Insider Secrets Doing a Stunt With Tom Hanks in A Man Called Otto – Amazing
Aaron Marcus did a dangerous stunt in A Man Called Otto with Tom Hanks, playing a businessman who falls onto train tracks. The choreography was precise: hit a specific spot, land on his left side, avoid snapping his neck. He left bruised, bleeding, and swollen, but learned that executing it meant letting go of fear.
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I'm going to be sharing with you insider secrets on doing a stunt with Tom Hanks in his feature film A Man Called Otto. This way, when you watch to the end, you're going to learn what really happens with stunt performers, how they do their work, and what it's like doing stunts. Also, if you watch this to the very end, I've got a great bonus video for you if you are frustrated by your lack of auditions. Here are 7 tips. Okay, let's get started. Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Actor and Model Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center, where I share my 37+ years working as a full-time actor and almost 1,300 bookings with you so you can learn more about how to have success in the industry. If you haven't done this yet, don't forget, click the subscribe button, the notification bell, so that way you'll know every time I upload a new video. If you like the video, Give it a thumbs up and share this link with fellow actors so we can create a greater channel of people helping each other. So I got a chance to audition for the feature film A Man Called Otto. There were about 8 people who were eventually cast in a scene at a railroad station, and we are standing on a platform, and we all read for different parts. You never know what they're looking for. You never know how they make the final decisions. My character— and I, like I said, I read for a number of different parts— but mine was for a business guy, and the business guy falls onto the train tracks as a train is approaching. So got to the set and It was really— it was very interesting. I asked one of the— and by the way, they told me they were going to hire a stunt double because I'm not a stunt actor. I've never done stunts before. I've done some driving stunt work, but I mean, nothing like spinning around in circles. It was really driving, being able to hit certain marks, park the car, that kind of stuff, but nothing like falling or— Anything like that. So we get to the set and we're working on it. Actually, it was an actual old— I don't know if it was still in use, but it was a train station. And I was speaking with the first AD, the first assistant director, and I did have a couple of questions that I needed answered. One, which is probably the most important one, and I did have an idea, but I wanted to talk with someone about it. And that was what's making me fall off the platform onto the train tracks. And so I, I mentioned this to the first AD, and he said, you know what, let me bring you over to the director and you guys can talk about it. So the director, he was just really very, very nice and accommodating, and I told him my idea that it made sense to me That I'm waiting for a train, I'm a business guy, and I have a heart attack, and I just fell right off the platform face first onto the tracks. And he said, yeah, no, that makes sense to me too. Okay, so that's great. So I met my stunt double, and this guy was really incredible. They, they, they had 3 different stunt people there doing different types of stunts. And so in this scene, my stunt double falls off the platform, and then the next cutaway is me being rescued by Tom Hanks, and he's pulling me off the train tracks before a train is about to come and run me over. And then they have to pull me up off the side of the platform and get me back on top of the platform. Before the train comes. So they did have 2 stunt people who were pulling me up. And as it turns out, I still got— even though, you know, I had a stunt double, as I was being pulled up off the tracks, my legs were all bruised. My legs were actually bleeding a little bit because it's cement. And, you know, I'm kind of getting scratched up, and here's a guy who just had a heart attack. So we, we did the scene a few times, and I walked to, to the edge, and they told me exactly where my mark was, where I needed to be. And then they would cut, and then this stunt double came in. And the stunt double, by the way, you know, I wouldn't say looked, you know, identical to me, but they, they made sure his hair color was identical. He wore the same wardrobe. And then at one point In the day, the— and I can't remember, it might have been the first AD, first assistant director— asked me if I was comfortable doing the stunt. And I said, sure, no, love to do it. Now, once again, never done the stunt before. I was a little bit nervous because this is a real stunt. I mean, I'm standing on a platform and then all of a sudden I just fall. Face first onto the train tracks. So I am— they say, great, thank you. And so I immediately had a meeting with the stunt coordinator, and that's the person who's overseeing everything. He's making sure that— in this case, it's a, it's a guy— making sure that everybody is safe, that the stunts are done properly, everybody is taken care of, because this is a dangerous Stunt. One of the things that we talked about was how to fall properly. Now, as you can imagine, I didn't fall face first onto the train tracks. That wouldn't be really good for me. So they did have mats. Now, these were built-up mats, and so when you fall on them, you don't, you don't get hurt. But if you don't fall on them properly, You, you could really, really hurt yourself. So one of the things that they were talking about with me was make sure that when you fall, you land on the left side of your face. So I go down like that. He said, whatever you do, don't go face first, because then when I hit the mat, my neck is going to Snap back, that could be very, very dangerous. They also needed to make sure that I, that I hit the mat. And while I was doing the stunt, they did have 3 stunt people. It was the stunt coordinator and then 2, 2 of the other stunt actors. And they were standing, they were lower, but they were standing right by the mat for 2 reasons. One, to