If there’s one job in the entertainment industry I admire, it’s those that put their bodies on the line – literally.
And by that, I’m referring to the stunt performers.
The ones flinging themselves off buildings, driving the cars in the insane car chases, setting themselves on fire, in those crazy fight scenes… you get the drill.
Stunts could arguably be the most exciting parts of a film or TV show – you know that adrenaline feeling where the music usually also intensifies, and your heart starts to beat faster (similar to a steamy rom-com but in a very different way…).
With most of my stunt performer knowledge based on the Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt film Fall Guy, I decided it was time to speak to a stunt expert.
I was lucky to get in touch with one of the most experienced stunt performers and coordinators in the biz – the NCIS: Sydney stunt coordinator, Tony Lynch.
Tony has been in the stunt world since the 80s and tells me that cracking into the industry wasn’t easy.
“It was very difficult to get into the business back then,” he confesses.
Tony tells me that they didn’t want to know him at first, but his persistence landed him a spot.
“Eventually, they let me come out and start training and showed me the ropes,” he says.
Alongside his work for NCIS: Sydney, Tony’s IMDB profile boasts 147 productions where he’s worked either as a stunt performer or coordinator of stunts – including The Matrix, The Great Gatsby, The Wolverine, and Moulin Rouge! – just wow.
The making of a stunt performer
I always knew that I wasn’t cut out to do stunts.
And, after talking to Tony, I realised there’s absolutely no chance I’d even get close!
He listed off the skills you need (I can only do one thing on this extensive list, feel free to take a wild guess at what that is) – and assures me that “there’s a lot to cover and it’s a lifetime commitment – you never really master all of those skills but you get as good as you can”.
As for the skills needed?
“You need to do stuff like martial arts, gymnastics, parkour… you need to be comfortable with heights – rock climbing and ab sailing – you also need to be comfortable in the water with stuff like swimming and free diving. Then there’s cars and motorbikes, you need to train in those areas,” he reveals.
“Then you’ve got your stunt specific training as well, which is fight scenes and wire work where you see a body get thrown or flying through the air. And fire! It’s pretty common to see people catching fire on film and TV. That’s a specialised skill that we have to train in – as well as high falls,” he adds.
Wow.
Surprisingly, Tony tells me that stunt performers aren’t adrenalin junkies, telling me that you can be “extremely nervous and scared”.
“It’s not like you’re a thrill seeker or anything like that – everything’s calculated,” he reveals, adding “you have to focus on what you must do to get the job done. You’re more concerned about stuffing the shot up!” he says with a laugh.
Why are stunts central to the storytelling in NCIS: Sydney?
Tony tells me that stunts are important for the show because they “break up the dialogue”.
“The scripts are very dense. You throw a bit of action in there, a fight scene or a car chase, and it gives the audience a break from all the information,” he says.
“The characters aren’t hanging around the office all day. They’re out in the street, kicking in doors and getting the job done,” he adds.
Generally, each episode has one major stunt.
“It could be an explosion and there’s people flying through the air, or there could be a big fight scene, or even a car crash… and then there’s minor bits of action as well,” he reveals.
“We’ve done stuff underwater; we dive off ships in the Sydney Harbour. We’ve crashed cars, we’ve flipped ambulances, we’ve done explosions, heaps of fight scenes…” he says.
Although Tony says he’s past his intense days, he tells us he’s a “gun for hire”, saying “you’re not going to hire an old bloke like me to get thrown down a set of stairs! But you still do fight scenes and driving, stuff like that. I double older actors as well for gags that they’re not necessarily capable of doing” (I mean with his resume, where else would you look?!).
Do all the NCIS: Sydney actors need stunt doubles?
Tony says all the key characters on NCIS: Sydney have stunt doubles “because there’s a limit to what you’ll do with an actor because it gets to the point where it’s not worth the risk” – but the actors are super keen to get their hands dirty on NCIS: Sydney.
“They’ll get in there and they get banged up and kicked around and they love it, especially Olivia. She would’ve been a stunt woman if she wasn’t an actress. Her character has a lot of action, and she wants to do as much as we’ll let her do,” he says.
Tony tells me they rehearse as much as they can, and they’re always under time pressure.
Actress Olivia Swann, who plays NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey in the show, speaks to this, describing it as a “grueling but awesome process”.
“Whenever there’s a fight scene coming up, I’ll take as much time as I can get in my schedule to work with the stunt team on the choreography. They create the fight and then step through it with me, and we keep building and tweaking it as we get it up to speed,” she tells us.
Olivia says filming stunts is “way more complicated than people realise”.
“There are so many beats to each fight and each of those beats requires multiple takes. And if there’s blood or broken glass, for example, those things need to be added or reset. It’s not straightforward but after putting in so many hours and so much energy and commitment, seeing the result is always rewarding,” she adds.
Sean Sagar, who plays NCIS Special Agent DeShawn Jackson, tells us that the time it takes to film a stunt scene really depends on the “scale of the stunt”.
“It really depends on the scale of the stunt. In episode six of season 2 -Hell Week -I had a huge fight scene with one of the Navy SEALs. We spent a full week training and rehearsing that sequence, and then an entire day shooting it. Some stunts can be wrapped up quickly, but others take days of prep and precision. It all comes down to complexity and safety,” he says.
Sean adds that he does occasionaly get scared doing stunts but “fear is something you face head-on. You put yourself in those moments to conquer them. That’s how you grow”.
“There was a stunt this season where I was literally hanging off the side of a building, abseiling and crashing through a window. For a moment, I was thinking, “OK, the only thing holding me up right now is a rope!” But I had total faith in the stunt team – they’re incredible. The training, the preparation, and their calm reassurance made all the difference. For me, fear is something you face head-on,” he says.
Where can I watch NCIS: Sydney?
Catch NCIS: Sydney S2 on Sunday at 9pm on 10 and stream seasons 1-3 on Paramount+.
