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Stuntmen Attempt Leap Onto Oscar
He's the last guy you'd expect to be an expert in jumping motorcycles through exploding gasoline charges, corkscrewing cars so they twist and skid sideways down city streets, getting shot from an air ram off 70 cliffs. Terminator 2 , Austin Powers , The Rock, Pearl Harbor are only some of the films he's worked on as stuntman or stunt coordinator. Soft-spoken and considerate, he's also the last guy I'd think had been waging a fifteen-year battle with the giant force that constitutes The Academy Awards. "It started in 1991. All these big action films were winning Oscars. And on those films everyone looked to the stunt people to create a major part of the drama, conflict, excitement. Yet none of the coordinators or stuntmen were being recognized. It's a shame that no stunt person will ever see an Oscar for Indiana Jones , The Matrix , Terminator 2. "I approached Bruce Davis the Executive Director of the Academy and suggested they offer an Oscar for stunts. He said they were interested in deleting, not adding awards. He told me it would be a 3-5 year process. Since then, there have indeed been categories added, "Best Sound," for instance. But in fifteen years, we've made no progress. "I've brought petitions with plenty of signatures. Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese , Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dustin Hoffman and many others -- these people realize the contribution that stunts bring to a film -- the drama and conflict, the theatrical value and success of a film often depends on what stunt people and stunt coordinators create. These people are actually on the set, in the edit rooms, seeing the significance that stunt work brings to a film. "But the Academy still refuses to include us. Recently Jerry Bruckheimer, Michael Bay, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Garner and Drew Barrymore have all voiced support for the stunt co-ordinator and his importance on he set. "In an action sequence, everyone on the set looks to the stunt co-ordinator. And not only for making the footage exciting. We're really the only people on the set who have the lives of others in our hands. People develop a strong relationship with us. Their lives and well-being are at stake, depending on what we do or don't do." As if on cue, Jack is interrupted by a long distance phone call. Returning after five minutes, he explains: "That was the father of a child actor, someone I worked with when I was stunt coordinator on The Cat in the Hat . He's on location in Vancouver, and someone is rigging his child for a stunt. He wanted to know if I knew the stunt coordinator, if he could be trusted to keep his child safe. "Luckily, it's someone I've worked with many times before. I assured the dad that he had nothing to worry about. That the coordinator knew what he was doing and would never do anything to jeopardize the safety of his child." Bruce Davis had mentioned to Jack that the Academy only recognized and gave awards to those who made artistic or technical contributions. "That's ironic, to me," Gill says. "I mean, my first attraction to stunts was because of their technicality. I remember the original film that got me hooked - Bu llitt . I saw it i nitially for its technical merit. Like, 'How do they do those things without killing th emselves?' And then for its artistic aspect. To create a car chase where the vehicles become characters in the scene and each car becomes part of the actor's performance is simply incredible. "And it's gotten so much more technically complicated since then. Hal Needham and I recently spoke at the Peterson Auto Museum in Los Angeles about just that, the difference between the business 30 years ago and now. In the old days, it was more about guts, courage and heart. You break a leg, no big deal. "Now it's more about technical expertise, how to make things safe and dramatic by using the latest in mechanical, computer, hydraulic, and other technologies. If you break a leg, it's a very big deal. Talk to the studio lawyers about that. "Hal is actually the one who got me started in the business. I'd been racing professional motocross in the Southeast since the time I was 14. I was also acting too, and my agent wanted me to drop by the set of Hooper, filming in Alabama, to see if I could get an acting job. But I was only interested in hanging out with the stunt guys. "Hal had seen my picture in the local papers right after I won a local race. We talked and he helped me out. He got me my first job on a motorcycle racing picture called Do It in the Dirt. Then he called me into his office and said "It's best if I don't help you anymore ... until you don't need me. I've given you the first step, from now on, you need to start knocking on doors and meeting people on your own." "It's probably the best thing he could have done for me," Gill says. "It forced me to really work hard at making this my profession. Later, after I'd established myself for many years, I got a call from him and he said, 'I heard you are doing pretty well.' I ended up working for him on Cannonball II and Megaforce . There was a very dangerous motorcycle wreck on Megaforce, something no one wanted to do, but I pulled it off and walked away with only cuts and bruises. I was very happy. "I found out later he only helped out a handful of guys in 30 years. So I'll always be indebted to Hal Needham for that." I asked Gill what excited him, kept him in the stunt business. "And that's what makes it so odd that the Academy doesn't recognize this as a technical and artistic profession. "On I Love Trouble, I probably worked with Julia Roberts more than anyone on the set. She was scared to death of heights, and a big scene at the end called for her to slide down a cable on a hanging catwalk from 80 feet in the air. The director said we'd have to settle for a stunt double if she couldn't do it, but that the whole f ilm would work better dramatically if she were clearly in the shot. I worked with her for a month and a half. And she actually did the stunt. "On Larry King Live, she said she never could have done the stunt without the help of Jack Gill. That I had given her complete trust in her well-being, safety, and health. I mean, I can't think of another person on the crew who you can say that about." For 28 years, Jack Gill has worked as a stuntman and stunt coordinator for both television and film. He has worked as second unit director on over 50 projects, and has written and directed his own feature film, Body Armor. Gill is a past President and current member of Stunts Unlimited.
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©2005 California Film Industry
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ack Gill is an articulate, thoughtful man. Obviously intelligent and a gentleman, he's the last person you'd expect to have doubled for John Schneider on 32 episodes of the Dukes of Hazard , for Lee Majors on 24 episodes of The Fall Guy , or