In Hollywood, there are a few actors who have famously performed their own stunts for their films. Tom Cruise and Henry Cavill are two stars who have braved the odds and risked their lives for the sake of authentic action. Traditionally, in most films, actors have always used stunt doubles to film death-defying action sequences. While the relationship between the stars and their body doubles has always been friendly and mutually respectful, not every stuntman has boasted of a memorable experience on the movie set. A few controversial inside stories are now coming to light and they involve James Cameron and his cult classic Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Why does stunt double Peter Kent have a bone to pick with James Cameron?
Canadian stuntman Peter Kent who was actor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s stunt double in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, has a lot to say about his experience with the actor and director James Cameron. However, not all of his opinions are favorable. To clarify, Peter Kent stated that his relationship with the Terminator actor was a healthy one, based on 15 years of camaraderie and trust. Talking about his friendship with the star, he says,
“When I worked with him we were pretty much together 24/7. I’m one of the few guys who can say I trained with him every day”.
Unfortunately, the same wasn’t the case with the film’s director James Cameron. According to Peter Kent, while he was picked for his uncanny resemblance to the film’s star, the Oscar-winning filmmaker did not make the effort to create favorable working conditions for his crew. While the Avatar director’s success can be attributed to him being a perfectionist and a taskmaster, it came at the cost of not communicating adequately and respectfully to a poorly treated crew. In the stuntman’s words,
“He is not a great communicator of what’s on his mind. He has this vision, and in some way he thinks that people are going to get that vision by osmosis from him. Of course that doesn’t happen and he says ‘why are you guys not on the same page as me?’”
Peter Kent went through 6 months of hard rigor and received no gratitude from James Cameron
Being a stunt double is a thankless job. It requires putting one’s life at risk every day for the sake of cinema, action, and celebrities. Peter Kent, who threw himself in the line of fire for 6 months during the filming of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, knows this better than anyone. Yet he states that he was treated like a “rag doll” by director James Cameron. Despite performing life-threatening stunts in the iconic truck flipping scene, having a latex mold of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s face glued to him daily, and getting beaten black and blue with an oak crowbar by Robert Patrick, he received more criticism than positive feedback or empathy from James Cameron.
But the stunt double still feels it was all worth it as the gig turned into a lifelong friendship between him and the Junior actor while also giving him recognition for being the action star’s stunt double in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is streaming on HBO Max
Source: i news
