Today I got a chance to chat with the fastest kicker in American melee fighters, whom you could see there along with by Cynthia Rothrock, Jeff Wincott, James Lew, Matthias Hughes, Karen Shepherd and others. Jeff Pruitt also known for his hard work and choreographing fights in series like "Buffy" And "Power Rangers"and at one time he could play a leading role in"Bloodsport"and the American version of the Jackie Chan film"police history".
Budomate: Jeff, please tell us when your journey in the world of martial arts began and what inspired you to start it?
Jeff Pruitt: Even as a child, I was impressed by martial arts when I watched spy action films, then I saw The Green Hornet. This changed everything, from that moment I was obsessed; I studied Masa Oyama's books a ton (since his followers did not yet have children's groups in their sections - it was too dangerous, so they said). By the time I turned thirteen, Kung Fu films were booming everywhere, becoming fashionable, and finally I went to study at one of these schools.
B. I know that you have a black belt in Tang Soo Do. Why this particular martial art? Is this somehow related to Cynthia Rothrock and Chuck Norris, who also have black belts in the same discipline?
AP.: One of my first trainers was heavyweight champion and police officer Lawrence Huff. He was familiar with Chuck and his Tang Soo Do system. However, in addition to this, over the years I have also trained with Taekwondoists, Kempoists, Boxers and Muay Thai.
Your first film work was Curfew (1990), with Cynthia Rothrock and David Carradine. Tell us how you got the role of Johnson? What's it like to be new to something like this?
Actually, this is not exactly my first job in cinema - before that I had several low-budget films, where I worked either as a cameraman, or as an assistant producer, etc. Then, when I came to Hollywood, I met a guy who I had previously worked with (and who gave me good advice) - and at that time he was directing Curfew. I sent him my resume, but he didn't receive it. But it so happened that he finally got through to my grandmother in Georgia. To find me, he wanted me to choreograph fights for his movies. I answered him - I’m new in these parts, and local stuntmen and directors may not “understand”, he understood this and gave me the position of assistant fight director. So, I choreographed the fights anyway - along with Benny Urquidez and Pete Antico.
I was a little nervous before the “fight” with Cynthia and was afraid of ruining everything and letting her down. Steve Cowan, the director, cast me as Johnson and directed me to choreograph the fight between the character and Cynthia myself, allowing me to demonstrate a few kicks before she knocked me out. I really liked Cynthia then.
Two years later, you were already working as a full-fledged fight director on the second part of Curfew. Was it easy to incorporate your style into Hollywood-Fu? Which part of the film did you like best?
I studied them for years and specially adapted them “for the camera,” so by that time the main thing was only permission to work on the film. In those years, many American filmmakers did not understand a damn thing about martial arts and stunts from Hong Kong cinema. We had to introduce new elements step by step in the process of work.
Favorite moment? I think it's the one. where I fought the lead actor, star Jeff Wincott. We had a fun time then. I even dubbed another actor so he could sing into my head with full force. We tried to get the most out of ourselves in every moment of our work together.
You worked with Jeff Wincott, a talented athlete and hand-to-hand action actor. Have you met him before and what is it like working with such talented guys as Cynthia, Karen, Jeff, Matthias and James Liu?
I met Jeff during the pre-production phase of the film. I invited him to my place and we rehearsed there. Before that, I had only seen him in some TV series. We had a fun time, Jeff always liked to joke around.
I know James, Cynthia and Karen from the world of martial arts. Since these were gifted people in their own way, it was noticeably easier to work with them than with ordinary actors. They understood everything perfectly and we did the work much faster.
Matthias is a huge man with a big heart. He is very strong, but at the same time very good-natured. It was very funny that such a kind guy plays a very evil guy. However, he enjoyed it.
"Mission of Justice" is one of my favorite action movies, I remember when I saw your speed and technique, I was like, "Wow! This guy is very fast!" You worked there as a stunt double for Wincott and as a fight choreographer. Was it difficult to adapt a giant like Matthias to cinematic fights?
Thank you. Matthias is primarily a big bodybuilder, but besides that he is also an excellent dancer. He perfectly understood all the movements and how to play the role between fights. He is also very strong. I would put my hand in my boot and hit him on the head with that hand, and then we would mount the result with Wincott’s “blows.” For Mattias it was like an easy walk in the park. Not all actors could work like that.
What's your favorite fight from The Mission?
There are two of them - in a car repair shop and a fight-test of a hero, where they fight with sticks (Kali).
In the process of creating the fight in the auto repair shop, I decided to cut a lot of the collaboration moments between me and my partner Koichi Sakamoto (the stunt double for the Asian guy with the pigtails). The producers were afraid that our actions might distract the viewer too much from the main character. therefore, all developments were not included in the finished material. Now I regret it, it seems to me. it wouldn't hurt the scene, it would just make it better.
You've worked with Kurt Anderson in other films. Tell us how you met him and was it difficult to find a common language with him?
We met on the set of Curfew. We worked well together and now he is one of my most respected producers. He watched Hong Kong cinema with me and decided that I could combine Western and Eastern styles. [...]
Our plans were for a film with me in the central role, it was planned to make the first American hand-to-hand action comedy in the style of "Police Story", but as soon as we wanted to start such work, each of us was called to work on other things. Then I started working on “Power Rangers” and we abandoned this idea.
In 1996, you worked on “Sword of Honor”, tell us more about Tsuyoshi Abe and the film, about any interesting events during the filming process?
"Sword of Honor" was filmed in Las Vegas in 1994. Tsuyoshi was my roommate (along with Koichi) and I cast them in every movie I worked on.
My favorite moment at work was the day. when I first touched Sophia Crawford. I saw her back in Hong Kong cinema and now she is participating in the filming here, with me! Well, I demonstrated different grips on it, showing it to the actors. how to do this correctly during the “fight”, and then Koichi and I joked about this topic for a long time. I was in love with her, but I was too shy to say anything.
You worked with PM Entertainment for a long time and along with that, with many hand-to-handers in the 90s, why do you think Pepin and Merhi are inactive now after 150 films and what it was like working with them.
The reason is the market for “Direct to VHS” films - when this market raised its head, independent filmmakers sold all their work and libraries and stopped making films.
Pepin was a cinematographer and was directly involved in the filming process, while Merhi (Joseph) dealt with the business side of the issue. I really enjoyed working with them. They continued the endless work and involved many people in it. Thanks to them, in the late 80s and early 90s, stuntmen were not without work.
In 1993, you worked with Angelina Jolie herself on the set of Cyborg 2 - then she was not yet the superstar she is now. Is there anything interesting to remember about working with her?
Then, when I met her, she was a small, skinny girl named Angie with a childishly pleasant face. I was told that this is Jon Voight's daughter. She was an amazing actress. A year later, I saw her in some biopic and realized what star potential she had.
I choreographed several fights and dubbed a lot, but the moment that sticks in my memory is when the stuntman told the director. who will be a stunt double for Karen Shepherd in the scene where she jumps from one rooftop to another - using a large trampoline. The directors suggested using ropes, but then they still allowed him to do it at his own risk. When the time came, at one of the rehearsals he realized that the distance to the other roof was not enough.
That night I came to the shoot, saw that the height there was five floors - and below there was no insurance like pillows and the saying - “The guy will kill himself.” Just in case, I tied myself to another roof and waited. Finally, he gathered his strength, ran, pushed off and jumped - and I caught him by the legs. A few more inches - and he would have fallen and broken. I then looked him in the eyes and said, “Never try to do something you can’t do again!” You can do something out of the ordinary in the world of acting, but in the world of stuntwork such behavior is dangerous and leads to death.
Later I trained him to fall from a great height for one of my films (100 feet). Step by step I trained him and taught him to reconsider his mistakes. And in the end he performed this trick.
TV series are the other side of your career, you've worked on shows like Buffy, Power Rangers, Robin Hood... What was your favorite job and which was the hardest to work on?
The best job was Buffy, because I enjoyed working on the script and because Sofia and I were the only two people working on it, except when it came to hiring stunt people every week. “Power Rangers” was also fun, but it was a series for young children, so I didn’t watch it myself and didn’t intend to. Sheena Queen of the Jungle was a blast. as I had the pleasure of working with Steve Sears and Doug Schwartz, two ever-supportive and hard-working producers.
Robin Hood was the worst job. It was assumed that the series and the fights in it would be filmed in the Hong Kong style. But alas, unlike “Rangers,” where I sat nearby and controlled the editing process, all the filming footage was sent to France, where they were entrusted to some students who took over all the action. They did everything haphazardly. shots of episodes and plans were confused, and battle scenes were mercilessly cut.
