Snappy dialogue and tear-jerking performances are all fine and dandy, but let’s be totally honest: we go to see blockbuster movies for the explosive action scenes! And while digital effects increasingly dominate this aspect of the filmmaking craft, there’s still plenty of demand for stunt performers willing to risk life and limb performing feats that actors simply aren’t capable of pulling off.
Frankly, we think this is a good thing. Sure, CGI is an incredible tool – without it, many of the most impressive movie set pieces of the last few decades couldn’t have happened. But nothing beats the thrill of watching an actual, flesh-and-blood human putting themselves in genuine (albeit controlled) peril on screen.
That said, the big drawback of using stunt performers over digital doubles is that – unlike their synthetic counterparts – stunt men and women don’t look exactly like the actors they’re standing in for. This means that sometimes a downright jaw-dropping stunt is hard to fully enjoy, as the lack of resemblance between thespian and “stuntie” is so distracting.
That said, in other instances, actors and their stunt doubles have shared such a pronounced likeness that they’re virtually indistinguishable from each other at a quick glance. In circumstances such as these, you’d be forgiven for assuming that no stand-in was used at all – which is kinda the whole point!
With all of this in mind, we’ve pulled together a list of 10 Times Stunt Doubles Were Impossible To Notice (And 10 Times They Were Super Obvious) – so read on to learn which actors did (or definitely did not do) their own stunts.
Impossible To Notice: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Regularly voted among the most beautiful women in the world, Megan Fox isn’t someone you’d expect to be able to find a lookalike stunt double for. But director Michael Bay lucked out when Maria Papathanasiou applied for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The Greek-American performer could be Fox’s twin, and this uncanny resemblance made her the perfect fit to handle Fox’s stunts in the film. Although Papathansiou apparently wasn’t called upon to do anything too dangerous – riding a bicycle seems to have been the most hair-raising stunt she took part in – the transition between her and Fox was nevertheless very impressive.
Super Obvious: The Tourist
Stuntman Tony Angelotti isn’t a bad looking guy…but he’s no Johnny Depp, either. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be an issue – most people don’t possess movie star looks! – but on the set of The Tourist, it was a real dilemma.
That’s because Angelotti was doubling for Depp in Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s 2010 romantic-thriller, and he wasn’t the most believable match for the famously handsome actor. Of course, when you take into the lukewarm critical and commercial reception The Tourist received, a few cringeworthy stunt double shots were hardly its biggest problem.
Impossible To Notice: Now You See Me
The magic tricks in heist outing Now You See Me are so OTT they’d make David Copperfield blush. Depicting these illusions on the big screen didn’t just ask a lot of the cast – actress Isla Fisher nearly drowned chained up in a water tank! – but required total commitment from their stunt doubles, too.
While all of these intrepid performers were more than up to the challenge, Anthony Molinari – who subbed in for Mark Ruffalo as needed – stood out from the pack. Why? Well, Molinari and Ruffalo look like they could be brothers, which lent Molinari’s stunt sequences an added verisimilitude.
Super Obvious: Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone
What could be harder than casting three talented child actors to portray Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone? How about finding adult stunt doubles who could plausibly cover for each underage thespian!
Director Chris Columbus did the best he could – and by and large, it’s hard to spot the stunt performers filling in for stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. Yet even movie magic has its limits, and a few shots of Robbie Coltrane's clearly not-him stunt double slipped into the Sorcerer’s Stone’s most pivotal scene.
Impossible To Notice: The Matrix
The cast of The Matrix trained tremendously hard to master the martial arts choreography and spectacular wire work witnessed in the Wachowskis’ cyberpunk epic. But there were only so many stunts they were proficient enough to execute – and that’s where their stunt doubles came in.
Not that you’d notice in Keanu Reeves case, however. He and stuntman Chad Stahelski – future director of the John Wick trilogy, headlined by Reeves – look so similar, it was as if Reeves performed every backflip himself!
Super Obvious: Moonraker
Like all James Bond adventures, Moonraker starts with a bang: a high altitude set piece where Agent 007 is required to don his parachute in mid-air! Unfortunately, this exhilarating opening winds up being memorable more for what it gets wrong than for what it gets right.
Now, the aerial acrobatics on display here by uncredited stunt double Jake Lombard can’t be faulted. However, thanks to a few brief close-ups during the sequence, it’s painfully clear that Lombard – and not Roger Moore – is the one playing cinema’s most iconic super spy here.
Impossible To Notice: Guardians Of The Galaxy
Few stuntmen boast similar bulk to Dave Bautista – which you’d expect, given Bautista’s background in professional wrestling, mixed martial arts and bodybuilding. However, one who does is Rob de Groot, which is what landed him the gig doubling for Bautista as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy.
With his scalp shaved and lathered in green body paint, de Groot was a spot-on match for Bautista, which came in handy when the Guardian’s resident bruiser needed to engage in especially hazardous superheroics!
Super Obvious: Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most recognizable action stars on the planet – and this was especially the case at the height of his fame in the early 90s. So it was hard to miss it when a stunt double (and not Arnie) portrayed the T-800 riding a motorcycle in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
This was a movie goof that obviously bugged James Cameron, too. When it came time to re-release T2 in 3D, the director used modern CGI to replace stuntman Peter Kent’s face with Schwarzenegger’s (although Kent remains visible in some shots.)
Impossible To Notice: Hot Pursuit
Unlike many other stunt performers, Marny Eng’s frame isn’t exactly what you’d describe as “towering” or “broad-shouldered” – which is why she was hired for 2015 action/comedy Hot Pursuit.
After all, the film’s leading lady, Reese Witherspoon – who Eng was doubling for – definitely belongs at the “petite” end of the body type spectrum, as well.
Toss in the close physical resemblance the pair shared, and you’ve got a recipe for the kind of seamless intercutting between actor and stuntwoman on display during Hot Pursuit’s numerous high speed gags.
Super Obvious: Tremors
As a homage to the “creature features” of the 1950s, Tremors is the kind of popcorn flick that can almost get away with errors like noticeable stunt performers. It’s part of the fun of watching an '80s update on the classic (and at times, shoddy) monster movie formula.
That's why, even when a stuntman shows up sporting a truly terrible wig in a vain attempt to imitate Kevin Bacon, it’s no cause for concern. If anything, pointing out the Footloose star’s double adds an extra layer of charm to proceedings.
