“If you don’t have a strong story driving it, then action is just action. You can watch great action all day and not be very excited if there is no story to draw you in.”

Brad Martin is one of Hollywood’s top stunt coordinators with a string of blockbusters to his name, including the Underworld series, Live Free or Die Hard, Tropic Thunder, Gemini Man, plus the Emmy-nominated 2021 Marvel series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, to name but a few. He has recently been in Northern Ireland shooting second unit and stunt coordinating on a big-screen adaptation of the long-running video game, Dungeons & Dragons, scheduled for release in 2023. That’s not bad for a martial artist from Sun Valley, Idaho, who followed his dreams of becoming a stunt performer to Los Angeles – even though he wasn’t particularly sure at the time what a stunt performer did. Luckily, he quickly made friends with fellow martial artists and aspiring action directors J.J. Perry, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski; together, on a diet of determination and Jackie Chan movies, they would go on to transform Hollywood action cinema, becoming technically gifted filmmakers in their own right. We discuss Brad’s journey from George Clooney’s regular stunt double to fighting Sammo Hung in Martial Law, Keanu Reeves in The Matrix sequels, and leading the stunt departments on some of the biggest action films of all time. Brad is now bringing back Smashcut Action Design, a company he first created in the 1990s. Using his wealth of knowledge from over 30 years in the business, he will be looking to consult with some of Hollywood’s biggest producers to create and inspire action design from the early conception phase to completion. Find out more about Smashcut Action Design via the website, smashcutaction.com (coming soon!); and find out more about Brad Martin on IMDb, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Brad Martin suits up as Batman, doubling George Clooney in Batman & Robin (1997).

Brad Martin in The Matrix Reloaded (2003).

Brad Martin and Bruce Willis filming Live Free or Die Hard (2007).

Chad Stahelski, Brad Martin and Tim Rigby on the set of After Earth (2013).

Ronda Rousey and Brad Martin filming The Expendables 3 (2014).