DirectorDavid Leitchonce managed to crash a stunt car after becoming a little too excited at the fact he was doubling forBrad Pitt. Before stepping behind the camera, Leitch worked as a stuntman in numerous movies, including the 2001 movieThe Mexican, which starred Pitt and Julia Roberts.
The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy is an action thriller from Bullet Train and Deadpool 2 director David Leitch. Ryan Gosling stars as a stuntman who is forced to find a missing movie star, investigate a conspiracy, and repair his relationship with the love of his life. The film was written by Drew Pearce and inspired by the 1980s TV series of the same name.
While Leitch has since worked with Pitt on several movies, includingBullet Train– which he directed – twenty years ago, he was a little more starstruck by the presence of the Hollywood A-lister, and it probably caused him to lose his job on the movie. While speaking atCollider’s Directors on Directing panel at WonderCon, Leitch recalled:
“I talked a little bit about this on the Bullet Train premiere. On The Mexican, doubling Brad [Pitt] when I crashed. We had two El Caminos… I accidentally crashed the one El Camino into the other El Camino.
“I was really just supposed to drive through [the] stoplight, but I got really excited because, ‘I’m doubling Brad Pitt!’ I hit the brake and I hit some dirt and I lost control of the car, and one direction was video village where everyone was getting out of the way, and the other direction, in slow motion, was the El Camino. I was just like, ' I guess I’m gonna wreck the El Camino.' [Laughs] But I remember the stunt coordinator coming up to me, and he’s like, ‘The one mistake you did was when you got out of the car, you should’ve yelled at transpo, ‘This thing doesn’t have any brakes!’ But I didn’t do that. I think I was let go from that film pretty quickly after that.”
David Leitch Goes Back to His Roots with The Fall Guy
Not everyone sticks with the same career in Hollywood, and Leitch is no exception. Before directing several popular box office success stories, he was on the lens side of the camera, risking his safety so the elite actors of the business could go about their work without risking it damaging their looks.
With over 80 credits to his name – as well as a number of uncredited scenes – Leitch’s stunt work ranged from TV shows likeBuffy the Vampire Slayer, to dramas likeFight Club, and to blockbuster films likeThe Matrix Reloaded. After getting a taste for working behind the camera as co-director of John Wick, Leitch has gone on to directDeadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, andFast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shawamong others. However, his latest movie,The Fall Guy, takes him right back to his roots in the world of film stunts.
Ryan Gosling’s The Fall Guy Met With Rave Reviews, Lands Promising Rotten Tomatoes Score
The Fall Guy has debuted at SXSW, and it sounds like the action rom-com audiences have been waiting for.
As his love letter to the industry that made him,The Fall Guystars Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Hannah Waddingham, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, withGosling playing a retired stuntmanwho replaces a missing actor in a new film, only to find that things aren’t as simple as he expected. During the filming of the movie, the production managed to break a world record for the most cannon rolls in a car during one scene.
The Fall Guyis released in cinemas on July 07, 2025.
