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Welcome to the International Stunt Academy: The World's First Accredited Stunt School for Stunt Performance and Action Acting.
The International Stunt Academy (The ISA) is the world's first fully accredited Stunt School, offering professional training and courses in Stunt Performance and Action Acting. Our Diploma program, with 60 ECTS points, stands as the highest academic qualification in Stunt Performance and Action Acting globally.
At ISA, we educate and train aspiring students and experienced professionals to be prepared for roles or to kick-start their careers in stunts and action film, TV, and live events. In addition to our top-tier education, we provide a range of production services, experiences, and activities. Our facilities, equipment, and accommodations are available for rental for events and as a location for film or TV productions.
As a fully-accredited academic institution, the International Stunt Academy makes it possible for many international students to study with us and access our programs via study grants and loans, including Lånekassen. We are accredited by NOKUT and a proud member of the Erasmus program.
Join us for an audition and enroll in our signature course – the world's first academically accredited Diploma in Stunt Performance and Action Acting.
The ISA team includes top-tier instructors and industry experts, many of whom are famous names. We come from all around the world to teach and train at The Academy. Each is expert in a specific field or discipline relevant to your training and career in Stunts, Film, TV and Live Action work. This means students of The ISA's study and gain experience with the real action heroes of stage and screen.
The ISA is one of Europe's leading Stunt Schools and the World's only accredited Academy, specialised in Stunt Training & Action Acting. Our Stunt School Education and Courses are designed to help you prepare and launch or develope your career in Stunts, Film, TV & Live Action. Our Diploma Course is the highest academic qualification in the industry.
We’ve all seen those amazing movie stunts that make your jaw drop and set your heart racing. Whether it’s a wild car chase, a death-defying jump, or an incredible tumbling sequence, it can be difficult to believe that it’s a stunt performer and not just CGI.
But there often is a real person behind those amazing visuals, taking part in the art form known as stunt work. These artists perform highly specialized physical skills for film, television, and theater projects that take years of training to master. While the training can be grueling, it’s worth it to create these astonishing scenes that go down in theatrical and motion picture history—the jump off the dam in “Goldeneye,” the chariot race in “Ben Hur,” or the car chases in “Starsky and Hutch.”
If you’ve ever wondered how to become a stuntman, stuntwoman, or stunt double, this guide will break down everything you need to know about pursuing a career as a stunt professional—from an in-depth job description to the skills and training you’ll need to succeed.
A stuntman executes a specific set of physical skills needed for a film, TV, or theater project—essentially, stuntmen and stuntwomen are movement professionals. A stuntperson will often need to utilize the following stunt skills, among others:
“When I go to work, I light myself on fire, I jump through glass windows, hang from helicopters, and get blasted by cars,” says Luci Romberg, Melissa McCarthy’s stunt double on films like “Spy” and “The Boss.” “I describe my best day at work as going home in one piece.”
A stuntperson is a unique type of storyteller and must be able to move the narrative of the piece forward through action. Their stunts must be believable and lifelike, which is why it’s so important to think of a stunt performer as a movement professional. “Stunt performers are absolutely actors,” says Romberg. “We have to embody that character, we have to become the character of the person we’re doubling or it doesn’t work.... Anyone can fall down the stairs, but it’s up to the stunt performer to be able to do it over and over again consistently and make it look as gnarly and out of control as it can be.”
Like an actor, a stuntperson might be on set anywhere from eight to 20 hours at a time. Only a small portion of that time will involve filming—the rest of the day will be taken up by things like hair, makeup, wardrobe, warming up, waiting around, rehearsals, and discussion of the stunt with fellow stunt performers, the stunt coordinator, and possibly even the director.
There is one key difference between stunt performers and actors, however: A stuntperson’s face should not be clearly visible in a shot. Once it is, they might be ineligible for work on the rest of the TV season or film shoot due to the importance of continuity in the production. In industry speak, it’s called “being burned”—and you’ll want to avoid it so that you can be hired for as much work as possible on each project.
A stunt double is hired to perform stunts on behalf of an actor, rather than the actor doing it themselves. A stunt double usually looks enough like the actor that the swap isn’t obvious to viewers in the final product. Sometimes the term “stuntperson” is used as a catchall term to refer to both the job of a stunt double and stunt performer—even though they are technically two different positions:
Here’s another important distinction: Stunt doubles are not the same thing as stand-ins. A stand-in resembles a specific actor in stature and coloring and will stand on their mark while the shot and lighting are being set up. (That way, the actor can prepare for the scene elsewhere.) Stand-ins do not perform stunt work.
A stuntman or stuntwoman needs to learn a wide range of skills through stunt training, including fighting, falling, horseback riding, driving, agility and strength, water skills, and sports. Stunt performers also need stamina, a go-getter mindset, and the physical capacity of a professional athlete, while also being emotionally and intellectually prepared to fulfill the acting part of the job.
Stunt Industry QualificationsTo be a stuntperson, you constantly need to be training and honing your craft. Here are some suggestions from the pros on how to develop your career as a stuntperson:
Start stunt training at the gym—and stick to a consistent routine. You must commit to being in top shape, both to perform at a high level and to ensure your own safety on set. Training at gyms is also a big part of how to network and make connections in the industry. In addition to training at a regular gym, stuntwoman Jessica Erin Bennett, known for her work on “The Walking Dead,” “Making History,” and “Chicago P.D.” suggests parkour gyms as a great avenue into developing stunt skills.
