Crashing cars and setting people on fire is just another day in the life of veteran Torquay stuntman Warwick Sadler.
After 25 years as a stuntman with roles in films like Thor: Ragnarok and Pirates of the Caribbean, Sadler’s latest gig is much closer to home.
“It’s amazing getting home at 7.30pm – once I’ve got my makeup off – and spending a bit of time with the kids,” he said.
The father-of-two spoke to the Indy after coordinating a major stunt for new film The Whistleblower in Geelong, where a lead character is “flung” from her car in a crash.
The film’s lead rigger, who has credits from Aquaman and Saw, attached a harness to a stuntwoman to achieve the effect, Sadler said.
The stunt took days to plan, with lots of research and development thrown in, he added.
The $40m Chinese-Australian film is Saddler’s first credit as stunt coordinator.
“It’s a lot more pressure because you’re in charge of the whole thing – you’re not just concerned with your own safety and those you’re working around,” he said.
“You have to be on all day and go through every little piece of the puzzle to make sure it’s safe.”
Sadler described coordinating the stunts for the film as more intimate than his individual stunt roles in $300-million-plus movies.
“The only difference is the price tag,” he said.But The Whistleblower had a relatively big stunt budget for a film of its size, Sadler said.
“It’s good to have that freedom here.”
By comparison, most stunt coordinators for Australian films forbade even “getting a scratch” on stunt cars due to their budgets, he said.
“In the US it’s never mattered if you crash a car – you just get the next one.”
Sadler hopes to continue performing stunts well into his 60s.
“I still do a lot of performing – I’m only 43,” he said.
“I know 70 per cent of people work to live – I live to work. I still love getting out of bed at 6am, 3am or even 12pm to work at night.
“And you know that your achievements are on film.”
But even after decades perfoming stunts Sadler admitted he still got nervous at times.
“Sometimes, ten minutes beforehand, you wonder why you’re in this business,” he said.
“Every stunt – whether it’s big or small – the nerves and the anxiety get high.”
Saddler hoped to coordinate stunts for a major Hollywood film and also had his eye on an upcoming Australian series, which could be filmed in Geelong.
“It’s always your goal to aim for a bigger one,’ he said.
“But you shoot the films you’re passionate about – whether they’re big or small doesn’t really matter so long as you’re having fun.”
Sadler specialises in onscreen fires and has taught the art of “human torches” for ten years.
“No one has ever been hurt in my courses and we’ve done some pretty big torches,” he said.
