Ryan Reynolds Free Guy Stunt Double Reveals Major Injuries That Made the Final Cut
Stunt performers are highly-trained professionals who are essential to making many Hollywood movies happen without serious injury on the part of the cast and crew (Tom Cruise notwithstanding). But occasionally, everyone makes a mistake at their job -- and sometimes, when a stunt performer screws up, it gets caught on film and shared widely for the world. It's a little strange and even disconcerting to think about somebody's actual injury making its way to the big screen, it's inevitable that sometimes that will happen. That, apparently, came to pass in Free Guy, according to stuntman Daniel Stevens, who shared some harrowing memories from the production on a new episode of Corridor Crew's Stuntmen React.
One scene in particular -- where Ryan Reynolds's Guy flies through the air and bounces off a concrete pillar, was the source of a herniated disc for Stevens. In the video, he describes doing the stunt, in which he was supposed to hit the target with his face, more or less parallel to the pillar itself (which was covered in green screen foam).
Instead, he said, he hit it "head first" and could immediately hear a cracking sound in his neck as he "scorpioned" his back.
In another scene, he remembers being thrown by the giant "muscled" version of Guy, and that no matter how he fell when landing on his shoulder, it hurt the same. Ironically, he said, sometimes they actually use the less dynamic, less-injurious take.
You can see the full video below.
In Twentieth Century Studios' epic adventure-comedy Free Guy, a bank teller who discovers he is actually a background player in an open-world video game, decides to become the hero of his own story...one he rewrites himself. Now in a world where there are no limits, he is determined to be the guy who saves his world his way...before it is too late.
Free Guy was directed by Shawn Levy from a story by Matt Lieberman and a screenplay by Lieberman and Zak Penn. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Taika Waititi.
Free Guy was produced by Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Adam Kolbrenner with Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, George Dewey, Dan Levine and Michael Riley McGrath serving as executive producers.
You can see the film on Disney+ now, or get it on DVD, Blu-ray or Digital almost anywhere.