Lane Leavitt

Last Updated on July 28, 2021

Commando pic courtesy of
Stunt
Revolution

The
Arrow interviews Lane Leavitt

Stunt men are often overlooked by the
general public but yet they’re responsible for some of the more
memorable moments from our favorite films. I recently contacted one of the tops if not
THE TOP stuntman in the industry LANE
LEAVITT. The man has worked on:

Fright Night, Commando,

NOES Part 2,

Cobra,

Vamp,

The Hidden, The
Running Man, Lethal Weapon 2,

Army of Darkness,

T2,

Blade 2,

Jeepers Creepers 2, Cradle 2 the Grave and the list goes
on and on! Lane has seen it all and done it all and here’s the
Leavitt in action!

You started out as
a US motorcycle racer (you were 3 times trial champion). Your first
stunt was for the Fall Guy TV Show. After that you got the bug. What
was it about “stunt work” that talked to you so much?

Stunt work scared
the hell out of me at first! In those early days every time you did
a stunt people expected you to “sell out.” Meaning if you held back
you were not giving the scene your all. To sell out meant that you
either got the wind knocked out of you or your were hurt but didn’t
tell anyone! You just shook it off in private and a lot of stuntmen
back then got hooked on pain killers or became drunks or drug
addicts simply to survive.

Where I found my
nitch was in coming up with better looking and safer ways of doing
big stunts. That’s how I came up with my mission statement
“revolutionizing the stunt industry”! Also the motto, bigger stunts,
smaller bruises also is a favorite of mine. Now stuntwork has swung
completely the other directional lot of stuntmen tend to be sissies
today. If they get a little bruise and they whine. If they did that
in the old days they would have never worked again. Today we see the
movies done in China or Hong Kong being done in the same spirit we
had back in the day in the USA. So their action films have become
very popular around the world.

The profession of
stunt man is somewhat of an obscure one in terms of the general
public. Care to educate us? Did you have to go to stunt school to
keep on working? Did you have to get a license? What process did you
have to go through to become a full fledge stunt man?

There are no good
stunt schools, if you are a good stuntman you work and you don’t
have time to run a school. Besides the amount of money you can earn
in films is way better than unemployed want a be stuntmen could ever
dream of paying you do teach them how to do it. So why would anyone
bother to take the time? They would lose thousands of dollars!

Stuntmen tend to be
all types! Some are sports champions, some just look exactly like an
actor so they get the doubling job. If they cannot do something well
like a high dive or flip they will just bring in a specialist for
that one scene. So there is really no single path to movie stunt
success, everyone finds their own nitch in the business.

A good start is
often the action stunt shows at say the Universal studios tours our
Disneyworld. A lot of theme parks now run stunt shows and they
really do teach you a lot about the skills needed. Plus you meet a
lot of people who might be able to help you in your movie career.

Of all the stunts
you have performed; any close calls? If so, what stunt was it and
for which film?

My next one! The
hardest stunt for any stuntman is finding his next job. After
finding one, then trying to keep it. Working on films is my favorite
thing in any capacity.

You’ve worked
within varied budget ranges. From the little guys (Vamp, Nightmare
on Elm Street 4, Dead Heat, Halloween 4, I Come in peace and more)
to the big guys (Terminator 2, Cliffhanger, Batman and Robin, Fight
Club and more). Does the film’s budget affect the way you labor on
set as a stunt man? Which types of project do you prefer working on?

For a stuntman the
budget means nothing! Sometimes the smaller films are even more fun
than the big ones because they will rely on great action instead of
loads of visual FX and big name stars. We get paid the same on a
little movie or a blockbuster, only the stars get paid more on the
biggies.

You’ve gone in the
trenches with the two action kings of the 80’s: Arnold
Schwarzenegger (Running Man, The Last Action Hero) and Sylvester
Stallone (Cobra, Cliffhanger). What can you say about both men by
way of your experiences with them?

All bullshit aside,
both these guys are amazing and self made men. That’s really hard to
find in Hollywood, most actors in this town are creations of the
publicity people. Arnold and Stallone are profiles in courage and
hard work, they fought their way to the top and I really respect
them both. You have to look far and wide in Hollywood to find actors
that are not spoiled sissies. Neither Stallone or Arnold fall into
this category.

Let’s expand on
Cobra where it is one of my favorite movies of all time. What stunts
did you perform on that show?

Cobra was a great
film and Stallone was really one his game back then. I was one of
the motorcycle gangsters and Stallone exploded me and my motorcycle
with a hand grenade. Both me and the bike flew through the air in
the hotel scene. I also did a lot of running around with a machine
gun and was shot and killed a time or two by the big guy.

Cliffhanger was
also one of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had. I used to
be afraid of high places, after surviving that 6 month project in
the Italian Alps they don’t bother me anymore. I’ve done about 7
pictures with Arnold! He’s one of my favorite actors to work with.
He’s killed me at least a dozen times.

With the advent of
technology (CGI specifically) do you see the “stunt man” profession
in danger of being extinct?

The CGI nerds think
they can replace stuntmen. I say to them give it your best shot
punk! Why people are flocking to the Hong Kong films like Hero and
Crouching Tiger is that it’s real not CGI like we see so much of in
American movies now. Look at the first Matrix and then the last two.
Which are better the first without much CGI budget or the last two
with all the overboard CGI effects?

They you decide if
real stuntmen or computer cartoons are better. Ideally visual FX and
stunts need to be a team. The director who’s the very best at this
is Jim Cameron. He knows how to blend the two and create the very
best look and make it honest and real for the guy sitting in the
theater seat. Everyone else is just playing catch up with the
master, Jim Cameron.

Has technology changed the way that your work? If so how did you have to
adapt?

Technology is
always very, very important. Only with the best tools and the most
talented people can you do something that’s never been done before.
I also like the line from the movie “The Right Stuff” It takes bucks
to be Buck Rodgers!

Someone must decide
to make an effort to put the work and spend the bucks to give the
people in the seats something new and better. New is not always
better however, that’s why someone like a Jim Cameron is needed to
drive everyone beyond what they thought they could do.

If there was ever a
mis-conception about the stunt profession and the men that work
within it, what would it be? Care to set the record straight?

Stuntmen are like
all groups of people, they run the gambit. We have one of everything
like all groups of people. We have the good the bad and the ugly.
You can say the same for firemen or lawyers.

Any words of wisdom
to all the aspiring stunt men out there?

Be yourself and
follow your dreams.

Cobra pic courtesy of
Stunt
Revolution

I’d
like to thank
Lane for crashing
through the site and for making some of my fav movie scenes come to
life over the years. Keep on stunting Lane and we’ll keep watching!

CHECK OUT LANE’S STUNT DEMO HERE

VISIT
LANE’S OFFICIAL SITE HERE