RICHARD WAYNE STUNTS Men and women who don't mind taking risks and love the thrill of danger may want to consider this as a career choice. No specific certification or degree is required to become a stuntman or stuntwoman. It would be very beneficial to have somewhat of a diversified background in various activities, such as gymnastics, fencing, sky diving, scuba diving, rock climbing, martial arts, dirt bike racing and stage combat to name a few. The most important skills required are physical fitness, stamina, strength and coordination. Stuntmen are the "faceless action heroes" of film and television. They work the scenes of the movies that are risky. They do live action stunts that make all of us action film lovers drool. Imagine dangling from a helicopter, driving a Ferrari in a high speed chase on windy mountain roads, jumping off rooftops, slashing an evil doer with a sword, crashing an 18-wheeler, or falling off a cliff. This is just a day in the life of a stuntman. Not everyone can be a stuntman. Stuntmen are highly trained professional performers who take risks as part of their jobs. Every stunt is executed exactly as planned, practiced, rehearsed, rehearsed, rehearsed, rehearsed and reviewed. Stunts are designed to be as safe as possible. A beautifully choreographed sequence is amazing to watch but in reality takes days or even weeks to set up. Stuntmen average $70,000 per year. If you’re newer to the industry, you may only make $5,000 per year. It all depends on how much work you manage to find. The highest end stuntmen can make up to $250,000 per year. All it takes is one stunt to make money – the highest paid stunt ever was $150,000 for jumping off the CN Tower in Toronto. That’s about a $15,000 per second. Stuntmen love their jobs. They get to do death defying stunts and get paid for it. So if high speed boat chases, ninja fights in temples, diving with sharks, parachuting into lakes, walking on walls, or climbing a building sound better than staring at a computer screen, you should look at a career as a stuntman.