He was Brad Pitt's stunt double on "Fight Club." Now he's his director in "Bullet Train." Brad Pitt and David Leitch on their relationship coming full circle ...
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00:00I remember the first meeting because we went for rehearsal on Fight Club for, I guess,
00:05fight training.
00:06Yeah, it was fight training.
00:07It was just fight training.
00:08Just kind of get us in, like, where we could look like we could throw a punch or take a
00:12punch.
00:13Yeah, yeah.
00:14Yeah.
00:15So, Mr. Dave Leitch here was hired as my stunt double, and now he's the director.
00:23Now he's my boss.
00:24It's a long journey.
00:25It really is.
00:26It's a long journey.
00:27He was such a, like, he worked so well in Fight Club.
00:30There are scenes where it's Dave, and even I'm going, wow, I look pretty good there.
00:36And we carried on.
00:38We did a few more films all the way up to Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
00:40We did some Troy, and then you went on to Stunt Coordinator first with John Wick.
00:49We did, like, Stunt Coordinated, second unit directed, and then the first movie was John
00:54Wick.
00:57And Brad was doing movies.
00:58I don't know if you knew any of them, but there we go.
00:59I'm just kidding.
01:00We were doing a few movies.
01:01But it was funny, like, the movie, our fates took us in different places, and then they
01:05ended up bringing us back together.
01:07John Wick.
01:08Don't even do it.
01:09You might not swim, but you can't push me.
01:11You stabbed me?
01:12Yeah!
01:13You better watch out.
01:14You better throw it up.
01:15You better get this gun down.
01:16You better stop.
01:17You better stop.
01:18I'm here.
01:19We're ruining your life the way you're ruining mine.
01:21Dude, I don't even know you.
01:24I get this call that there's this script and Leitch is directing, and it just, like, it
01:30was such a beautiful symmetry, full circle kind of, like, kismet to it all.
01:35So you said yes right away to this movie?
01:37No.
01:38No.
01:39Gotta read the script first.
01:41Make sure I fit.
01:42But I did.
01:43I was, like, I got into, like, page 30, and I was laughing out loud, and I went, ah.
01:48You know, you gotta understand, this was, like, in that period of lockdown when we were
01:51really, like, in the doldrums for everyone, and to read this thing was just, like, a breath
01:56of fresh air.
01:57There's a gun.
02:10I read that in this movie, you did 95% of your stunts by yourself.
02:14Is that what they're saying?
02:15That's what they're saying.
02:16Really?
02:17Yeah.
02:18But you did.
02:19I mean, you did.
02:21What was it?
02:22Sort of, like, 97.5.
02:23I don't know.
02:24He would know.
02:25But you, like, he's always been great in fight scenes, and a lot of the times when I was
02:29your double, the big job of a stunt double is oftentimes to do the choreography, learn
02:35the choreography, train the actor to do as much as you can, and, like, when I was working
02:39with Brad as a stunt performer, there was, I mean, you did a lot of the fighting action.
02:44We would just, and again, like, 90, and then you'd pull back and, like, oh, this one's
02:48going to hurt, and then you'd pull back and, like, that guy.
02:51Right.
02:52Put that guy in.
02:53Right.
02:54Or, like, heights.
02:55Like, I remember you had to do the cable drop from Troy, right?
02:56Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:57Yeah, because I didn't want to do the heights.
02:58Yeah.
02:59I was like, oh, I don't feel so good.
03:00David, did you choreograph the action scene in this movie?
03:03I had a great team.
03:06His team with his signature.
03:07Yeah.
03:08So, yes.
03:09So, it's a really close-knit team that they vibe on each other, and they're great at it.
03:12Really good, I got to say.
03:13I mean, first, all the choreography, I was just, like, bang on it because it was so funny
03:17as well.
03:18You know, Dave and I both have, like, great respect for Jackie Chan.
03:23We just, we had a lot of conversations about him, and this kind of felt, would you say,
03:27was in his slipstream?
03:28Yeah, totally, totally.
03:29I mean, that was sort of a huge inspiration, I think.
03:33The physical comedy we wanted to create with Ladybug was Buster Keaton, Jackie-esque, right?
03:38And Jackie, in that world, is, like, the master.
03:41Like, I mean, he makes things so funny with these crazy fight scenes, you know?
03:45You played a stuntman in Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
03:49Now, you star in a movie directed by your older stuntman, so what does that movie represent
03:55for you, and how does it fit in your whole career?
03:58Oh, it is, it is, it's kind of cool.
04:00I mean, I've always had a great love and respect for the stuntmen.
04:04Like, they are, like, if they do their job right, they don't get noticed, you know?
04:10It's only if they cock it up, right?
04:11In a way.
04:12It's like, it's like, it's like a pilot or something, you know?
04:15Those kind of jobs.
04:16Or a referee, or...
04:18And so, I mean, they're like the quiet brilliance of the team, and the real, you know, there's
04:24more, there's the real muscle.
04:27And so, I don't know, different, I've had to do different things in my life, but, as
04:33far as stunts and fights, but this one, to me, is my favorite, because it's, again, it's
04:38just infused with comedy.
04:41It's built around the character, instead of just a punch-up, and it really, like, they're
04:46funny, they're funny.