How To Become A Stunt Double

Your job is to be the actor’s shadow—but a shadow that can do a backflip into a moving car. Studios don’t hire you for your charming smile; they hire you for your ability to not break while falling thirty feet. A surprising fact: many stunt doubles are also professional parkour athletes, ex-gymnasts, or people who simply never learned the concept of fear. One famous double for Chris Hemsworth once said, “I just pretend the ground is lava and I’m very motivated.”

If you can’t do a forward roll without your glasses falling off, start with a basic gymnastics class. Then, maybe a fire-safety course, because you will eventually be set ablaze—it’s basically a hazing ritual.

Step Two: Learn the “Sell” of the Fall

Falling is easy. Falling like a movie star is an art form. You have to learn the perfect flinch timing—not too early (looks fake), not too late (you actually get hurt). Most stunt doubles practice on giant airbags for months before they even touch concrete. A top stunt coordinator once told me the secret: “Throw your arms out like you’re hugging the pavement, but roll at the last second.” I tried this into a couch and I still sprained my pride.

Also, learn to take a punch. Not a real one—a choreographed punch. This is where the phrase “slow is smooth, smooth is fast” becomes your mantra. If you accidentally actually punch your stunt partner, you buy them pizza. Lots of pizza.

Step Three: Get Certified (Yes, There’s a Union)

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has a stunt department. You need a special certification to be a “certified stunt performer.” This involves passing tests like: fall down three flights of stairs, land in a pit, and then smile about it. One test requires you to “car-hang” while the vehicle moves at 30 mph. If you fall off, you just get a stern look and a pamphlet on vehicle safety.

But here’s the hilarious part: you also need to look like the actor. I’m not just talking about hair color. I mean your ear shape needs to match. I’m not kidding—a famous actress refused to let her double do a close-up because their earlobes were “too droopy.” So, if you have a twin, you’re already 90% employed. If not, get familiar with fake beards and silicone ear molds.

Step Four: Accept the Weirdest Jobs

You won’t always leap from helicopters. Sometimes you’ll play a body double for a scene where the actor just sits at a computer. That’s it. You sit for six hours while the director yells, “More typing anger!” One stunt double I know spent an entire week being the butt of a robot in a sci-fi movie. He wore a green suit and screamed “BEEP BOOP” on cue. He made $15,000.

Other odd jobs include: falling into cake (for a romantic comedy), being dragged by a horse (for a historical drama), and playing a zombie that gets shot in the face with a confetti cannon (for a music video). The pay is usually great, but your resume looks like a fever dream.

Step Five: Get a Second Job (At First)

Stunt work is not a steady paycheck. You might work for three days, then wait six weeks for the next gig. That’s when you become a personal trainer, a yoga instructor, or—and this is true—a professional mattress tester. Yes, there is a man in Los Angeles who gets paid to lie on beds and “pretend to fall down stairs on them” for mattress commercials. He is my hero.

Also, buy good health insurance. I cannot stress this enough. You will pull a hamstring while pretending to trip over a curb. You will catch a surprising amount of things on fire. And you will develop a very specific injury called “stunt neck,” which is just whiplash with a cooler name.

The Final Secret: Be a Nice Human

Here’s the surprising fact that changes everything: the best stunt doubles are the nicest people on set. They’re the ones who bring coffee, laugh off mistakes, and never complain when they have to do a 17th take of being electrocuted. Why? Because if you’re a grump, the actor’s agent will demand a different double.

I talked to a veteran who doubled for Keanu Reeves. He said the key was “never act cooler than the actor.” Keanu is famously humble, so his double had to also act humble while hanging off a motorcycle. The double’s actual words: “I just smiled, nodded, and silently thanked my chiropractor.”

So, can you do it? Sure. Start learning to fall, get in absurdly good shape, and prepare to have your face replaced with a CGI version of someone richer. It’s a beautiful, chaotic, and fire-filled career. Just remember: if you ever feel scared, just whisper to yourself, “It’s only a movie… and I get paid to break stuff.”