Page 30 - Star Wars Insider #187

INTERVIEW: NICK GILLARD

05

STUNT MASTER

Nick Gillard’s route into the film industry started in
the early 1970s when he left military school at the
age of 12 and ran away to join the circus, where
he became adept in bareback horse-riding skills.
Gillard joined a group of fellow circus performers
in providing horse-based stunts for the movie The
Thief of Baghdad (1978), and from there a career
in the film industry beckoned.
“I drifted into it by mistake,” says Gillard. “We
went from the circus to do a job, and there was
so much free food! That was my main interest in
becoming a stunt person. I really wasn’t a film buff.
I got on the stunt register at 18 years old—I was
incredibly young and as brave as a lion. It seemed
perfect. Just the same as being in the circus,
dressing up and playing with friends.”
Among his earliest film work as a stunt
performer, Gillard worked on Superman: The
Movie (1978), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Krull
(1983), and Aliens (1986). “I was the Alien queen!”
the stunt coordinator laughs. He also doubled
for Mark Hamill on Britannia Hospital (1981), and
David Bowie in Labyrinth (1986).
Over the decades, Gillard has divided his time
between film and television with his company,
Danger Inc., acting as a stunt coordinator and
second-unit director on major productions. In 2008
he provided stunts for the action film Wanted,
before deciding to work mainly on television
productions, including Da Vinci’s Demons (2013),
Jekyll & Hyde (2015), and Black Mirror (2016).

“We chopped those arms off as quickly a construction worker’s helmet. 05 Mace Windu always joined at the hip, along
(Samuel L.
as we could!” laughs Gillard. There was this cardboard neck with visual effects. Those three
Jackson).
“The General Grievous/Obi-Wan with a weird head on it that just departments are almost one
fi ght in Revenge of the Sith was a looked ridiculous! 06 “Braver than group now,” says Gillard. “And
any of the
tough one,” he admits. “We rehearsed “People only tend to ask of course, I couldn’t do without
boys,” says
with one of my guys on another one’s about the fights,” Gillard Gillard of the stunt guys and the doubles
shoulders, and Ewan McGregor had to continues, “but we did 100- Natalie working with me. Kyle Rowling,
Portman.

fight with somebody in a boiler suit and foot falls, sideways falls, all who doubled for Count Dooku
of that stuff. The conveyor 07 Digital in Attack of the Clones and
combatant
belt sequence in Attack of the Revenge of the Sith, still works
General
Clones was brutal. Natalie Grievous. with me. I gave him two swords
Portman was fearless—braver when he came in to audition,
08 Gillard as and said, ‘What can you do with
than any of the boys. If it was
“You were dealing with written in the script, Natalie Jedi Master these lightsabers?’ Kyle did this
Cin Drallig.
big characters, like Sam would be right in the middle of great little performance so on
Jackson, the coolest the action. She was more than capable the spot I asked him if he could start

man in the universe.” and drove those sequences.” tomorrow! He’s like another Ray Park,
only six foot four!”
The Storytellers Gillard describes George Lucas as
Although ultimate responsibility for “his greatest collaborator,” and easily
the action, stunts, and fights in the sums up his experience of working

prequels rested with Gillard, he’s keen with the visionary fi lmmaker. “He’s
to highlight the collaborative nature of the greatest, one of the best storytellers
his job. “Stunts and special effects are there is,” Gillard says. “I think that’s

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