weeks maybe, two every two to three one, two, or three weeks,
01:15:29
Speaker
one, two or three times a month, I would be going to the track. And every time I went to the track, it was, you know, I figured it's probably 350 to $450 for gas and tires and the track fee and all that kind of stuff. So, you know, it, it, it wasn't cheap to do it. So I really sacrificed to make it happen. Um, but then you start, you know, when you actually work, you actually do make good money. And then the nice things we get residuals. Oh, there you go.
01:15:57
Speaker
Yeah, and they you know they they can be really good, they can be really bad. You never know exactly what you're gonna get. right you know I'll get checks you know throughout the week for all the shows that I've done. and you know i'll have a I don't go to the bank that often, but I'll have a stack of checks, this massive stack of checks. And I kid you not, I've had two inches of checks stacked up and it totaled like $220.
01:16:24
Speaker
so And then, you know, sometimes you're lucky you'll get ah you'll get like a single check that might be for two or three thousand dollars. I got to be honest, when you said you had a stack of checks and it could be 200, I thought you were going to say a completely different number there. Oh, no, 220.00. Yeah, I was expecting a couple more zeros on that if I'm honest, but yeah. No, I wish. I wish. There are stories of guys that have gotten six-figure residual checks. and not even It used to be a little more common in the past, but I was talking to someone the other day. and
01:16:55
Speaker
it's It's the movies that you don't expect. The big, big movies that and just box office smashes. right yeah like you can You can make decent residuals on it, but the ones that really kill it are the ones that only had a few people working on it, and maybe they you know they were they did okay.
01:17:13
Speaker
But they did good and well enough and there were a few enough SAG people that the profits don't aren't shared you know amongst 150 people. They're split up amongst six people. yeah So you get a much bigger piece of that pie. hu So I haven't had any, I mean, I've had some really nice ones, don't get me wrong. it's been I've been very fortunate, but they're very, very rare. um But I've never had any six figure checks by
Advice for Aspiring Stunt Professionals
01:17:41
Speaker
any means.
01:17:41
Speaker
Well, I have, I have heard of people who have had those, but so yeah, you can make a good living doing it. Um, I, but most people have another job for a pre, you know, pretty substantial part of their early career before you can be transitioning full-time into stunts is a pretty, it's, you know, it's, it's a little nerve wracking cause you, there's no job security. You're, you're going in every day. You feel like a million bucks. And then the last day of the show, your work finished and you get home and.
01:18:12
Speaker
It's quiet and you're not going into work and you don't know when your next job is and all of a sudden you felt like you felt like the king of the world and you realize that you might you might have to go back to ah you know cleaning bathrooms again. Right. Well, you got to pay your dues, but eventually you'll be successful like you are and you know you you're a big tax credit, Jeremy, I believe in you.
01:18:33
Speaker
Thank you. Well, all hey, and I mean this in all sincerity, I do, I thank God for the success he's given me. And I know that I'm not worried about future work because I do believe that, you know, he's looking out for me. I'm trying to be an idiot about it, you know, and I work hard and I, but I don't, I don't chase work down either. I, um, I work hard. like I try, I, I try to keep my head down.
01:18:58
Speaker
and my feet moving and and let it happen. And yes it's worked for me. I know other people who are more talented than me, and i I mean that sincerely, who have worked really, really, who have to fight tooth and nail for every job they get. And it makes me appreciate my work, but you know what i' what I've been given.
01:19:17
Speaker
Um, but yeah, some people get a little more fortunate than others. Some be able to work harder, but it is, it is, it is definitely hard to get, to get, to get going. Very few people are kind of given, have it given to them and it happens. I, I've met a few guys who they just have the, they happen to be the perfect look to double this one actor and they have the exact skillset and they're very talented and they just.
01:19:42
Speaker
they got They went from never having set foot on a set in their whole life to working three months straight, and then they just never slow down. And that's that's kind of rare, but it does happen. More more common with chumps like me who are just you know scraping for for nuts. um So i when i when I'm hiring people, I i do try to find You know, I don't know, i think I think this is kind of normal. You try to find someone kind of like yourself because you kind of want, you know what it was like to be someone who did not have a parent in the business, who moved here with nothing, who have they have a passion about something and they work hard at it and they're willing to do whatever it takes, but they just need someone to give them a chance. And so I ah do look i do look for people like that who maybe I can
01:20:33
Speaker
be there, Darren Prescott, I can be there, Scott Rogers. It hasn't really happened. I do i do look for that, um but it is interesting. These these days, more and it's not uncommon that the younger generation, the they seem there's a definitely a sense of entitlement that seems to be pretty pervasive. there's People don't want to work quite as hard.
01:20:59
Speaker
People aren't as willing to you know hit the ground. I mean, dude, i I have just wrecked myself because that was the job. And I just had to do it. And now you know it was, hey, we need you to do a flatback. So I put my pads on like, oh, we can see that pad. All right, well, I'll take it off. And you just do it. And now guys like, oh, can we we can we pad the set? Can we have ah have a fake table made with neoprene foam along the edges? Oh my gosh, really?
