Ryan Gosling Shares Clip of 'Fall Guy' Stunt That Left Him Terrified
Ryan Gosling is starring in the big screen adaptation of The Fall Guy which hits theaters next month, loosely based on the '80s series of the same name about a stunt man who moonlights as a bounty hunter. In an appearance on The Tonight Show on Thursday night ahead of his third SNL hosting gig, Gosling told host Jimmy Fallon that the film a "love letter to the stunt community."
And it's clear that the 43-year-old has utmost respect for the hardworking people who risk their lives behind the scenes in Hollywood, especially after having to attempt one death-defying stunt of his own, in particular, while working on the film.
Noting that he worked on the TV series Young Hercules early into his career, Gosling said that he's had a "kind of stunt double my entire life." "There's this weird thing where they come to set, they do the hard stuff, they take the hits for you, they risk more than anyone and then they disappear into the shadows," he said with a laugh. "And then everyone pretends that they were never there."
"You get all the credit and they take all the hits, and it's a very strange dynamic," he continued, quipping, "That stops here."
Gosling went on to explain that stunt driver Logan Holladay actually broke a world record while filming for the most canon rolls—which involves using a cannon-like mechanism to propel a vehicle into a series of rolls when it reaches a designated speed—at eight-and-a-half, beating the previous record of seven in 2006's Casino Royale.
However, the Barbie star was less enthused when it came time to perform his own stunt, which involved his fear of heights.
"My body feels like it's turning to stone," Gosling explained of how he physically reacts to the phobia. "And so they set this up at the beginning of the film where I have a long, almost like a 10 minute oner, and I'm talking to people on set and then I go up in an elevator and we go up 12 stories, and then they drop me 12 stories at the end of the take."
Setting up the clip, he said that he was so scared that he had to put on sunglasses "for no other reason other than to hide the fear in my eyes." And sure enough, the stunt was indeed not for the faint of heart. When Gosling is asked to "drop the line" you can almost feel your own stomach dropping before he takes the plunge.
Oh, the magic of Hollywood. The Fall Guy hits theaters on May 3, 2024.