Stuntman Eddie J. Fernandez, who’s labored with Statham on seven motion pictures, breaks down the nuts and bolts of a battle scene with the superstar. Photograph: Dan Smith/Amazon MGM Studios/Everett Assortment
Inside the hallowed annals of Stathamology — throughout the multibillion-dollar-grossing, karate-kicking, larynx-crushing filmic oeuvre of Jason Statham — Eddie J. Fernandez is also Hollywood’s primary knowledgeable. The veteran stunt performer/martial artist/actor/motion choreographer’s occupation spans some 300 motion pictures, together with Jurassic Global, Captain The usa: The Wintry weather Soldier, No Nation for Previous Males, Batman Starts, or even the 2004 Best possible Image Oscar winner Crash. And during the last 4 many years, he has been at the receiving finish of shotgun blasts, hand grenades, and headbutts from the crème de los angeles crème of action-thrillerdom: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dwayne Johnson, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Cruise, and Will Smith amongst them.
However since 2006, Fernandez has quietly constructed a facet renown because the trade’s preeminent foil to Statham’s ultraviolent mayhem in seven movies: as a stuntman in Crank, Crank: Prime Voltage, 2010’s The Expendables, The Mechanic, and Speedy & Livid Items: Hobbs & Shaw, and as an motion choreographer for the British difficult man’s final two motion pictures, The Beekeeper (2024) and A Running Guy, in theaters now.
Fernandez has been killed via Statham onscreen such a lot of occasions, he has hassle maintaining the entire main points immediately. Within the David Ayer–directed A Running Guy, Statham portrays one of those blue-collar brute: a former special-ops soldier now operating as a development foreman who embarks on a spree of righteous homicide and gratuitous disembowelment when the daughter of his employer is abducted as a part of a human-trafficking operation. We see drug sellers, outlaw bikers, and Russian mobsters succumb to the motion hero’s awesome foot-fist manner — Fernandez amongst them, in just a little phase as a thug who will get his ass kicked via Statham at a downtown development jobsite. Which is the entire extra self-flagellating while you imagine that Fernandez additionally choreographed the stunts and preventing: conjuring motion sequences, plotting each and every beat of them out with a staff the usage of previsualization device, additional refining the scenes with Statham and Ayer in preproduction, and making last-minute tweaks earlier than cameras rolled.
Talking by way of Zoom, Fernandez broke down for Vulture the nuts and bolts of a Jason Statham battle scene — detailing, specifically, how the superstar “doesn’t need to get punched.”
Has there been an evolution in the best way that you just’ve noticed Statham method stuntwork through the years?
At first, the studio wouldn’t let him do sure issues. They didn’t need him to get harm. However then Tom Cruise comes alongside and he needs to do all his personal stunts. He’s the moneyman. He produced numerous his personal motion pictures, so there used to be no person to mention no. Then you were given Keanu Reeves. He trains exhausting! It’s 5 within the morning, he’s coaching with those warring parties.
So we’d sneak in those little fights with him and the manufacturers would say, “You probably did it?!” Sure, he did it, and now they’re inspired that he did all these items. Now not simplest that, the administrators are inspired. Now, they might shoot him with out hiding his face. And with regards to the stunt double, now they might in truth see Jason doing the entire battle with out cuts. So now they may be able to get an extended efficiency and make their days and transfer directly to the following scene. Jason himself is superb, an athletic guy. With fights, he is helping choreograph them. We teach, he rehearses them. By the point we’re on set, he is aware of each and every transfer so there’s no hiccups.
On the subject of stunts and fights, you could have mentioned that Jason is aware of precisely what he needs. What’s he on the lookout for? What are the parts of a just right Jason Statham battle?
It begins from the script: It says at that second within the film, he bumps into X quantity of folks. Alongside that tale line, he’s already been down within the dumps; now he wishes to polish.
His factor is he doesn’t need to get punched. I informed Jason in this film, “Hiya, you were given to take a success. The target market needs to look you’re taking a success.”
