Confessions of a Hollywood Stuntman

Stuntman Vic Armstrong spent a career pickings blows in some of Hollywood ’s most iconic roles . In this undivided excerpt from his Modern book , he line what it was like to really , physically , be Indiana Jones .

work in the studio was bully ; it was such a fun film to be on . I remember it was a bake hot summertime and we ’d all come to exercise in shorts . The famous mine railroad car pursuit was all done in the level-headed level and it was establish almost like a rollercoaster . One twenty-four hour period it was blisteringly hot and Kate Capshaw , who was a lovely , sweet girl , bought internal-combustion engine creams for everyone . ‘ Quick Vic , quick , ’ she said , and compact Short Round ’s double , Roy Alon , and me into the mine motorcar and itch frappe ointment all over our expression just like a naughty schoolgirl . ‘ Tell them we ’re ready , ’ she said . ‘ What about the ice cream ? ’ I asked . ‘ Just tell them we ’re ready . ’ So I shout , ‘ We ’re quick up here Steven ! ’ OK , action . We came hurtling down and as we go past the photographic camera we were all eating ice cream . God it was queer , but not for the hapless grips who had to run like hell with these two cameras on a dolly to overtake up with us , sweating their nut off only to see us playing jokes . It was like , ‘ Thanks Guy ! ’

At one point in the pursuit Kate had to punch a villain off the back final stage of the mine car while it was still move . I was watching from behind the television camera , speeding along trying to get it all in line because it was a sly angle . It was close to lunch and we were still shooting , everyone was sudate and grumpy , but we could n’t get it ripe , you could see the gap between the punch every sentence .

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‘ How was that Vic ? ’ they ’d ask . ‘ Missed it , ’ I ’d reply and they ’d all growl at me . ‘ It ’s not my fault . I ’m just saying you leave out it . You ai n’t fetch it . ’ The mine car came shooting down again and this metre Kate actually polish off the man straight in the aspect and Steven went , ‘ Yes , keen , now you ca n’t say she missed there Vic . ’ I break , ‘ She did . ’ He went , ‘ What are you speak about , calculate , he ’s got a handsome fat lip ! ’ I said , ‘ No , she hit him , but it ’s crap , it looks awful . ’ When you throw a film poke it ’s get down to be a massive hit ; what Kate did was existent but it looked weak because she chickened out half agency through when she realize she ’d made contact . So everybody growled at me again and Steven said , ‘ One more fourth dimension because Vic say that was a miss , miss the guy with the fat lip . ’ Down it came and Kate confuse the poke . ‘ How was that ? ’ ‘ Yeah , that was serious . ’ And for sure enough , just like that overleap punch I yell in Tunisia on Raiders , when Steven watched the dailies he suppose , ‘ Good call Vic , that looks like nothing . ’

John Wayne in reality formulate it – those big haymaker young lady await far better on concealment than the real thing . And I always say it ’s the individual taking the punch that wee-wee the shot , that piss the punch bragging . It could be Arnie Schwarzenegger throwing a clout but if the guy rope on the other end does n’t pop out his headland it looks like nothing , and yet you could have a weakly interacting massive particle throw a punch and if Arnie pops his nous , you go wow , what a big lick . It ’s the response that makes it .

Every Friday at the end of the day we used to have a pound draw . Everybody write their name on a £ 1 note , put it in a garbage can old bag which was then stir , and whoever ’s pound distinction was pulled out gain the whole lot – it was quite a lot of money . One daytime Harrison won it . ‘ For God ’s sake , ’ he say . The guy did n’t do it what to do with it , and we said , ‘ No , no , a achiever ’s a succeeder , you keep it , give it to charity or something . ’ Everyone said goodnight to each other and exit . Meanwhile Steven , Harrison and I walked onto the set because I want to show them some fighting choreography planned for next week . And poor Harrison was walking around really embarrassed with this large dustbin bag crammed full of pound notes . I see him and saw that he keep putting this bag down somewhere and walking off only for somebody to say , ‘ Harrison , you forgot your handbag . ’ He tried this three or four time .

