While Chris O’Hara might not be a household name to your average moviegoer, he’s a bonafide legend when it comes to stunt work. One of the most sought after stunt coordinators working today, you’ve no doubt seen many of the films he’s worked on. Everything from John Wick to Jurassic World to Venom, O’Hara has left his mark on many of the biggest action movies of the past decade. Most recently, Chris O’Hara laid out the fights we saw in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw and Comicbook.com was on hand in London to have a conversation about several topics in relation to stunt work.
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While some people might have the misconception that stunt work is as easy as just stringing together some really cool punches or kicks, maybe a throw here or there, there’s so much more work that goes into the thought process. Even before the action choreography comes into play, a stunt coordinator has to decide how a particular character will fight based on a variety of factors in the script, which can be especially daunting in today’s day and age where stunts and fight scenes have become much more demanding. So how exactly does one determine this?
“We work hand in hand with the director and try to see where that character is going to go,” O’Hara said.
Luckily for O’Hara, coming on board Hobbs & Shaw meant some of the legwork was already done when figuring out as he continued to explain: “One things with Hobbs & Shaw is that we already had two established characters so we already kind of knew who those characters were. As far as creating a fighting style, that was already kind of set for us. The fact that Hobbs is this big, burly guy, he’s not gonna be the kung fu guy. So we kind of knew he wasn’t going to be the kung fu guy. Shaw was kind of the finesse, and that was established in the Fast & Furious world.”
I couldn’t leave the interview without asking who he thinks hits harder – The Rock’s punch? Or Jason Statham‘s kick?
“I dunno… I think it’s a toss up. They both know their power.”
Make sure you click on the player at the top of the article to watch the interview in its entirety.
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is now available to own on Digital HD and 4K UHD, BluBlu-ray, and DVD.