“All proper, Eddie.” So there’s some hits he took in this film.
However as opposed to that, for Jason, we choreograph with a battle staff. We work out the world we’re going to be in. Is it out of doors, inside of, is it in a bar? So now we get a hold of items to make use of and the place he’s going to fall and the place’s the following individual going to fall. After which when we get a battle scene in combination, we display it to Jason and David, our director.
They have a look at it after which Jason throws his, “Hiya, reverse of this, can I am going right here after which throw this man after which perhaps finish up over right here so I may get out more straightforward?”
And I’m like, Hell yeah!
We redo the battle choreography, we shoot the previs once more, after which we display him after which David. After we get green-lit via everyone, that’s what we’re going to do. We rehearse it, and rehearse it, and rehearse it. Jason likes to come back in and be told each and every beat so when he’s on set, no person’s looking forward to him as a result of he is aware of the entirety. That’s what’s actually cool. Numerous actors don’t do this; they’ll simply attempt to wreck it down. Now not him, he’ll pass so far as shall we pass.
I imply, after he is taking on an enormous shark, there’s actually nearly not anything he can’t tackle. However you mentioned one thing that’s so attention-grabbing to me, which is that he doesn’t need to get hit, and also you needed to be like, “You want to take some punches for this to appear life like.”
Take a look at all his motion pictures: There’s such a lot of folks he’s preventing, and from time to time, any person will throw a punch. I mentioned, “I do know you were given a beautiful face, however we wish to see a bit of blood right here, a bit of minimize right here.”
Is he contractually obligated to win the entire fights?
I imply [in A Working Man], we put him in a scenario the place he does get knocked out. We in spite of everything say, “Hiya, you’re out.” So, yeah, he will get some blows. Then his personality wakes up and he’s in a van like, “What simply came about?” And he assesses the place he’s at and he is aware of that he has to do one thing; differently, he’s a goner. That is the place Jason’s ideas and concepts get started coming in, like, “Increase, we’re going to make use of this, what’s he going to do? How are we going to get him out of those handcuffs?”
You probably did motion choreography on The Beekeeper and A Running Guy. In each the ones motion pictures, about 85 % of the best way thru, there’s a climactic battle between Jason and the only personality within the movie who poses a major risk to him. Is that via design? The nature’s title is Dutch on this film.
All I do know is after I noticed Dutch, I used to be like, “Oh my gosh, he’s a large man. How are we going to deliver him down?” I began pondering of ways you deliver a tree down: You get started chiseling away. That’s precisely how we broke that battle. Bit by bit, we needed to get him all the way down to his degree when he’s on his knees and in spite of everything — goodbye. Nevertheless it used to be simply an excessive amount of to place in a film the place we had been crunched on time. We needed to X numerous those movements out. It got here down extra all the way down to floor and pound, simply end it up actual fast.
Jason is aware of his target market. I nearly really feel like Jason Statham lovers are like, “We don’t need to see our man get beat up.” So while you come to plotting the motion, do you stay that during thoughts?
After all. We are saying, “Neatly, then, if we hit him too early, he’s going to need to put on this all over the remainder of the display. No, that’s no longer Jason. The target market loves Jason’s glance. We need to make certain that he’s k.”
We do frame hits, numerous frame hits. So you realize he’s taking some punches and a few kicks and getting thrown towards the wall or stuff like that. And it’s all inside, you by no means see it within the face.
Vulture compiled a score of his best kills in all his motion pictures. And a number of items that you’re in and feature choreographed are on there. I sought after to run thru a few those kills to determine if it used to be you within the scene. At No. 7, in Crank, Jason hacks off a man’s hand, which is protecting a gun, then he makes use of the fellow’s personal hand to make him shoot himself. Is that you just?
