Can you tell us about some of the stunts you have helped to coordinate?

One of the biggest ones was the opening crash sequence we did. We had to have a car travelling along a road at 80 miles an hour and create the illusion that it was hit by a truck and flipped down the road. The tricky bit was how Chris wanted to shoot it – he wanted to be interior car and see the actor get hit. We don’t see the truck hit, but we see the actor start to lift into the roll, and then we have to do a direct edit between him and the stunt double. So we had to create a way for the stunt double to do a roll without a helmet on. So Clint Dodd, the stunt and special effect rigger, built a mini ramp system so that we could be driving along on a low-loader with the actor in the car. So we were actually driving along at speed in the location, and we press a button and Jamie lifts into the roll and starts the move, and then we have to put the stunt double in and do an exact repeat with another rig that actually flips the car onto its roof, and then tow it down the road and over a hill for 40 meters to a stop.

Chris [Sweeney, director] wanted it all to look like one flowing shot, so we had a very good stunt double matching-wise as well as being very talented, Ben Toyer. So there was no helmet, no internal roll cage, and with the car flipping onto its roof he had to match the actor’s exact movements. The trick then is to do a seamless edit. And we did it! It was a great challenge, and I’m really proud of the team.

How has it been working alongside the cast?

They’ve had really physical roles. They’ve been great. Some actors can be more precious than others, but these guys haven’t been. They’ve come in keen to play, and put the work in. Sometimes it’s hard to get their focus when we’re rehearsing because it’s way too much fun! Jamie’s super keen to do all his own stunts, and says, “I can do this!” – I’ll take it to where I can, because it’s always better to do it with the actor, but sometimes I have to say “No, you’re my hero, and I’ve got a guy to take this bump.”

Darri brings the size and scale of his character – he’ll downplay a lot of things in rehearsals, but when the camera rolls, he really brings it. They’ve all got their own talents, and none of them had any trouble with the stunts. Getting pads on them was sometimes difficult – they would say, “We don’t need pads,” and I’d have to tell them, “No, you really do.” But by take two they’d usually ask for them!