I didn’t like this situation, so I, Sofia and Kagnadian stuntman Jason Cavalier decided to leave the project. The producer of the project, Fred Weintraub, was a good person and I liked him, but he never showed up on the set, instead there was another, terrible producer, and thanks to him everything finally went down the drain.
The lead actor, Matthew Porretta, also wanted to leave when he learned of our dismissal, but he was under contract until the end of the season. He did it and then left.
Of course, I worked well there and had a wonderful time with the stunt guys... but the show fell apart due to a large number of different bad people, instead of working, they interfered with each other and did all sorts of dirty tricks. The atmosphere on set was unpleasant. Fortunately. I left to work on Buffy as soon as I returned to the States.
What style do you think is most suitable for adaptation into a hand-to-hand action film?
I think Korean style kicks to start with and boxing punches as a support. Here the whole difference is between the strikes themselves and the “play of the body.”
Many times I have worked with boxing champions and MMA fighters and I understand. how boring they look with their styles in movie fights. That's all. that they are taught to fight with the real and against the real in order to hide and protect parts of the body, not to open up and use quick short movements. [...]
You can attack with a clean hook that will immediately knock someone out - but it doesn't look very good in a movie fight. However, you can attack with a wide sweeping hook, which will allow everyone in the audience to see your emotion on your face, and if the stuntman shows an excellent reaction to the “blow,” you will think that his head has fallen off. Movie fighting (regardless of style) is a completely different skill from street or sports fighting and these skills must be learned separately. This is "body play".
You never worked in Asia with Asian action actors. Why? Who is your favorite actor and which one would you like to work with?
Somewhere between 82 and 83 I was invited to Hong Kong to work in films. This was to be my first film job. I flew to New York to meet with the producers - but none of them showed up. Then I concentrated on low-budget work in order to “get my hands on” this.
Then one of the directors I knew got to work on a film called Bloodsport around 1984. He wanted. for me to play the main character. But one night I badly injured my knee and was out of action for a year. Then the role went to a guy named Van Damme. And again I lost the chance to get to Hong Kong.
Over time, I finally got the opportunity to go there. But I didn’t want to - there I would have been another “overseas villain” who had to be defeated. In Hollywood, I was able to bring something new to hand-to-hand combat - and it was better for me at the time.
Which favorite Asian actor would you like to work with? A lot of them. I like Tony Jaaa and guys who came into the scene from stunt work, like Jackie Chan and Sammo Hungg. I also like Chow Yun Fat for his brilliant acting. However, my personal choice is Stephen Chow. This guy is a genius. I would like to find a time machine and use it to work with Bruce Lee. I'm ready to get kicked in the chest on the set of Enter the Dragon - and never wash the mark off my kimono - just out of gratitude for what he does.
In 2009, you worked with Michael Jai White on the set of "Black Dynamite"who might be hard to adapt into action movies because of his muscles and fighting skills. What do you think of his career and working with him?
He's a great guy because he's a skilled actor and also a fantastic hand-to-hand fighter. It is very difficult to have such skills at the same time at this level. I really liked him in Dynamite and playing the role of Mike Tyson. He's very, very good.
I'm sure you've heard about "The Yuri Boyk Phenomenon" and "Undisputed", do you like these films and would you like to work on the fourth part? Who will Boyka fight this time?
My buddy Isaac Florentine directs these films. He started Power Rangers and then passed it on to me, so we have similar visions and the same goals. He brought a lot of quality action to B-action films. Now Isaac has several of my stuntman friends working for him and he doesn’t need me. Who do I want to see as Boyke's opponent in the next film? What about William Schattner or Buffy? Yes, it’s strange what I just said.
How did you end up working on "Britney Spears Live: The Femme Fatale Tour TV movie"?
My buddy Scott Duthie was the stage manager on this show. He knew that Sofia (Crawford) was a stunt double for Britney and Madonna, so he asked us to join. It was fun to be all together again.
Your last film was Battle of the Damned with Dolph Lundgren, what was it like working with the Big Swede? Do you think that the theme of zombies is close to the theme of vampires and dogs?
If you've seen the movie, you'll have noticed that the first ten minutes of the movie, Dolph and I are running around the city. Soon our legs were very tired and I told him: "No more sprinting. Just walk." And then I thought: “Thank God he started walking slowly, because I couldn’t run after him - otherwise I would have died.”
