How to Stunt in Hollywood - Insight and Advice from World Class Stunt Professionals

Great stunting insight that's sadly cut short by its own formatting.

How to Stunt in Hollywood is an interesting book of sorts it sheds light and inform about the stunt industry and its stunt players, though the book does provide a varying amount of information in the form of countless interviews with veteran stunt performers (30 stunts players). Sadly each talent is afforded very little space in the pages with each interview feeling short; occasionally occupying 4 to 6 pages bearing in mind that the text is of a slightly larger font size than your standard book making for a very light read. Some interviewees provide more detailed answers while the majority offer only short responses so the quality is varying.

The book is also very misleading, with a page count of approx. 225 page book, only half the book is worth reading for the other half is a rehash of the same questions and interviews just formatted and arranged differently. The author states that it gives the readers an optional or preferred method of reading but comes across as a cheat. The first half of the book is structured in a pretty standard affair that you come to expect from this type of book, with a very brief single paragraph intro informing about the professional and then the body of text is filled with questions and answers for the named professional. This goes on for about 150 pages and then we come to the second half of the book where it structured as per a question featuring all the stunt people’s answers in a single chapter then the next question and so forth. It is a pretty unnecessary move which acts as filler to pad out the already thin book. Johnston should have opted for one or the other.

The questions are pretty standard; How you got into the industry? and who inspired you? etc. The book feels rather automated, Johnston provides the same question to everyone in the same format regardless of there answers, at times it feels that the answers could have benefited a follow up question to the individual but it is not to be. One such stunt professional Julie Ann Johnson has such an important contribution to the female stunt community that is touched upon but not fully explored and instead Julie Ann Johnson mentions for more info the reader can refer to her published book The Stuntwoman: The True Story of a Hollywood Heroine (2013), it does feel rather insulting having to buy a book for its content to be referred to another book. Some questions are fine by and large but then you have a question like; What is the misconception people have of the stunt industry? On occasions this would have been a fine question but on repeat for everyone it becomes rather repetitive as a lot of the answers are relatively the same, such as; everyone is a thrill seeker, its a glamorous industry etc. instead feeling informed it makes it feel like repetition.

The cover art is also something to be desired of a silhouetted figure leaping out of an explosion is very uninspired. There are no pictures in the book its all text and there is no filmography for each of the talents (other than a brief intro). A similar book which Mike Fury’s Life in Action: Interviews with the Men and Women of Martial Arts and Action Cinema (2015) which was better compiled and contains a host of colour images as well as a detailed introduction with each interview rounding off with a filmography. Amy Johnston is listed as Author but there is little original text other than a few pages introducing the book, I believe transciber would have been fitting and I don’t know if she did so herself. It is disappointing that Johnston did not do a detailed extract on herself where she could have shared her experiences.

The sad fact is this book is a massive missed opportunity to actually thoroughly delve into this overlooked occupation. With the content being a little on the short side. Amy Johnston has tapped into some very talented individuals and it should have been an amazing chance to get their thoughts across. I can only recommended this for a light read with a misleading page count and a very automated style of interview it can feel a little disappointing but the wealth of talents interviewed is enough to entice the interested parties. With these players given little recognition the book was an interesting start up book and hopefully Amy Johnston can follow up with a better presented book.

Author: Amy Johnston

Paperback: 308 pages

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (May 16, 2018)

Dimensions: 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches