Marshall and the Movies

There has been pressure on the Academy to recognize stunt performers at the Academy Awards; the Screen Actors Guild recently added a category to award the best stunt ensemble of a movie.  If the Oscars do decide to add a new category any time soon, I definitely think this should be it.

I’m not a particularly daring person when it comes to attempting physical feats.  I wasn’t the kid to climb a tree to the top or try the giant leap down.  I’ve often watched a movie wondering how any sane human being could do some of the feats being performed.  I’ve grown a little more cynical with the dawn of CGI, but I know there are still many daring stunt performers at work in Hollywood.

I’m also pretty amazed when I hear about actors doing their own stunts.  This summer, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Angelina Jolie did the work for “Inception” and “Salt,” respectively.  But they are all about to be put to shame by Tom Cruise, who pulled off a stunt dangling from the side of the world’s tallest building in Dubai.  I don’t care how much you pay me or how much publicity it got me, as an actor, I would NEVER do this stunt myself.

Although it doesn’t technically count as stunt work (at least to my knowledge), I still chalk up the most daring feat in acting of my time to Christian Bale for standing at the tip of the tallest building in America for “The Dark Knight.”