If you keep up with action-packed movies, then you must be aware of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s San Andreas (2015). Directed by Brad Peyton, the movie also featured Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, and Archie Panjabi. The movie required the stars of the movie to do a lot of dangerous stunts as the director wanted the audience to “see their faces.”
In one of the movie’s scenes, Dwayne Johnson performed an incredible stunt where he jumped out of a helicopter that was flying 200 feet above the ground. Johnson reportedly did the entire stunt himself without any stunt doubles.
The Rock did a death-defying stunt in San Andreas (2015) for $25 million
While filming Brad Peyton’s 2015 movie, San Andreas, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was asked to rappel out of a helicopter roughly 150 feet above the ground to rescue a girl that’s in a car suspended off a cliff that was 50 feet above the ground. So the director basically asked The Rock to jump out of a helicopter that was 200 feet above the ground without a professional stunt double.
Now obviously, The Rock wouldn’t do the stunt without a hefty salary. The actor took a whopping $25 million for his role as Ray Gaines in San Andreas (2015).
The director of the movie wanted all the actors to do their own stunts
Director Brad Peyton wanted the audience to see that Dwayne Johnson is actually doing the stunt by himself. He said,
“There was a little bit of a challenge that the script, the story, and the style in which we wanted to shoot it posed to the cast, which I think they delivered on in spades. I wanted to get Dwayne into the back seat and chase him with a 150-foot techno-crane and not cut. I wanted the audience to know that they were seeing Dwayne Johnson do this. This isn’t a trick. There’s no editing. This is him really doing it.”
Dwayne Johnson is known for his fearless attitude, and the stunt in this movie was not his first time. In the past, the actor has explained that he enjoys taking on challenging roles and performing his stunts. He takes great pride in doing most of his stunts himself, as it makes the scene more realistic and thrilling.
The Rock spent a lot of time with LAFD in order to prepare for the role
In the movie, The Rock plays the role of Ray Gaines, a Los Angeles Fire Department helicopter-rescue pilot. In order to prepare for the role, he spent a lot of time with Los Angeles Fire Department. He said,
“The difference was actually participating in something that I had never participated in before, spending time with first responders, spending time with the LAFD (Los Angeles Fire Department) Search and Rescue pilots operating a helicopter, participating again in deep dives and the drill down processes with these guys and girls for a pretty good amount of time.”
San Andreas was a box office success, grossing over $473 million worldwide on a production budget of $110 million. It became the 6th highest-grossing movie of 2015.
Source: IMDb
