Taekwon-Do Stunties: an Interview with Steve McQuillan

by Glen Allison, 4th gup
Nibun Central

With the tremendous amount of new action movies and television shows in existence, stuntmen and stuntwomen have begun to come to the forefront of the entertainment industry. While the actors and actresses usually get all the attention, money and fame, the stunt people take the hard falls, car hits and kicks, and make the performers look almost superhuman.

It came as no surprise to fi nd that several members of ITFNZ have regular work in the stunt industry, but it was a surprise as to just how big the projects are that they have worked on. Everything from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, to the Kill Bill movies to the blockbuster King Kong, has had ITF members involved in the action scenes.

The following ITFNZ members are or have been involved with stunt work:

	Top: Steve McQuillan with actress Lucy Lawless on the set of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’.

Master Paul McPhail 7th dan
Mr Mark Rounthwaite 5th dan
Mrs Jeanette Trilford 5th dan
Mr Matthew Breen 5th dan
Mr Steve McQuillan 4th dan
Mr Mark Trotter 3rd dan
Mr Daniel Jackson 3rd dan
Mr Sean Button 1st dan
Mr Zahn Buchanan 1st dan
Ms Chantelle Bennett 1st dan
Ms Zoë Bell 3rd Gup

I had the privilege to talk to Steve McQuillan (4th dan) about his involvement in the stunt industry:

Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions. Let’s start at the beginning, how did you get involved in stunt work?

Mr Rounthwaite was approached by a stunt coordinator in early 1996 to work on a television show called ‘Hercules the Legendary Journeys.’ At this time I was in America visiting my brother for about 8 months.

Above: Mr McQuillan shows how pretty he is, on the set of Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy ‘The Lord of the Rings’.

Mr Rounthwaite gave me a call to come back to New Zealand and trial as a stunt performer.

I was a little apprehensive about the whole stunt thing, but after a few days decided to head back home and give it a go.

The trials were quite grueling, learning how to fall hard onto concrete with no mats, having to sell hits that looked good on camera without actually being hit, learning how to throw kicks and punches that look good on screen but totally different to what we were ever taught in Taekwon-Do.

We were also drilled on timing. If there were multiple bad guys in a fi ght and you were the third bad guy in the fi ght, you couldn’t leave the actor/ actress waiting, also making sure that you were in the correct position to take a hit, sell that hit to a camera, take a fall from the hit and land on the ground hard without hurting yourself.

After the trials we were all told not to expect anything as far as stunt work so don’t give up the jobs we already had. Luckily for us this little show started so we didn’t have long to wait before we got the call, that little show was called ‘Xena.’

Is there enough work within NZ to be professional, or has the work involved international assignments as well?

No! I would say ninety percent of stunt performers in this country are part time.

There is only a small group of professionals who get regular work throughout the year to warrant full time employment.

	Top: Mr McQuillan reviews footage with the crew of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ as a ranger on the set of Minas Tirith. Mr McQuillan is the one leaning against the column.

Shows like ‘Power Rangers’ run for six months of the year, so if you are good enough and fortunate enough to get offered a contract on this show it is a guaranteed income for half a year during the summer months.

Big budget movies are being fi lmed down here like ‘Narnia (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)’ and ‘King Kong.’

Movies like these can shoot for three months and having bigger budgets, a stunt performer can make more money in three months on one of these movies than other shows that run for six months or more.

As for international stunt work, recently Mr Rounthwaite and Mr Button were filming in Morocco and Thailand on the movie ‘Alexander’ and Mr Rounthwaite is currently in Europe as a stunt coordinator on the new James Bond fi lm.

Ms Zoë Bell is probably New Zealand’s biggest stunt export, she has made quite a name for herself as Uma Thurman’s stunt double in ‘Kill Bill’ Vol I and II and also as Sharon Stone’s stunt double in ‘Catwoman.’

Zoë was recently recognised for her work at the Taurus World Stunt Awards where she won in the best female fight category.

Would you consider the work quite dangerous?

Above: Mr McQuillan on the set of Power Rangers season four, Mystic Force.

No! We are stunt performers not daredevils, but you must be well trained and mentally prepared to undergo this kind of work.

A good stunt coordinator knows each individual stunt performer’s ability so someone who’s new to the industry shouldn’t be put in a situation where they may be injured.

Some of the hardest stunts to perform are fi ght sequences rather than some of the so called bigger stunts like fi re burns, high falls or stair falls; these are highly visual and no matter what happens, they look great on camera, but a fi ght sequence that has bad timing and bad reactions looks terrible, and has to be re shot again and again and again.

I would consider Sean Button to be one of the top stunt performers in New Zealand.

His gymnastics background combined with his martial arts training make him an extremely sought after stunt performer here and overseas.

Both Sean and Zoë have perfected the art of harness work and both have been lead actor doubles; this is extremely hard on the body and they would both have to stay in harness and perform stunt after stunt for twelve hours a day fi ve to six days a week, so you defi nitely have to be in top physical condition for this kind of work.

Is the work primarily in the fi lm industry or do you do work for TV as well?

Defi nitely both. The fi lm and television industry has always been strong in this country and a lot of overseas companies have been fi lming here for years.

A lot of movies and commercials that have been fi lmed here the New Zealand public would never have seen, so next time you are in another country watch the adverts and I guarantee you would probably notice the amazing New Zealand scenery, being made to look like somewhere in Alaska.

In what projects have you been involved?

I’ve been extremely lucky to have been involved in so many different projects, everything from good old homegrown New Zealand shows like ‘Shortland Street’ and ‘The Topp Twins,’ to huge Oscar winning blockbusters like ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ and ‘The Two Towers.’

I have gained over seventy credits since starting in the stunt industry, and I have meet some extremely weird and some extremely wonderful people.

A good friend once said, “If you love your job you will never work a day in your life” and this is how I feel doing what I do.