Hollywood Stuntman: An Interview with Stuntman Zak Lee Guarnaccia
We sat down recently to interview Zak Lee Guarnaccia—Hollywood Stuntman, Entrepreneur and Fitness Trainer.
FITNESS TRAINER: Can you explain what you do for your job as a Stuntman?
ZAK LEE GUARNACCIA: A stuntman or stuntwoman typically performs stunts intended for use in motion pictures or dramatized television. Stunts seen in films and television include car crashes, car hits, falls from great height, hand to hand fighting, jumping from one building to another, aerial work, explosions and more. I specialize in stunt fighting with martial arts skills, car hits, high falls up to 50 feet, some motorcycle and car stunt drive and fire, body burns (can be partial or full body burn), which is always calculated as we use specific safety measures to prevent injury, but always risky.
Many of my stunts are based with martial arts, with or without weapons, firearm included. These stunts are always choreographed and can also be called Stage Combat. In many of my acting jobs I perform my own stunts, and I stunt-double other actors who can’t perform specific actions or want to make sure they don’t get injured so there’s no risk with the production schedule. Today some people like myself can both act and do stunts; in Hollywood we call these people “stunt-actors.”
FITNESS TRAINER: How do you prepare in the gym for your stunt roles?