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We finished the rehearsal and walked to the motorcar ballpark and Harrison start dropping back . Out of the corner of my centre I saw him look around before pick out the tattiest old car , take the air over , feel the door , open up it , throw the ashbin bag in , shut the doorway and just carry on as if nothing had happened . I never did learn what became of it . That guy must have sit in his gondola – he was credibly a plasterer or one of the labourer – and said , ‘ Who ’s put crashing scrap in my car ? ’ and it was this dustbin bag full of money . I hope he did n’t drop it out without looking in it ! But it was a lovely touch from Harrison .

function with Harrison again was wondrous . On the last night of shooting I went over to a local pub to bribe the wire riggers a drink , because they ’d done such a great job , and suddenly in walked Harrison . He always sleep with come across the carpenter and the rigger and was keen to have a drink with the lads . Later on , we both rifle out of doors for a breath of bracing air and endure by the back of my railroad car he said , ‘ You stunt guy cable are lucky , all the girls fancy you . ’ I say , ‘ You are joking , are n’t you ? You ’re bloody Harrison Ford ! ’ He enunciate , ‘ No , nobody ever cognise who I am . ’ I state , ‘ What a load of nonsense , you ’re acknowledge in a pulsation . ’ He say , ‘ I ’m not you know . Watch this . ’ And with that he shouted over at these two young ladies walking into the pub . Both of them stop and look , and Harrison pointed to himself and say , ‘ Indiana Jones , Han Solo , Harrison Ford . ’ And they go , ‘ Yeah , right , ’ and just turn around and carried on walking . ‘ See , I told you , ’ he said , ‘ they do n’t jazz me , nobody recognizes me . ’ Anyway , we shut the pub down that Nox and terminate up have a great hard drink - up .

Three months subsequently I ’d just finished work in Mexico on Dune and flew to LA to have a meeting with director Richard Fleischer about doing Conan the Destroyer . I anticipate Harrison and he suggested we meet up for dinner . At the time he lived up near Pickfair and he gave me directions how to get there . I assume the car but could n’t commemorate if he said turn left or veracious at the T - junction , so I turned right . I drove on a snatch further until I see a bowlder hinder the road , which Harrison had told me was the result of an avalanche years before . ‘ I ’m next door to the bowlder , ’ he ’d said . I park and walk into this elegant home and see a sign on the rampart . ‘ I ’m below with the physio , make yourself at home . ’ I thought , he ’s give birth back problems again .

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‘ I ’m here , ’ I blackguard . ‘ Harrison ? ’ No solvent . I decided to make relaxed and looked at the view over the Hollywood Hills ; mythologic . I walk around for a bit and then ride down . Twenty hour passed . ‘ Hello , ’ I articulate . ‘ Anybody there ? ’ Nothing . Now I start to get the feeling that something was incorrect , that this was not Harrison ’s mansion , because it just did n’t look right . I was getting paranoid and having visions of the possessor come out and setting the Dobermans on me because they thought I was an interloper . Having antecedently walked around the home shouting my capitulum off , I now tip - toed out to the car and raced off down the road . As I went hurtle past the T - junction , sure enough stand up outside bet for me was Harrison . I ’d go the wrong means . God recognise whose house I ’d been in .

Finally I got to Harrison ’s home and he indicate me round . The first thing he did was to take me into one of the bedroom . Pulling open a drawer he flip it over and said , ‘ reckon at these dovetails . ’ He was showing me furniture he ’d just made . He was so proud of it . I ’ve always sound out that ’s the mark of his professionalism : even the dovetail joint joints in the back of a draftsman that nobody ever see , he require them to be utterly staring . And that ’s the kind of attention to detail that he brings to his motion-picture show . After a few beer we headed out for dinner . I was looking at the menu when I suddenly realised he ’d taken me to a blooming Mexican eatery . ‘ Thanks Harrison , ’ I pronounce . ‘ Mexican food , just what I need after three months in Mexico City . ’ He sit there chortle to himself .

Melissa was also there with us that night and midway through the meal aver , ‘ Vic , I ’ve wanted to expect you something . The last night of shooting at Elstree on Temple of Doom , were you with Harrison ? ’ I think , oh fuck , I ’ve walked into a family wrangle here . I take care across for some yes or no tremble of the head from Harrison , but he was hiding behind a menu , he would n’t even look at me . ‘ You know he did n’t get in until two o’clock that morn . ’ ‘ Yeah , ’ I said . ‘ We were in the pub . ’ She enjoin , ‘ Well , we were get dinner with very influential people that night . And he just did n’t wrick up , no earpiece call , nothing . ’ I say , ‘ It ’s not my fault . You fuck , you should ’ve done what I do in those situations , just tell them he was knead recently . ’ She said , ‘ I could have done , but it would have been unenviable , because it was Steven Spielberg and George Lucas that I was having dinner with . I ca n’t say Harrison ’s working deep with the director and the manufacturer sit next to me ! ’ He just did n’t turn up for dinner ; he ’d preferred to pass the nighttime boozing with us . Hysterical guy , Harrison .

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Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim : a world where the daughter are sexy , the drinks are firm , and the editors steadfastly refuse to wear pants .

The True Adventures of the World ’s Greatest Stuntman : My Life as Indiana Jones , James Bond , Superman and Other Movie Heroes is useable fromAmazon.com

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