We're All In This Together

Stunt Coordinator Rocky Capella

One of the strengths of SAG-AFTRA is our diversity. We have actors, singers, dancers, writers, announcers, reporters, anchors and producers. We are a big, happy family, but we don’t always understand the jobs of others. In fact, that was one of the challenges in creating SAG-AFTRA: Actors didn’t understand news reporters, a singer may have never met a network anchor and some recording artists had no clue about the life of a stunt coordinator.

The merger process introduced all of these groups to each other and the process of group understanding continues, most recently at the SAG-AFTRA San Francisco-Northern California Local membership meeting on April 11. The guest speaker was Rocky Capella, a San Francisco native stunt coordinator, director, stuntman and stunt driver who also founded the San Francisco Bay Area Stuntman’s Association.

For those unaware, stunt actors stand in and perform the action scenes — or stunts — for most on screen actors. You don’t see their faces, but they are the anonymous heroes and heroines who make action movies possible. Most films cannot be done without them. 

Capella talked about the rigors of the job: You must stay in shape, you constantly think about safety and you might spend an entire day setting up for a fall that takes two seconds. Great care is taken to make sure you can safely go home at the end of the day. But, even with all the precautions, you can get hurt. 

“My biggest injury was on Blues Brothers 2000, which, uh, people didn’t think I was going to make it,” said stunt performer Bob Minor, speaking at a Broadcast Steering Committee meeting in Los Angeles. Minor has been doing stunts since 1970 and has doubled for such stars as Jim Brown, Sidney Poitier and Danny Glover.

“I had flipped a car on one of the last days of filming, landed upside down and was knocked out. I received a frontal lobe injury, which is a traumatic brain injury, and I had to learn how to read, write and walk again.”

In all his years, Capella has broken his hands numerous times, broken his nose six times, as well as breaking his shoulders and his back. He’s also had concussions.

“The things you usually get injured on are fights, falls and rolling down stairs. We call it the ‘Home Alone’ fall,” he said, referring to the stunt where character Marv Merchants slipped at the top of stairs and tumbled into the basement. “Those are brutal.”

Stunt performers are more likely than any other SAG-AFTRA members to utilize the health plan and spend time recovering from injuries on the job. In recognition of this, SAG-AFTRA has made the job of stunt performers safer. Capella mentioned as a stunt coordinator, he now has the authority to veto something that he thinks is too dangerous. Of note, he said, “Fires and high falls are known as non-negotiable stunts. Ninely-nine percent of the time they go perfect but the one time is doesn’t, you’re dead. If the fire doesn’t go right, you’re scarred for life.”

SAG-AFTRA strongly advocates for inclusiveness. Our membership meetings educate members about the various types of work we do. The more we know, the better we can understand and appreciate the challenges we each face in our careers.

This item was originally featured in the August 2016 local newsletter.