Alex can you explain to our readers about how spending a day at a
local KW skate park put you on your current career path?
Well I should say that at this point (2010) I
had been inline skating at a pretty competitive level for about 10 years. I
happened to be at the Kitchener Auditorium Skatepark or “The Aud” as we call it
and one of the owners of a professional BMX/Inline stunt team called the “Craz-E-Crew”
happened to be there riding his bike. He was watching me skate around doing my
tricks and he came up to me and asked “have you ever thought about doing live
shows?” basically offering me a job since they were looking for an inline skater
at the time. A couple weeks later, I was in Saudi Arabia performing live shows
for 10 days. It was really one of those crazy times when preparation met
opportunity and I didn’t know it then, but that was a huge turning point in my
life. In many ways, these shows prepared me for what was to come.
I had been performing in these live shows for
a year or so when I met some other friends through skating that worked in the
film industry as stuntmen. I saw how much fun they were having and the great
living they were making and thought to myself “I need to get in on this”. So I
convinced them to give me my first shot on a small MTV show to be a part of a
small fight scene. From the moment I stepped on set, I was hooked. I ended up
doing lots of extra and background work to meet other stunt coordinators in the
business; always bringing my resume and demo reel with me. I was constantly
training different skillsets, getting as good at everything as I could.
Eventually, they also gave me a shot and I started to make a pretty decent
reputation for myself. Six years later, here I am today!
Where has your stunt career taken you throughout the years?
For the film and TV part of my career, I
mostly film in either Toronto or Montreal. We usually have between 10 and 30 TV
shows filming in Toronto/Montreal year round with one or two big feature films
per year. I am looking into getting my U.S. green card and would love to work
down south of the boarder at some point. In my spare time, I do still like to
perform in the Craz-E-Crew stunt shows. Performing with this awesome group of
guys has taken me all over the world from Saudi Arabia, India, and all over the
U.S. and Canada. It truly was a blessing getting “noticed” at the Aud that one
day back in 2010.
What current and upcoming roles will you be stunt-doubling for?
My most current role that I stunt doubled for
was El Diablo from the feature film Suicide Squad. I’ve also doubled for James
Franco on the TV mini-series called 11/22/63 based off of the Stephen King
novel and produced by JJ Abrams. Also for Wilmer Valderrama on Minority Report,
Sam Rockwell on Poltergeist, and I also double for Yannick Bisson on CBC’s
Murdoch Mysteries as the Murdoch double just to name a few.
How have your online and offline communities supported you with
your stunt career?
Alex Armbruster: Stunt Demo 2016 from Alex Armbruster on Vimeo.
Nowadays, being online is a pretty essential
key to success. The ability to create and share my demo reels, headshots, and
just to simply let people in your community know what you’re up to can mean the
difference between landing or losing a job. If a stunt coordinator is looking
for a guy with inline skating experience to double an actor and he just
recently saw that I posted a new video of me skating online, there’s a good
chance I’ll be in the running for that job. If you’re out of sight, you’re out
of mind. You’ve got to stay in their faces and being online is a great way to
do that.
My offline community, which I would consider
my close family and friends, have always been so supportive of my career
choice. I’m very grateful to have such a strong support system that encourages
and motivates me to excel in anything I put my mind to. Most recently, this
would be the sport of skydiving.
What would your dream role be?
My dream role would be to double a famous
lead super hero in a big feature film. Yes, I most recently doubled El Diablo
in Suicide Squad who would be considered a super hero or super villain I
suppose. However, there were very few stunts for his character and although it
was my career highlight thus far, my dream role would be to double someone like
Superman or Green Lantern with a ton of big stunts. But hey, I’m not
complaining!
Any advice for anyone looking to get into this line of work?
Be prepared to work incredibly hard. It’s a
very tough business to get into but it’s not impossible. With the right work
ethic, attention to detail and the ability to adapt to a million different
situations while making the job look easy, this job could be for you. First
off, you need to be really good at something. Stunt coordinators need a reason
to hire you over hundreds of other established stuntmen/women. Get some
headshots, make a resume and demo reel. If you manage to get your first shot,
get good at everything else so that you can continue working. I would recommend
getting your foot in the door by doing some extra work as a background
performer which allows you to understand all of the lingo and how the business
works. Being on set is like being in a different world and it takes some time
to adjust and to figure it all out. Once you get to this stage, bring your
demo, resume, and headshots with you whenever you’re on set. If there are
stunts happening that day, try and introduce yourself to the stunt coordinator
when they’re not busy and ask if you can give them your info. From there, it’s
in their hands. Good luck!
To Learn More About Alex Armbruster be sure to visit these links
Alex Armbruster
Stunt Performer
Cell: 519-572-4549
Blog:
Armbrusterstunts.blogspot.com
IMDb:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4675100
Stunt Performer
Cell: 519-572-4549
Blog:
Armbrusterstunts.blogspot.com
IMDb:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4675100
If you know someone else from KW DOING BIG THINGS be sure to email us about them at fostermcdonald@rogers.com and they may be featured in our next post!
Ok, those images? Way cool. I had to read this to see how it related to kids! LOL
ReplyDeleteCarol
http://carolcassara.com/old-friends/
The story of Alex is impressive & I love how his life has turned to a greater one and I am sure he must have been absolutely thrilled to be a part of that first MTV show despite being a small one. Hard work & dedication bring success anytime. Thanks for the inspiring interview!
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