Action Man – Stunt Performer Mike “Mitch” Mitchell Credits Dance Training as His Secret Weapon
by Laura Goldstein
Photos Courtesy Mike Mitchell
Pursued by an assailant, actor Gabriel Basso, (aka FBI Agent, Peter Sutherland,) smashes a window and steps out onto the 2nd storey hotel room’s glass awning then crashes to the the cement ground below. Starring in Season 1 of the political thriller, The Night Agent for Sony Pictures on Netflix, it’s Basso’s stunt double, Matt Mylrea that actually takes the fall. That’s just one of the many action packed stunts in the series co-ordinated by award-winning BC stunt performer and 2nd unit director, Mike (Mitch) Mitchell.
“Matt Mylrea was on a deceleration cable connected to a structurally engineered truss deck on the roof of the hotel. Only after engineering document approval and multiple simulations and rehearsals did I okay this stunt to go ahead. All told this was two months in the planning,” explains stunt co-ordinator, Mike Mitchell of Big Surf Films.
Next time you see astonishing stunts and convincing fight scenes in action films or series you may be surprised to learn that some stuntmen and stuntwomen have previously had extensive careers in dance and choreography.
“In the 38 years of my career I’ve seen an evolution from the rough and tumble cowboy guy and dirt biker when we were just known as stuntmen or stuntwomen, to the present where we call ourselves stunt performers,” says Mitchell from his five-acre farm in South Langley. “And, we come from various backgrounds including Cirque du Soleil, professional athletes or like my friend, stunt performer and co-ordinator, Lloyd Adams, a dancer in the Canadian production of Cats.”
“When I choreograph a fight scene for example, the memory, the timing, the co-ordination and all the relative action in movement with another person is just like a dance,” explains the former apprentice in Vancouver’s Paula Ross Dance Company. “She was one of my mentors and it was a big decision for me to leave the company and move to LA years ago to pursue stunt work,” confides Mitchell.
A Renaissance man when it comes to stunt skillsets, Mitchell is a horseman (he owns two,) a kickboxer and karate medalist, scuba diver, surfer and motorcycle enthusiast among other pursuits.
A pilot for over 30 years, he is currently finishing both his commercial and helicopter pilot’s licenses. Does the man ever sleep? “One of the best things you can learn about our craft is to know a little about a lot,” he says modestly.
Laid-back and self-effacing, Mitchell is a technical tactician who emphasizes that stunt performers are not daredevils or risk-takers. On the contrary. He’s a stickler for meticulous rehearsals and adamant about safety precautions on set. “Stunt performers are about as far away as one can get from Evil Knievel. We perform our action with deep planning, engineering and design. Only after several rehearsals do we take a stunt to set, where it must be repeatable and safe for the performer. And even if an actor has a great skills set I don’t let an actor pressure me to do his or her own stunts – the buck has to stop here,” he adds.
Although stunts play such a crucial role in many films, surprisingly, there is still no Oscar category for the genre. With over 100 stunt performance/co-ordinator and stunt double credits for films and TV series under his belt, Mitchell has worked with many stars in Hollywood’s entertainment industry. From the recent multiple Emmy Award -winning series The Last of Us, the biggest series ever shot in Canada and starring Pedro Pascal; The Adam Project and Deadpool both starring Ryan Reynolds, The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and as the stunt double for Brian Cox in Forsaken to name only a few. Working with the late Robin Williams remains one of Mitchell’s fondest memories.
“The first time I met Robin Williams was on the film Jumunji in 1994. I actually heard Robin before I even met him,” he chuckles. “Three rows of trailers away he was imitating Ethel Merman singing! One on one, he was actually an incredibly shy man,” confides Mitchell, who worked as Williams’ stunt double on 18 films over twenty years. “He was a dear sweet man. I felt like I painted with Picasso and sang with Pavarotti,” Mitchell reminisces.
Will AI be taking over stunt work in the future? “Twenty-five years ago we thought that about CGI. I hope not and I just don’t think it’s there yet,” says Mitchell. “If you want that superhero, comic book, fast food kind of story telling, yes, but I don’t like it. I think sophisticated audiences in the future are going to still want to see live action. Right now it’s a trend or a fad but will eventually fade away. But yeah, it’s a shadow hanging over our shoulder.”
Keeping it in the family, Mitchell is married to stunt performer and martial arts expert, Angela Uyeda. “I met her on a silly, short-lived show called Secret Agent Man for which I was co-ordinating a fight scene. The second I saw her move I fell in love,” Mitchell admits. “That was 25 years ago. We’ve been married for 20 years, have a teenage daughter and Angela and I have worked together on several productions.
In his down time, of which there isn’t much, “I’m a handyman and there’s always work to do on our Tofino get-away property. I’m just built that way. I’m 61 years old and I just can’t sit down,” Mitchell laughs.