make sure that I hit it. And to make sure that I didn't pop Off of it and land on the track. So they did give me some padding, which was great, just to make sure that my shins— because they, they had been— they were pretty badly bruised and bleeding a little bit from just being pulled up after the stunt double initially did his work. And so they did have a medic, and there was always a medic on sets, and the medic They did just to make sure that things weren't going to get infected, and they put some cream on it, and then they put bandages on it, and then some tape. I was also given knee pads because as I'm being pulled up, I mean, my knees still are on the train tracks, and there are rocks and stuff and hard metal. And so they were just making sure that I was as safe as I possibly could be. So Here was, here was probably one of the trickiest parts for me, was there is a 2-parter. One is, so I start, and if you see the movie, I mean, you'll, you'll see this take place, standing at the back of the platform. And then I'm imagining there's a train coming because they had a green screen when— and I haven't actually, I haven't seen the, the film yet. Hope to see it. Sometime in the near future or not. I mean, I was— people have been contacting me and said, hey, I'd love to see it and stuff. So I don't— maybe I'll see it at some point. But anyhow, I start walking towards the end of the platform as if I'm getting ready to get onto a train. And the tricky part was I had to make sure that I planted myself so that The balls of my feet are just slightly over the edge. I need to feel that edge without looking down. And let me tell you, that, that was a little tricky because I'm walking straight ahead. You can't look down because normally, you know, you're not going to look down. And I had to get into the right spot, and I'm, you know, looking to see, you know, that the train is coming. And the other part is, you know, now I'm starting to I'm starting to feel a little out of breath. I'm starting to feel some pain in my chest. And by the way, I did some research because I was hoping that the director would agree with me that I'm having a heart attack. So I did some research because fortunately I've never had a heart attack to find out what that is all about, what the symptoms are for a heart attack. And it was very interesting. I mean, it can be anything from not feeling anything to excruciating pain, Where is the pain? So the hard part, number one, like I said, it's a 2-parter, is finding the right spot. I also have to make sure, you know, that I'm in the right area so that when I do fall, I do land on, on the mats. So if I actually, you know, kind of veered off and I wasn't in the right spot, I'm going straight down and there are no mats there. That wouldn't be good. Second part, and this was probably the most difficult, getting to a point of just letting go, getting to a point of not having fear of doing this stunt, of just feeling free. It's almost like— and I'm not comparing it to jumping out of an airplane. I mean, That's a very different kind of experience, which I haven't done, at least not yet. But it's that emotional sense of just letting go and just making that jump. It was the same thing for me. I had to get to a point where I'm not concerned, I'm not thinking about I could get paralyzed, I could break my neck, I could do a lot of that. Just letting go and doing it. And it was, it was just an amazing experience. It really was. And I wound up doing it because I did it a couple times throughout the day. I don't know, maybe 2 or 3 times. And I'm glad that I did not have to do it any more than that. As it turns out, later in the day I was feeling— and I must have landed funny on my ankle or something because it got a little bit swollen. I mean, I was fine, but for like for a day it was a little bit swollen and I did do some work on it. I had some tape done on it just to help with the swelling and I was able to walk fine next day or two. But it was a— it was such an interesting experience. And, and the other part to it also, and I don't know how much of it made it into the, the film itself, but when Tom Hanks's character Otto comes in to rescue me, look, I'm dead weight at this point. I just fell flat on my face. But I certainly couldn't— and we discussed all this with Tom Hanks and the director and myself and the first assistant director and the stunt people. I couldn't be dead weight with him. I had to help him get up without it looking like, hey, this guy just had a heart attack. I mean, I was awake, but I was in pain, and not have it look like I'm just kind of hopping up to help him pull me over to the side to get me. into safety here, but I had to do it in a way where he's not hurting himself in there as well because I weigh, I don't know, 152 pounds or something. That's a lot of weight to be picking up. So hopefully it looks great. I'm assuming it looks good, otherwise they would have asked for me to do it again. Although that scene was completely separate takes, but I just want to tell you, it was just an amazing experience. And I like the idea of putting yourself out there, opening yourself up to new things, trying things. Certainly don't put yourself in danger. Look, I never would have done it had I not had a chance to practice, to be incredibly prepared by, you know, talking with stunt coordinator and some of the other stunt actors who were really, really helpful to me. And help guide me, you know, through this entire process. So anyhow, I just wanted to share that with you. If any of you have ever done stunt work, please share it. Or if you've done, you know, anything that, you know, you hadn't done before to experience it, and maybe you had to overcome some fears, whatever it is, please leave a comment below. That's the whole point of the channel, to share information with each other. And don't forget, click Click the subscribe button, notification bell. If you like it, give it a thumbs up, share the link with your friends. And by the way, I do have this bonus. If you look up here, this bonus video, uh, if you're feeling frustrated about lack of auditions, here's some help, 7 tips. I hope you really enjoy it. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya. See ya.
