I Do All My Own Stunts

Rick English is a Hollwood stunt man, getting paid to do skids, wheelies (and big highsides) in pursuit of box office success. He ushered PB behind the curtain for a look into a world where riding elbow-to-elbow with Tom Cruise is part of the day job.

- Chris Newbigging

CONSIDER yourself a bit of a film buff? Reckon you can see through CGI and special effect action scenes in movies? Well, defeating such cynicism and providing ever more spectacular footage is what keeps Rick English in work as a bike-riding stunt man, listed on the British Stunt Register for directors and film crews worldwide to hand-pick if he suits the flick they’re producing.

And he often does: his CV includes Bond films, Mission: Impossible, Kingsman, Ghost Rider and more... he’s also appeared on TV, and in commercials, too – when PB caught up with him on a practice day, he’d just picked up a battered scooter in preparation for playing a London scooter scally for a major high street brand. If you need a wheelie, powerslide or a VMAX ridden through the desert, he’s your man. So how the hell does an ordinary bloke from the south east wind up working with Hollywood bigwigs?

“When I was about seven, I watched TV stunt man series ‘The Fall Guy’ and the Burt Reynolds film ‘Hooper.’ Reynolds in particular was a bit of a hero of mine. In the opening scene of that film, you see him pulling on his armour, his leathers, taking a swig of whiskey and then getting on his bike to shoot a crash scene. I thought that was the coolest thing, and I knew right then that’s what I wanted to do.

“I did fall into real life for a short time, and initially I had a job as a personal trainer. But all the time I was riding bikes, doing a bit of club racing, and still thinking about getting into films, but initially through my interest in martial arts.

“I started to work in a gym in London’s west end and you’d get a lot of actors and directors coming in – I got my first foot in the door that way.”