No. At the moment, I used to be one of the most stunt warring parties. I performed a henchman. Nevertheless it’s so humorous for the reason that hand were given minimize, after which there used to be the neck. I imply, the pinnacle. I used to be like, What sort of film are we doing? However to look all that, to me, I simply like it and it’s a laugh and it’s attainable. It’s a bit of tacky, nevertheless it’s so cool.
In Crank 2: Prime Voltage, Jason crushes a man’s testicles, then jams a needle in his neck. Used to be that you just?
No, however I used to be there. It used to be a closed set. Now and again when there’s nudity being shot, it’s perfect to have much less folks on set for folks to accomplish their scenes. All of us attempt to keep away and allow them to really feel relaxed. That’s an overly exhausting factor to do, a scene like that. Even supposing we predict, Oh, that used to be humorous, it’s exhausting to shoot it. It takes so much out of folks, numerous power, numerous feelings pop out.
In The Mechanic, Jason harpoons a man, snaps his neck, and makes use of him as a human protect. You?
I hardly ever keep in mind that. I performed one of the most henchmen that comes out of the airplane. I forgot what I do. I used to be concerned about helping some [stunt] coordinating, so I used to be taking part in an element, however I used to be additionally answerable for hiring the suitable folks and allowing them to know that is our subsequent stunt gag and the entirety else. And I bear in mind Jason needed to soar off the bridge. I used to be so concerned about all that and I forgot what I used to be doing in there. However folks ship me footage: Oh, yeah, I performed that personality. I believe I were given shot via him.
You’ve died at his fingers such a lot of occasions, it turns into a blur after a definite level. Up to now two movies with him, had been there occasions the place Jason mentioned, “That is an excessive amount of for me. What you’re proposing is out of personality for me?” Or: “Let’s amp issues up, Eddie.”
Oh, he sought after to amp issues up always. And if he says, Nah, I don’t need to do it, there’s at all times a just right reason why. Possibly it simply didn’t make sense at that second, for the reason that script will get revised such a lot of occasions by the point you get started taking pictures it. Then it will get rewritten once more while you start taking pictures as a result of now we’re understanding, We must perceive why this is going on. Jason, as a just right actor himself, will say, “Neatly, why would I do this after which pass do that? It doesn’t make sense.”
So then David and him speak about it they usually mentioned, “You understand what? I am getting it. We’ll scratch that, you do that as an alternative.”
He’s pondering like an motion choreographer himself.
Yeah, after all. I imply, he’s LeBron. When he begins, when he will get on set, he’s that man. He wishes to understand what this man would do all over the entire movie.
Jason’s movies are full of him the usage of attention-grabbing, surprising pieces to bludgeon or kill folks. I puzzled if you were given enmeshed in that procedure in any respect and had been like, “Hiya, what about the usage of this?” And perhaps if it’s essential to take me thru a kind of scenarios.
There’s fights that we did on The Beekeeper and those guns that he used to be dissembling. He says, “Neatly, since I took this shotgun, why don’t I simply shove it in this man’s throat like this?”
After which David would pass, “I really like that.”
And we have a look at, “Hiya, results, you’re going to have mildew this and this and that,” and abruptly they’re operating exhausting to get that mildew piece prosthetic made.
I imply, such things as that simply occur always. “Hiya, there’s a sequence putting; I’m going to hold a man.” Increase, deliver within the riggers, put a harness in this man. We’re going to deliver him up. As an alternative of an actual chain, put a pretend chain on him.
It’s simply such a lot of issues that occur on set, like I mentioned. Whenever you in truth get in there, extra concepts come. After which one of the crucial concepts mentioned, “Neatly, I will be able to’t do this if that is there.” So what are we going to do? “Neatly, that’s a heavy piece of equipment, we will be able to’t transfer it. All proper, so now we need to rechoreograph the entirety and get rid of sure issues, however let’s upload this.”
So you were given to be pondering so much to your toes. Like David says, deliver your whole gear to set since you by no means know what he’s going to invite you for; you simply higher be able for it.
