21 actors who don’t need stunt doubles in action scenes

We see incredibly realistic action scenes in the cinema, where characters appear jumping out of cars, emerging from explosions, fighting, etc. Therefore, we imagine that it was a stuntman who did the scene, most of the time it is, to protect the actor’s physical integrity. But not always, because many actors dismiss their stunt doublesand prefer to do the most dangerous and risky scenes themselves.

According to some of them, they prefer to do this to provide more realism to the scenes, even if it results in some bruises, bruises and even broken bones along the way.

Names like Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie e Jackie Chan are examples of actors who dispensed with stunt doubles. But besides them, other stars also prefer to take risks in the most important scenes, even with all the security involved in production.

21 actors do without stunt doubles in action scenes

Let’s meet some of the actors who prefer to do action scenes and do without stunt doubles.

1. Harrison Ford

At the beginning of his career, actor Harrison Ford, the eternal Indiana Jones, insisted on doing his action scenes alone. Therefore, he has already been injured, burned and even cut himself during these scenes. So, after many years, injuries and risky scenes, the actor finally accepted the participation of stunt doubles in some shots.

2. Arnold Schwarzenegger

Currently, with the weight of age, the star known for several successful action films, Arnold Schwarzenegger has been accepting the support of stuntmen in his recent productions. Because the actor no longer has the same strength and skill as he did in his youth, when he performed practically all of his characters’ action scenes.

3. Viggo Mortensen

The Lord of the Rings star is one of the most determined and committed actors to his work. Therefore, he did intense preparation before recording the film’s battle scenes, all without the use of a stunt double. However, he still ended up with a broken tooth, a fractured finger and almost drowning. But according to him, he didn’t regret it.

4. Daniel Craig

Another star who is super committed to the authenticity of his action scenes is Daniel Craig, another actor who doesn’t need a stunt double.. Therefore, the result on screen is the best possible, but the actor famous for playing James Bond paid a price for it. During the filming of 007 Against Spectre, Daniel injured his knee and needed surgery.

5. Chloë Moretz

When she made the films Kick-Ass – Breaking Everything and Kick-Ass 2, young actress Chloë Moretz got into the character and chose to do most of the action scenes, with running, explosions and even shooting scenes. She only used a stunt double in the shot where her character climbs the walls. But otherwise, all you see is the actress.

6. Josh Hutcherson

The actor participated in one of the biggest and most popular franchises of recent years, The Hunger Games. And although his characters had little prominence in the first film, Josh made a point of acting in all the action scenes, unlike her co-star, Jennifer Lawrence, who preferred not to take so many risks, especially because she is the protagonist.

7. Zoë Bell

Zoë Bell has worked as a stuntwoman almost her entire career. Then, during the recording of Kill Bill, director Quentin Tarantino noticed Bell’s potential and invited her to act in Death Proof. In the film, she did a scene where she was tied up in a speeding car.

8. Christian Bale

Actor Christian Bale is known for putting his body and soul into his characters. This way, he does as many scenes as possible without the help of stunt doubles or other support. As was the case with the Dark Knight trilogy. However, despite the actor’s wishes, other productions later did not authorize him to do the most dangerous scenes, as in the film The Winner.

9. Cameron Diaz

Despite being most famous for comedies, the actress has also done some action films and chose to do practically all of her scenes without stunt doubles. An example of this was the film Explosive Encounter, where he acted alongside Tom Cruise. In the film, know that all the scenes of her on the motorcycle were the actress herself in action.

10. Tom Cruise

And speaking of the star of Mission: Impossible. Tom Cruise is known as one of the main actors who do not need the help of stunt doubles in their scenes. Whenever possible, he makes a point of executing the scene, no matter how complicated it may be. As is the case in the scene from the film Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, in which your character is trapped outside the tallest building in the world in Dubai.

11. Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie has several action films in her career and in most of them, she is the one who does almost all the action scenes. The actress is a fan of martial arts and physical activity in her life, and takes the opportunity to use her skills in her films. For example, for the film Salt, made entirely without stunt doubles, the actress trained for months in Muai Thai and Krav Maga to do the scenes. In Maleficent too, despite not being an action film, Jolie agreed to hang from wires for hours to do the flying scenes.

12. Kristen Stewart

The eternal Twilight Bella dedicates herself 100% to the character and does whatever it takes to offer the most realistic result possible, as she does all the action scenes without a stunt double. For the film Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen spent hours in freezing water, fell off a cliff and hung upside down for hours. And in the last film of the Twilight Saga, what you see in the big battle is the actress’s fighting talent.

13. Gina Carano

Gina Carano, in addition to being an actress, has also been an MMA fighter and has several titles. Therefore, her choosing to do her scenes more difficult is not really a surprise. In the film A Toda Prova, all the mourning scenes are performed by the actress/fighter herself. Therefore, she chose to work in more action films, such as Fast $ Furious.

14. Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan is an actor who was known for doing his own fight and action scenes alone. During his career, Chan has fallen from a height of five meters and even broken his skull, fractured a rib and other serious injuries. But the fact is that despite being “crazy” he always gave everything to his characters.

15. Jason Statham

Actor Jason Statham has impeccable physical fitness and built his career making action films, where he performed the most intense scenes himself. But in the beginning, he did all the scenes because the productions couldn’t afford to pay for stunt doubles. So, over time he ended up liking it and continued doing his own scenes.

16. Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman has always dedicated a lot to his characters. The eternal Wolverine chose to do practically all of his character’s action scenes in the X-Men franchise. However, this cost the actor a cut on his ear, a swipe above his eye and some injuries to his neck. Therefore, after many injuries, it was the actor’s wife who prohibited him from doing these more dangerous scenes.

17. Sylvester Stallone

Today, after years of career and many injuries, Stallone is accepting more help from stunt doubles in his work. However, the actor became known for doing most of the action scenes alone. In years of doing this, the actor has already broken several ribs and even fractured his neck, not to mention the time he went into cardiac arrest after being punched while filming Rambo 4.

18. Michelle Yeoh

Actress Michele Yeoh made the film The Tiger and the Dragon and did practically all the action scenes. Therefore, she spent hours and hours hanging from ropes. In the other films she participated in, she also made a point of doing the scenes without a stunt double.

19. Burt Lancaster

A veteran known for dispensing with stuntmen in the 1950s and 1960s, Burt Lancaster began making films where he always played the strong, tough man. Before being an actor, Burt was a circus acrobat and then went into the army, where he prepared his physique for combat scenes.

20. Buster Keaton

The use of stunt doubles has existed since the beginning of cinema. Then, back in the 1920s, Buster Keaton was considered extremely brave when acting in action scenes alone. In fact, years later, he became an inspiration for another actor who doesn’t need stunt doubles, Jackie Chan.

21. Bruce Lee

Finally, martial arts icon Bruce Lee could not be missing from this list. The actor did not use stunt doubles in his action scenes, performing all the movements necessary for the scene alone.

READ MORE:

Sources: Online Series I Love Cinema