Dangerous life of glamour and serious injury
IT'S one of the world's most glamorous jobs - but also one of the most dangerous.
Some of the things that Hollywood stuntmen do defy belief.
They walk away from 80ft falls, emerge ice cool after being engulfed in flames and appear to defy the laws of physics.
But it doesn't always work out as it should.
"It can be a dangerous game," said Sheffield-based stunt man Glenn Foster who once broke both his feet on a stunt and who recently badly dislocated his thumb in a staged fight with Batman on the set of Batman Begins.
"You're always going to get injuries and knocks. I have been lucky and, touch wood, not done anything serious, or broken anything since those early days.
"I have friends who have suffered some serious injuries. One is permanently brain damaged after a bad fall.
"Another one, David Holmes, had an accident on the last Harry Potter film and is paralysed from the neck down.
"There are 200-250 people working in this industry, about 100 are working regularly and you see people quite often. I have been amazingly fortunate."
There are other sacrifices that have to be made, even for a single man like Glenn.
"It's very difficult to keep a relationship going as a stunt man, you are away three or four months at a time and that's one of the sacrifices you have to make for this life.
n IT'S one thing swimming in the Thames fully-clothed in December, entirely another doing the bedroom scenes with Hollywood's most glamorous...
Glenn Foster, stunt man and regular film double for Sherlock Holmes star Robert Downey jnr, gets to do one of those.
And you can guess which one.
"No I don't get to do the bedroom scenes," laughs Glenn.
"Why would you give up those roles? It's my job to do the action shots, not the romance.
But Glenn's list of stunt-double roles does make impressive reading - he's even been the legendary Doctor.
"I've doubled for Dr Who's David Tennant - and I even got to use the sonic screwdriver."
That would be enough for most of us to retire on but there's more.
"I was the stunt double for Shane Ritchie who played Alfie Moon in Eastenders and I had to fall downstairs at the Queen Vic."
Glenn has also done stunts on Emmerdale, Heartbeat,Life On Mars as well as the films The Golden Compass, Sunshine and Alexander with Colin Farrell on locations all over the world.
But he always comes home to Sheffield where his grandparents Chrissie and Charles Smith used to run a corner shop in Tinsley.
"I love coming back to Sheffield because it has a nice pace and it's easier than life in London and I love being near the Peak District.
"I have a hide-away in the Pyrenees in France where I can spend time cycling and climbing and enjoying good wine and food whern I need a break.
"But It's always nice to come back to Sheffield because Los Angeles can be mind blowing. Sheffield gets me back to reality."
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Tuesday 07 February 2012
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