The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2021 - Issue 30

wasn’t long before he was recommended to stunt coordinators to work on film sets in Hollywood. He received a lot of support from fellow stunt persons who gave him valuable advice to succeed in the indus- try. Cory remembers, “A friend of mine, Viktor Lopez, who is also a parkour pro-athlete and stuntman, told me if you wanna be a good stunt and fight person, pay attention to the camera because if the camera is in the wrong spot it’s still your fault if it’s a miss.” He shared his appreciation of meeting great people in the industry and being able to turn his passions into a full-time career. Simultaneously, he acknowledged the opportunity to work as a stuntman gave him a chance to learn more about the art of filmmaking from the best craftsmanship in the world. I asked Cory if he could recall the highlights of his stunt career, and without hesitation, he mentioned the set of the 2014 action/war film 300: Rise of an Empire which propelled his career and the opportu- nity to work on the 2018 action/thriller film Mile 22 where he met his mentor, Kevin Scott with whom he’s been working with ever since. The director continues to praise his mentor for supporting and teaching him about stunts and filmmaking. “He [Scott] has given me opportunities to run massive shows that proba- bly would have taken me another five years to run, and he was never afraid of me becoming a filmmaker. He is one of those people who legitimately want the best for you.” Last but not least, he mentioned working with Quentin Tarantino on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and describes the experience as a dream come true. Cory confessed Tarantino has always been one of the directors he wanted to work with. One day he received a phone call from the director’s team as they were looking for an experienced stunt performer to re-create the high fall in the 1968 epic film Once Upon a Time in the West where a stuntman does an old-school Hollywood reaction, stumbles down the roofline and falls through the awning on the porch. The man who did the original stunt broke his neck and, as the story goes, got hung up on the porch, where you can see his head spike in an actual deck bloom as he goes through the awning. “It is a bit daunting,” said Cory describing his thought process at that particular moment, but he gave the green light and accepted the work offer. Cory remembers the shoot day when he finally met the team and the crew, including Quentin Tarantino. “He [Quentin Tarantino] wanted me to stand on the roof like Captain Morgan, one foot on the peak and one foot on the slope. Leonardo DiCaprio shoots me; I take my reaction, fall through the balcony and then through the porch, and lay there on a stiff catcher. And I hear, “Cut, we got it, moving on!” It was the first time in my career I had the whole set clapping for me.” A year and a half later, Cory won the Taurus World Stunt of the Year award. He further added, “To be able to work with Quentin and have the whole crew be so receptive to stunt performers and to get praise from our community was like my childhood coming through a full circle.” bitefilmreview Sammy Horowitz Image©Russian Concussion Stunts Image © Crashsite Films Jett Jansen Fernandez Sari Sanchez