Learn fighting techniques. Many veteran stunt workers say it’s best to begin your stunt training with classes that teach you the basics of fighting. Adrian McGaw (“Snatch,” “Mad Max: Fury Road”) says that “a good foundation is boxing or martial arts. The majority of stunt work revolves around fighting and training with actors and bringing their skills up to a level where they can do it for themselves.” Los Angeles stuntwoman Maddy Curley (“Stick It,” “Chalk It Up,” “Starting From Scratch”) adds that additional specific fighting techniques—such as weapons training, learning how to fall so that it looks natural, being able to shoot a gun, and knowing how to make it look like you’ve been shot by a gun believably—are all invaluable skills to acquire as a stuntperson.
Become proficient in a specialized skill. Most stunt performers have an area of expertise. For example, Curley has 20 years of gymnastics under her belt, so is often called on for gymnastics and tumbling stunts. However, she has also regularly done CrossFit training, sword training, and stunt fighting, which allow her to work in multiple facets of the industry.
Hit the books (in addition to the punching bag). Bennett is a strong believer in doing your homework, and she recommends checking out books like “Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story” by Mollie Gregory, “The Full Burn” by Kevin Conley, “Action Movie Maker’s Handbook” by Andy Armstrong, and “Stunts: The How-To Handbook” by Angela Meryl. Bennett also recommends watching classic movies with famous stunts to better understand how stunts are done, and to know the background of well-known stunts when they are referred to on a job.
Round out your skillset. Becoming an expert in one or two areas is key to finding specific jobs, but Bennett advises rounding out your proficiency in other arenas to make you more employable overall. She also believes in the helpfulness of acting training, movement classes, Viewpoints instruction, and fighting-for-the-camera lessons.
As stuntman Expert Gregg Sargeant notes, “It’s a big commitment in a very specialized field, a lifelong pursuit of physical and mental action and intelligence that needs to be mastered. We may be ‘actors,’ but we are also athletes of a special kind.”
As stuntman Expert Gregg Sargeant notes, “It’s a big commitment in a very specialized field, a lifelong pursuit of physical and mental action and intelligence that needs to be mastered. We may be ‘actors,’ but we are also athletes of a special kind.”
To start a career as a stuntman, you need to train hard and develop relationships with industry professionals who can recommend you for future jobs. “Everyone gets into stunt work differently,” says Romberg. But the starting point for most working stunt performers is the same: an established set of physical skills.
Take Haaron Hines (“Rampage,” “Luke Cage”), who was working full-time as a research analyst. On a whim, he applied to a Backstage casting call for “The Dark Knight Rises”—and landed the job based on his background in martial arts and weapons training. Or J.R. Seay, who worked as a PA, camera assistant, and lighting assistant before getting work as a stunt double on “Woodlawn” and “Necessary Roughness” thanks to his background as an arena football player. Or Damita Jane, who landed her first stunt gig doubling Eve in “Whip It” due to her skill as a roller derby skater.
To break into stunt work, you’ll also need to network. Find out from friends where the stunt coordinators are working, go to set to meet them, bring along a headshot, résumé, and stunt reel, and try to form the beginnings of a relationship. Be sure to go when they are on their lunch break, though, and always bring your connection or advocate who will introduce you. (Never interrupt a set while they are at work or when you haven’t been invited!)
You can also try networking at gyms and developing relationships with other industry professionals so that they’ll recommend you (and you, them) for future projects. Eddie Braun, a famous stuntman who successfully performed Evel Knievel’s legendary jump over Snake River Canyon, emphasizes the importance of people skills for those looking to start a career as a stuntman. As a stunt coordinator, he hires a lot of people—and he “hires their manners and people skills,” too.
Stunt performers can find work through their connections, professional network, online job boards, and their union. Backstage, Mandy, ProductionHUB, MediaMatch, Staff Me Up, and EntertainmentCareers.net all host job postings for stunt needs. You can also try non-entertainment industry job boards like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Job Monkey—though still performance-based, many stunt jobs are with amusement and theme parks and camps.
Like most careers, getting hired to perform stunts is partially about who you know. Figure out which gyms are popular with stuntpeople and start building relationships. Curley’s favorite training gyms in L.A. include VCF Athletics and JAM Gym; Bennett recommends Tempest Freerunning Academy and Los Angeles Valley College Fitness Center.
Some of the best gigs a stunt performer can get are those in which they double for lead actors, especially if that actor gets work on a lot of different projects or has a long-running TV show. “[The] dream is to double someone you work with all the time,” Curley says. If an actor has a good relationship with their stunt double, the actor can have it written into future contracts that all stunt work must be performed by their stunt double. James Franco is open about his friendship with his go-to stunt double, Pat Millin. Brie Larson brought her two “Captain Marvel” stunt doubles on stage to accept her MTV Movie Award for Best Fight. Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is, in part, an ode to the career-spanning relationship between an actor and his stunt double.
Just as there are union and nonunion film sets—and, therefore, union and nonunion actors—there are also union and nonunion stunt performers. Since stunt performers are covered by SAG-AFTRA, the same rules apply: If you are a union stunt member, you cannot work a nonunion job, and vice versa (unless you are hired under a waiver or are joining SAG-AFTRA through the job).
Bennett did a lot of nonunion work before she earned her union card. She says these projects can be a great place to cut your teeth, learn the ropes, and gain experience: “Sometimes that’s where the most awesome things are. [It’s] very, very rewarding.” That said, there are obvious benefits to union stunt jobs: They typically pay more and will usually be a part of larger projects.