01:21:27
Speaker
just how about we just do it? how about just How about you just throw yourself into the table and you just suck it up. Again, old man yelling at the clouds. but um No, you got to pay your dues. It doesn't matter if you're a plumber or a stuntman. You got to you know you gotta come in and you don't call the shots when you're new um and you just need to show that you're willing to do what it takes to make it. and then Yeah, yeah you have yeah that's true i it's true. I do appreciate people who are who hang around and they're a big, a big, I will, I don't have too many pet peeves, but one of mine is people on their phones around other people when, you know, when you should probably shouldn't be on your phone. Yeah. Such as when you're at dinner with your friends and I look over at a restaurant and I see a table of four people and they're all, they all have their noses buried in their phones. Right.
01:22:14
Speaker
um I mean, that's their life, they make their own choices, but I don't wanna be at that table. I don't wanna be at a table where everyone's on their phone. right um and But when I'm on set, I really don't like it when people are on their phones. ah My team, and I try to make it clear, if you're working for me, I don't wanna see on your phone. yeah Phones are important, we have a life outside of work, and sometimes things are important, just go around the side, I don't wanna see them, and I definitely, definitely do not want someone missing instructions because you're on your phone.
01:22:43
Speaker
though But I do see kids on their phone a lot and I ah man i ah even told people i'm like hey, there are there are legends in the business who you who are you are five feet away from you but you're not you haven't said a word to them because you got on your phone. So you don't have to talk to them but you have ah you have so much that you could be learning right now from people that you won't have this opportunity. you'll have You can get on your phone later for sure. You won't be able to talk to this guy or you won't be able to talk to Terry Leonard about you know, what it was like to be drug under the stagecoach in, you know, in Indiana Jones, you won't be able to talk to Mickey Giacomozzi about what it's or ah not Mickey Gilbert about what it's like to, to jump the the fall guy pickup truck, you know, over the, you know, over the over the sheriff's car, you know, they're right here, you you know, there's so much that we can learn so many great stories that we could get. So
01:23:37
Speaker
I do see that a lot with the younger kids coming up as not a strong work ethic. They tend to be a little softer. Um, not as interested in like the teamwork part of it, but luckily there are a lot of, there are definitely younger, newer kids, guys and girls who, who are, are willing to get in there, but they're willing people now I try to find.
01:24:00
Speaker
If you're younger and you're willing to do that, it's pretty easy to rise up and and stand out pretty quickly because you you will stand out from your peers pretty pretty obviously. so and that Yes, Tim. and That is, honestly, when I look back on it, that I would probably actually have success in this business now, just like I did. I have often said, I'm glad I'm not coming up in the world now because the talent is so high.
01:24:26
Speaker
i mean just just You know, you look at, you know, freestyle motocross. It used to be when you and I were in college, I don't know if you're if you even were aware, but, you know, Supercross, the big name was Jeremy McGrath. And he would do a thing called the Knack Knack. Oh, my gosh, would when he would jump the triple on the last lap, he'd take his foot off the peg and swing it over the back of the bike and look backwards. It was the Knack Knack. And it was the coolest thing. And then
01:24:58
Speaker
And then, ah you know, years and years later, we heard that, oh my gosh, they've actually, I think it was Tommy Tomcat. did a backflip on a motorcycle and it was mind blowing. And now that stuff is, I mean, a knack-knack is a is joke. It's not even a trick. And a backflip is entry level. So yeah the just the the level of skill has just gone through the roof and in our business as well. So and one on one hand, I'm glad I'm not coming up now because I you know i can't compete with that.
01:25:32
Speaker
On the other hand, it was my work ethic that I think you know kind of made me stand apart to a large degree in the fact that I knew cars and I like cars. and those kind of feet those kind of um that's not That's not normal these days. That's not a common trait. If you want to get in the business, if you are willing to bust your butt and work hard, put your phone in your pocket,
01:25:58
Speaker
to You will get, in the pee you will stand out, you will stand out. Whether you get hired or not, I don't know, but people will notice you. If you are busting your butt, people notice. And it's sad because you think everyone was, but it's uncommon. And so you will stand out and people want that around. I want that around. That's some really good advice to end on,
Conclusion and Gratitude
01:26:20
Speaker
Jeremy. I have been so impressed with everything I've heard today. I've known you, but there were a few things I learned about you.
01:26:27
Speaker
um in this interview. So I really am grateful for you taking the time to speak with me and you've shared some awesome advice and some great information for anybody that thinks they want to be the next Jeremy Fry. Pretty soon we're going to be using in your name like you've used those legends. Oh, well, um that's not true. And I, but I appreciate it, Tim. I'm i'm honored and flatter that you would, that you would consider me.
01:26:53
Speaker
um I question your judgment, but you're not the first. I still got a smile on my face and I appreciate it. Yeah. Thanks so much, Jeremy. Uh, it's good talking with you yeah and we'll catch up again soon. And that wraps up another episode of the jobs podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today. Hopefully you found that interesting. As always, I wait until the end of an interview to ask you to like, subscribe and share. I feel it's important that I earn that support from you. Thanks again. And we will see you on the next one.