Chad Stahelski and David Leitch Are Raising the Bar for Stunt Doubles

Movies in today’s age tend to be comprised of scenes dominated by CGI, which makes action movie lovers crave good ol’ fashion stunts like car chases and fist fights. But because we live in an age of movies dominated by CGI, the action scenes need to be really good to hold an audience’s attention. And really good action scenes sometimes require really good stunt doubles.

Two well-known Hollywood stuntmen that also make action movies with good action scenes are Chad Stahelski and David Leitch. You’ve probably seen their work in major action movies, maybe without knowing it. Stahelski has stunt-doubled for Keanu Reeves in the Matrix movies, while Leitch stunt-doubled for Brad Pitt in Mr & Mrs Smith.

In 1997, Stahelski and Leitch started 87eleven, a company that offers stunt training, equipment, and facilities, and is still going strong today. The two plan fight sequences and train actors, including Keanu Reeves and Scarlett Johansson.

Stahelski and Leitch decided to make their own movies after second-unit directing the second Hunger Games movie and Captain America: Civil War. In 2014, Keanu Reeves asked them to direct the very first John Wick movie. They were perfect for the job, with the whole movie pretty much being one huge action sequence, filled with creative and powerful thrills. Stahelski directed all of the following Wick movies. Leitch directed other popular action movies like Hobbs & Shaw, Deadpool 2, and Atomic Blonde. Since entering the film industry as stunt-doubles, Stahelski and Leitch have made a large imprint upon the action genre.

Learn more about Stahelski and Leitch as well as other influential stuntmen in Hollywood here.