JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
What do you think when I say James Bond, Mission: Impossible or Fast & Furious? You think action, right? - Tom Cruise and Daniel Craig leaping from buildings or dangling in the air from helicopters and lots of spectacular explosions and car crashes. Well, all of it, all of those stunts, they require careful and precise work to be successful and safe. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has just announced the creation of a new award for stunt design, so we called up longtime stunt coordinator and second unit director Jack Gill to talk all about it. Hi there.
JACK GILL: Hey, how are you?
SUMMERS: I am well. So Jack, I know that you have been working in Hollywood as a stuntman for years and years - since the 1980s. And you have really been at the forefront of the effort of getting the Academy to recognize stunts. So just what was your reaction when you heard that this was actually going to happen?
GILL: Well, I mean, I was screaming and yelling because it - I really thought it was going to be something that was hard to achieve, but I never thought it would take 34 years. When this happened, I was elated, and my family was elated, and I was getting a million phone calls. And it is something that should have happened a long time ago, but I'm glad that it's finally happening now.
SUMMERS: I mean, just hearing you talk about it and seeing the response, this has been lauded as a huge win for stunt professionals. But why do you think it is so important for the Academy specifically to recognize all of the hard work that goes into creating and performing stunts?
GILL: Well, I think a lot of it is the fact that I don't think they realized before we started kind of training them and trying to say, this is what we really do, that every single action piece you have to put together and protect people. And so you're creating a vision within what the director sees, and you also have to have a big look at safety because we do such extravagant stunts. So, you know, it is - the action designer is something that has to come about. And I think in our world, the fact that they are finally saying, yes, let's give them an Oscar category and an award, is something that we needed.
We just want to be recognized by our peers. That is the biggest thing. And finally (ph) the Academy has come around, and they said, we want to be a big part of it. And I'm happy for it. I'm really, really elated.
SUMMERS: And we should just note that this new category will be added to the 100th Academy Awards, which means that we won't see these awards until 2028. But, I mean, as you point out, stunts have just had this long history in our movies - you think of folks like even Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin. So why do you think it is that it's taken so long, frankly, for the Academy to keep up and catch up?
GILL: Well, because it's a long process. Because, you know, a new category is something that doesn't really happen often. They had a special effects category that was added onto, but creating new categories is something that takes a lot of paperwork. And I didn't really understand that, but that's the way that they understand, you know, the process of a stunt designer. We're not only doing storyboards, but we're designing the character around what his dialogue actually is. It's not just standing up there and saying, this guy's going to fall on his head - or girl. It's much more. And I think the design of it is what really gives you an idea of what we do. It is a design process.
SUMMERS: There's so much excitement from so many people about this category being introduced. So I just wonder, do you think that this will change the way that audiences perceive what stunt professionals like yourself do?
GILL: I don't think it will. Because of social media, everybody is aware that there is someone that creates all of this, and there are also stunt doubles for all of the actors. Thirty years ago, people were afraid of saying, we'll let everybody know that the actor does everything. But in today's world, that's just not what happens anymore. All actors want to come out and say, no, I'm not doing it. I've got three stunt doubles. So I think that part of it has gone by the wayside because of what people have access to.
SUMMERS: That's Jack Gill, a veteran Hollywood stunt coordinator and second unit director. Thank you so much for speaking with us.
GILL: Thank you. I appreciate it. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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