I've been tired of vampires since Buffy, and I've been tired of them for a long time. And magical Gods are usually boring to me too. I only like zombies while I'm working on them. In general, I would prefer science fiction - with an indispensable explanation of the strange things happening on the screen.
Do you have a favorite superhero who inspired you back in your school days and whom you would like to play on screen... For example, in the second "Avengers"?
I grew up in a small town very similar to Smallville, so I relate to the role of Clark Kent more than other superheroes, however, there is a Dark Knight within each of us that we must hold within ourselves.
Avengers character? Well... I would play Tony Stark, because he has cool equipment and a lot of money, but I would be even better suited for the role of Captain America, who is more banal in real life.
You're married to the lovely Sophia Crawford... Who was the first female stuntwoman in Asian cinema. Where did you meet and what is it like to be the husband of the President of the Association of Stunt Women?
We met on the set of one of my films. She saw me in Hong Kong. when she watched “Mission of Justice” and wanted to meet me. And we worked together on Sword of Honor, then I asked her to join Power Rangers as the Pink Ranger. About a year or later we started dating.
The hard part about marrying a woman from the Stunt Women's Association is when they ask to demo with you. Imagine 24 women to film with in different frame rates and formats. It's a mess okay.
Who do you think is the next hand-to-hand action star?
There are a lot of talented people now who are growing and learning all the things that we do and they really suit any genre. They've seen it all and they can repeat it.
One of the newer guys that comes to mind is Scott Adkins. He will gain and lose weight for roles if he needs it for a better performance. He should star in a movie with a big budget, for example, with Tom Cruise in one of the main roles - that would be nice.
Modern blockbusters use shaky camera in action scenes, what do you think about it.
I've seen scenes shot this way but done smoothly. But even more often I have seen directors who have no idea. how to film fights and shout to the cameraman: “here
give the lens a rest here" and then instructs you to "shoot harder" and shake the camera like a moron. This is unacceptable for most fight scenarios.
Choreography is like writing a good script. One follows from the other and you and the camera follow the story being told. A bad producer will come in and rewrite a number of these scenes. to save money, but does not understand that every line crossed out or rewritten can pay off in the future. A good script turns into a mess. This happens very often here, so I understand the scriptwriters very well.
Well, the traditional question is: name a hand-to-hand action movie. Which one do you consider to be a classic of the genre?
First of all, Enter the Dragon, since it is the first real hand-to-hand action movie made specifically for Western audiences, in which the characters speak English. And with this film, Bruce Lee launched himself onto Hollywood stages.
"Police Story". One of the most preferred for its great fights, great stunts and humor in a modern cop action movie.
"Once Upon a Time in China" This film raises the bar for the quality of kung fu films and a lot of people became interested in rope fighting tricks, which were not available everywhere.
Translation: uranium
Source: budomate
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Tags: Power Rangers, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Jeff Pruitt, Jeff Wincott, Curfew, Sword of Honor, Justice Mission
Tags: Power Rangers, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Jeff Pruitt, Jeff Wincott, Curfew, Sword of Honor, Justice Mission
Interesting dude)) I immediately noticed him in the Justice Mission I recently saw. He was simply great! I never even thought that Jeff was a candidate for head. role in Bloodsport. Now they will probably throw stones at me, but I would prefer to see Him instead of Van Damme.
Eh, that's how it happens.
JOHNSON,
Pruitt came out on his face and knows how to fight. It wouldn't have turned out any worse.
And right now nothing is stopping him.
He's probably making fun of Matthias, if I'm not mistaken he's a professional kickboxer, what kind of dancer.
Dave,
Matthias was a big bodybuilder, that's true, but he was also a graceful dancer.
I'm not saying that you translated from English incorrectly, I meant that Jeff is probably making fun of Mattias.
Dave,
You're not the first to ask))) It's unlikely he's kidding - Matthias has been involved in sports since childhood, perhaps he studied aerobics or something like that.
People, come on! How did Johnny Cage say before the fight: “Let’s dance?”
An interesting dancer from Matthias Hughes... You wouldn't want that in a couple. But he is a professional athlete, and also a kickboxing master....
Otherwise, interesting. Thanks for the translation!
DIV,
He seems to be waving his legs beautifully. By the way, Nevsky also danced something.