Drew Pearce is the writer of movies like Iron Man 3, Hobbs and Shaw and 2018’s Hotel Artemis – the Scottish-born storyteller’s directorial debut. This week, he’s back in cinemas with The Fall Guy – a car-flipping, boat-exploding, bullet-dodging, unicorn-hallucinating love letter to practical filmmaking that’s pure adrenaline and charisma. The David Leitch-directed film – loosely adapted from the 1980s TV show of the same name – stars Ryan Gosling as Colt Seavers, a Hollywood stuntman whose career isn’t the only thing derailed when he suffers a terrible accident on the set of an action movie. His fledgling romance with emerging director Jody Moreno, played by Emily Blunt, also hits the rocks – that is, until an opportunity arises to perhaps win her back. The star of Jody’s new sci-fi blockbuster, Metalstorm, has gone missing. If Colt can use his stuntman skills to track down the Hollywood A-list actor he used to double, he decides that Jody might give him another try.

In the spoiler conversation with Drew that you’re about to hear, you’ll discover how the film began life as a more straight-action, Mission: Impossible-inspired stunt bonanza. You’ll also hear how there was a moment where The Fall Guy was going to be a “jukebox musical” devoted to the band Kiss. We talk about how the movie fits into a lineage of films about filmmaking that runs from Singing In The Rain to Babylon; what the movie is designed to express about the replacement of practical filmmaking techniques with VFX tools; and how a near-death experience years ago, in which Drew technically died for a minute or two, gives him a different appreciation of moments like this one, on the brink of releasing one of summer 2024’s most joyful, exciting blockbusters.

Script Apart is hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek.  Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, or email us on thescriptapartpodcast@gmail.com.

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