Action movies rule the box office. So why isn't there an Oscar for stunt people?
CBC
In 2020, a stunt double strode on stage to accept Hollywood's biggest award.
The thing was, the Oscar was handed to Brad Pitt for playing a stuntman in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — not being one.
"Isn't it amazing that an actor who plays a stuntman can win an Oscar? But yet being a stuntman, you can't win an Oscar," said Jack Gill, a Hollywood stunt coordinator who for decades stunt doubled in TV shows and movies, including for John Schneider in The Dukes of Hazzard and Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
For over 30 years, Gill has lobbied the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to include a stunt category in its annual awards show, which takes place March 10 this year.
"Action in films has been a mainstay in the business since its early existence," he said. "If you took the chariot race out of Ben-Hur, would it have been the same movie?" he said, referring to the 1959 drama.
Supporters of a stunt Oscar say it's more important than ever for the Academy to acknowledge the contributions stunt people make to the movie industry. In recent years, the box office has been dominated by action heavy films.
In the decades since Gill started lobbying for a stunt Oscar, his petition has gathered star-studded support, including from Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Helen Mirren. Today, Gill has close to 133,000 signatures.
But none of his efforts appear to have made a difference.
"To not even be in the show is the tough part," he said.
"Sometimes we're on these films for eight months, and then to see all your other peers go up on the stage and accept, and you're sitting at home watching it on the TV."
Gill points to the feature Mad Max: Fury Road as a perfect example of how the stunt industry is overlooked.
In 2016, the film was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning in six categories, including best costume design, best makeup and hairstyling, and best film editing.
But the man behind all the stunts, Guy Norris, "obviously was not nominated."
Gill, who designed stunt sequences for movies such as The Cannonball Run, Date Night, and the Fast & Furious franchise, says the Academy has given him an array of arguments against a new category over the years, including the sheer length of the live show.
