Ryan Gosling and David Leitch Talk ‘Barbie,’ Best Movie Stunts, and More

THE FALL GUY is an ode to stunt coordinators everywhere, and the joy of making movies. It’s also an action-packed movie that’s full of fun. For Men’s Health‘s video series “Don’t Read the Comments,” the star of the film, Ryan Gosling, and director David Leitch dove into the depths of the internet to read comments and provide a bit more context into the magic of filmmaking.

The film is filled with stunts and epic moments, and in one particular scene, Gosling fell 12 stories. “It was important,” Gosling says. “And I had to put sunglasses on at the end to hide my fear.”

“It was a great acting technique,” Leitch says.

Leitch, who’s not only directed action films, but has worked as a stunt coordinator and performer for years, says it all started because he wanted to be an athlete. Since then, Leitch has performed stunts for The Bourne Legacy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and more. And all that hard work should be rewarded. Both Gosling and Leitch agree stunt work should be better-recognized in the industry.

“You can’t separate the history of cinema from the history of action,” Gosling says. “The action is just as designed as the makeup in a film, or the costumes or the cinematography.”

If there was a stunt category for this year, Leitch would give his props to John Wick Chapter 4. “The stair fall in that movie alone…it’s insane.” The pair also shouted out Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One. “Tom’s motorcycle jump, for sure,” Gosling says.

Finally, Leitch gives props to another recent Gosling film: Barbie. “I thought the beach fight in Barbie was strong,” he says. “It’s hard to get that kind of action-comedy right.”

Gosling laughs, but agrees. “They were so creative, the stuff that they were coming up with. None of that was in the script. They just kept coming up with ways that you could fight on a beach and not knowing what fighting even is.”

The pair also talk about Leitch’s transition to directing, potential Fall Guy 2 ideas, Atomic Blonde, scary stunts, and more in the rest of the Don’t Read the Comments video above.

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