Cory Stillman
Having performed countless stunts for a whole range of iconic Marvel properties, including Avengers: Endgame and Loki, it was only a matter of time until James Hutchinson emerged as one of the industry’s most sought-after stunt coordinators. He served as the coordinator on hit HBO Max series like The Staircase and Doom Patrol, and most recently lent his talents to Amazon Prime’s The Bondsman, the supercharged crime series starring Kevin Bacon as resurrected bounty hunter Hub Halloran. Bacon undergoes some serious physical transformations for the series, and Hutchinson worked closely with the star, and his stunt double Thomas Watson, to ensure these moments were as smooth as possible.
“Kevin is going to do a lot when it comes to stunts, but whenever he needed any assistance, we would always be there to support him,” says Hutchinson. “Thomas would make a point of watching how Kevin moves so that whenever he is stepping in as his double, the transition from Kevin doing it to Thomas doing it is seamless.”
That seamlessness is imperative, but just as important on any set is safety. With several high-risk stunts on The Bondsman, including a sequence in which Bacon is dangled 25 feet in the air, Hutchinson and his team had to take quite elaborate measures to ensure the safety of its star and his castmates.
“I always err on the side of caution, so we put out every single pad out to give Kevin a big cushion to fall on,” says Hutchinson. “My key rigger had him on a decelerator so he could control the speed at which he fell, and as Kevin got more comfortable, we would just ramp up the speed.”
But what fun is a stunt without a little bit of adrenaline? The Bondsman offers an intriguing blend of reality and fantasy, and as Hutchinson points out, “even in a show like this, the laws of physics apply.”
“In the opening of the show, Hub Halloran gets shot from behind with a shotgun. Now, in the real world, the impact from that hit isn’t going to move him any more than the guy pulling the trigger. However, in this world, we need to amp it up, but there still needs to be an element of real physics.”
Check out our full conversation with Hutchinson below!
How did you approach choreographing stunts that felt grounded, while still embracing the show’s more fantastical elements?
Even in a show like this, the laws of physics apply. Here’s a good example. In the opening of the show, Hub Halloran gets shot from behind with a shotgun. Now, in the real world, the impact from that hit isn’t going to move him any more than the guy pulling the trigger. However, in this world, we need to amp it up, but there still needs to be an element of real physics. Wire pulls can get really “floaty” if not done right. In this instance, I told my stunt double, Thomas Watson, “we’re going to leave a little bit of slack in your pull line, so we feel the impact of the slug and then let you ride the rest of the pull to the pad we have buried under the dirt. I’m sorry, but you’re gonna feel this a little bit. Love ya, buddy!” And of course, Thomas was perfectly fine and did a great job selling it. In this case, the “grounded” aspect comes from our hero Hub still being victim to physics. We, as the audience, need our hero to feel the pain so we can identify with him. Making sure we kept Hub’s action grounded, while he fought fantastical demons, was the ticket.
What was the most technically challenging stunt or sequence to coordinate for the series, and what made it so complex?
In episode 3, we had a scene where our demon cheerleader attacked Hub at the pool and dragged him underwater. Water is always a tricky element because if you don’t respect it, it will humble you quickly. Thankfully, everyone on our team was the utmost professional and went above and beyond to make sure Kevin was safe. And let’s be clear, Kevin did A LOT of that sequence. At 66 years old, that man is game to do a lot of his own stunts still. He is the definition of what a professional actor should be. So we had Kevin in the water with numerous water safety measures, and we had to get creative when it came to dragging him underwater because even a quick 10ft descent can cause problems. So instead of dropping down, we used our rigging team, led by Rob Houillion, to pull our stunt double horizontally through the water, and just turned the camera 90 degrees to cheat the effect of them sinking to the bottom. What also helped us a lot was that our actress, Alea Hansinger, playing the demon cheerleader, was a scuba-certified diver with years of experience.
Kevin Bacon’s character undergoes several intense physical moments. Can you talk about the stunt doubling process and how you worked with his double to maintain consistency with his performance?
This was actually one of the simpler aspects for us. When you hire the right person for the job, like Thomas Watson, you can delegate the responsibility to them to maintain the consistency. There are a lot of elements to this job that greatly rely on you being able to delegate some personal responsibility to other members of your team. One aspect of that is making sure the stunt double you’ve hired pays attention to what’s going on and gets the program. Kevin is going to do a lot when it comes to stunts, but whenever he needed any assistance, we would always be there to support him. Thomas would make a point of watching how Kevin moves so that whenever he is stepping in as his double, the transition from Kevin doing it to Thomas doing it is seamless.
Safety is always a top priority, so were there any particularly high-risk scenes, and how did you ensure the safety of the actors and crew during those moments?
We had quite a few high-risk scenes. Everything from underwater stunts, to demons flying over a bridge, to t-boning a car, and floating Kevin Bacon 25ft in the air. Every single one of them is meticulously tested. Once they’re tested and approved and the safety measures are in place, we stick to our guns about not making any changes that would affect the safety of the rig. During the penultimate battle between Hub and Lilith, we had to put Kevin on a line and then drop him 25 feet to a porta-pit. I always err on the side of caution, so we put out every single pad out to give Kevin a big cushion to fall on. My key rigger had him on a decelerator so he could control the speed at which he fell, and as Kevin got more comfortable, we would just ramp up the speed. Part of making sure the crew is safe means having a voice on set, too, and not being afraid to use it. There was never any question that when we were doing a stunt, everyone on the crew knew exactly what was going on, so they were informed and completely aware of everything they needed to do to help maintain a safe set.
The show is part horror, part Western, part dark comedy. How did that genre blend influence your stunt design and execution?
The show originally started off on a more serious note. There were some rewrites as we went that turned it a little bit more dark comedy, which worked out great for us because I always love to find the comedy in the action. It’s funny that you mentioned part western because in hindsight, I wish we had tapped into that aspect a little bit more. I’m a huge fan of westerns, and I hope they can make a comeback. That particular genre blend reminds me of From Dusk till Dawn, and it’s fun to be able to pull from those memories of movies like that to help inform the action design we’re playing with today. Sometimes you just look back on those films and remember a gag and ask yourself, “how can I improve upon that?” Especially once you have a room of stuntmen to bounce ideas off of, things get crazy real quick.
The Bondsman was a short-lived series, but it had a visually impactful style. What are you most proud of about your stunt work on the show?
The work speaks for itself. Some people love it, some people will not. Sadly, in a couple of months, perhaps no one will be talking about The Bondsman anymore. I’m proud of a lot of things about that show. I’m proud of the fact that we were able to put a lot of people to work at a time when there wasn’t a lot of work. I’m proud that every member of our stunt team knew what it meant to be a team player and worked with our cast and crew to maintain a positive and fun working environment. What we do is not glamorous and can be hard work for everyone on the set, but in the end, we’re playing pretend, and if you can’t find the fun in that, then you need to get out. If I can be selfish for a moment, I’m most proud of the fact that when the day came that I got to direct second unit for the first time and lead a crew, my wife and my two-year-old little girl were able to be there to share that moment with me. The Bondsman might be over, but I’ll keep that memory forever.
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