Credit:
Nicko Ray
Stunt Coordinators, Andy & James Armstrong have been working with Marc Webb since 2010, when
The Amazing Spider-Man started filming. The duo have since gone on to grow relationships with the cast and crew and eventually returned for the sequel. Discussing some interesting details regarding how Spidey swings and how many stunts Emma Stone actually does, the duo have a rather long interview, so you can read the full interview in the link below!
On Spidey's Movement:
James: Yeah. A lot of it was developed in the last film, and we spent a lot of time working with Andrew [Garfield].
Andy: One of the early briefs on the last film was that Marc [Webb] wanted to do the action a lot more real and grounded in reality - trying to minimise how much CGI was used. We came on first, and I very glibly said that we could definitely make the action more real - that we could do real swings. Several people said they’d tried swings before and in the end we resorted to CG swings.
Will Andrew Be Doing More This Time Around?
Andy: It’s about the same. It’s always the same question each time, whether it’s better to have a stunt man or Andrew do it. They have a very close relationship, him and the stuntmen, so we’ll work it out with them. Sometimes there’s danger involved, and it’s better if the stuntmen do it, because if they’re hurt, it’s a sad thing, but we can replace them. But Andrew does a lot of the stuff himself, and even to the point where when I see the movie now, I can’t tell which is the stunt man and which is Andrew.
James: Yeah, you can’t remember.
What Was The Toughest Thing Andrew Had To Do In This Film?
Andy: A lot of swings, a lot of falls and tumbles, and riding on the side of a truck. Riding on the roof of a police car. A lot of that is really Andrew.
James: There are things that are high, too. There’s a lot of dangerous stuff.
Andy: Yeah. Last week we had him 46 floors up on the edge of a building, with only a little safety line on him. No matter how much you tell yourself you’re safe or whatever, it still takes a leap of faith to realise that you’re edge of this, and if anyone’s calculated it wrongly... you’d only fall once.
James: Some people would say no. Some people wouldn’t do it, and that’s fair enough.
Andy: He’s tremendous. He really is the perfect ingredient for an action hero.
What's Giamatti's [Training] Technique? Or Jamie Foxx's?
Andy: Paul is really a different one. His is mostly performance stuff in this film, but he’ll eventually become a really interesting character. We really built his stuff around more light-hearted comedy, so we’ve done one scene with him and Andrew on a truck, and it’s a very vintage thing where we use the two stunt doubles for Andrew, as well as Andrew in the same scene. It’s like a slight-of-hand thing where there’s lots of Spider-Men appearing one at a time from different angles. What it plays to is Paul’s fantastic comedy timing and his great ability to work with different things like that.
James: Jamie’s extremely athletic too. He’s got a great ability, and he always underplays it. He thinks he’s below average, and he’s not - he’s above average. A great guy.
Andy: A very, very physical guy. We’ve been lucky with all the cast, really.
James: We have. They’ve really embraced our way of doing things as well, where they’ve done a lot of the action themselves, and if they can’t, they have great stunt doubles that work with them.
Does Emma Stone Have A Lot To Do In This Film?
Andy: Yeah, she does. A lot more in this film than the last one. She has quite a bit of action to do in this one.
James: A lot of it’s making sure they’re secure and comfortable, and luckily they’ve known us for quite a while now, and know we’re not crazy. If they have any doubts or concerns, they can just take a deep breath and say, okay, I trust these guys. I generally like to think that they’re proud that they’ve done it themselves. Like Dad said earlier, it’s a great feeling, seeing the real person do it.
Anything Fans Should Look Out For?
Andy: I can’t say who with, but there’s a lot more one-on-one fight action in this one, with Spider-Man fighting bad guys, absolutely.
On The Tone Of The Film:
James: [The Film] is not taking itself too seriously. This film is very light-hearted and fun. I have two little children, and they love it. They live for Spider-Man.
Full interview is in the link below!
Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), life is busy – between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the person he loves, Gwen (Emma Stone), high school graduation can’t come quickly enough. Peter hasn’t forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen’s father to protect her by staying away – but that’s a promise he just can’t keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain, Electro (Jamie Foxx), emerges, an old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past.