David Leitch, Brad Pitt’s stunt double who now directs him in ‘Bullet Train’

one day you are the stunt double by Brad Pittand the other, you direct it in one of the most anticipated productions of the year. We talk about David Leitchwho has become a reference in action cinema, among which the upcoming premiere of Bullet Train. HERE everything you need to know about the film.

Leitch’s story is surprising, because started his career as a director in 2014 with John Wick with his friend and colleague Chad Stahelsky. Then she followed up with Atomic Blonde, Dead Pool 2 Y Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shawraising with all of them more than two billion dollars.

However, what is interesting is that He has been in Hollywood for more than 20 years. Not holding a camera or appearing in the first frame, but as stunt double or double action from some of the most famous names in the industry such as Brad Pitt or Jean-Claude Van Damme.

So before the premiere of Bullet Trainhere we tell you the route that David Leitch has made, the tendency to see stunt doubles in managerial positions, the advantages of this, and the plans it has in the future.

David Leitch, from master to stunt double

David Leitch was born on November 16, 1975 in Wisconsin. His parents were teachers, so he followed the same path and for a year after graduating, he taught second grade. But Leitch never stopped being fascinated by martial arts..

While studying, he would do kung-fu marathons and then enter a martial arts academy run by Dan Inosanto, Bruce Lee’s partner and apprentice. That place was important, because there met Chad Stahelski (who became the franchise director of John Wick).

One day, Stahelski invited him to a set, and seeing the work of the stunt doubles, he realized that could make money from martial arts. He resigned as a teacher, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a stuntman. While he was taking kickboxing classes to support himself, he came his first opportunity in the late 90s.

Van Damme’s stunt double

His first movie was Perfect Target. The opportunity was obtained by Stahelski, and it was quite a challenge, since the budget of the film was limited and it only allowed the stunt to do the sequence once. In the scene in question, Leitch would receive a kick so strong by the hero / protagonist, that it would split a wall and break a table in the other room.

He was then selected to be Brad Pitt’s stunt double Fight Club of David Fincher and got also sequences by Jean-Claude Van Damme under the direction of Ringo Lam. This experience, according to the director, was fundamental for his career as a stunt, but above all in his future as a director.

The reason? Lam allowed Leitch to design the fights and take charge of the action sequences in several of his films.. What is also interesting is that these action movies had a low budget and were filmed in Bulgaria, but being the mecca of these productions, the best stunts in the industry participated.

His friendship with Chad Stahelski

His work with Ringo Lam may have given David Leitch a spot as a stunt coordinator, but something big happened that would shape his future in Hollywood thanks to his friendship with Chad Stahelski and the aftermath of The Matrix of the Wachowski sisters.

In the late 1990s, Chad participated in The Matrix like Keanu Reeves’ stunt double. His work, we can see, was impeccable, and he became the stunt coordinator in the sequels, for which he called his friend Leitch to come into the game in The Matrix Reloaded.

Gathering their experiences from the first The Matrix and the teachings of Ringo Lam, created a new style that can be summed up as “Hong Kong action with an American flair“. And from one moment to another, everyone wanted their sequences to look like this.

They were called to take over Constantine, 300, Van Helsing, V for Vendetta, The Bourne Ultimatum, and more. That also led them to be part of the second unit in movies like Conan the Barbarian, The Hunger Games, The Wolverine, Jurassic World Y Captain America: Civil War.

The jump to directing with John Wick

Chad Stahelski and David Leitch founded 87Eleven (which would become 87North Productions), a company that not only rented/sold equipment to stunt productions, but also included some of the best doubles and choreographers in Hollywood under the impeccable style they had created.

When Kelly McCormick was added to the team, he set out to find opportunities for Chad and David in directing. In 2012 the possibility of directing Dan Mintner: Badass for Hirea film that had been on the waiting list for four years with Dwayne Johnson in the lead. But it never happened (and we think it never will).

But things happen for a reason. Because this led them to getting involved with Derek Kolstad’s script titled John Wick, and for which Keanu Reeves had agreed to star. Several studios had snubbed the opportunity, but Lionsgate took the bets, initially, with moderate distribution.

The only ones who knew what they had on their hands were Chad Stahelski and David Leitch. It was like a movie with $20 million budget raised 80 million at the box office.

Everything seemed to work against them, including the R-rated. But the rest is well-known history. John Wick goes for its fourth installment for 2023, and it is one of the few franchises where each installment exceeds the previous one.

The success of John Wick it is due to many things. The most outstanding is the way in which the fights between close ups and open frames that allow the viewer to see the entire sequence. There are no hard cuts or quick edits, everything is clean and spectacular.

Bullet Train and its collaborations with Brad Pitt

Stahelski and Leitch share directorial credits for the first of John Wick (Leitch’s name does not appear due to directors’ union issues). For the following deliveries, David would take the place of producer while he began his successful career (also in other films such as Nobody Y Kate).

His first tape was Atomic Blonde of 2017 with the leading role of Charlize Theron. And this led to the second part of dead pool with Ryan Reynolds and where Brad Pitt appears in a funny cameo. He also took over the franchise’s first spin-off. Fast & Furious under the title of Hobbs & Shaw with Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham.

However. We mention Brad Pitt because David not only started his career as the actor’s stunt double, but also collaborated with him several times on films like Fight Club, TheMexican Y Ocean’s Eleven (both from 2001), Troy (2004), Y Mr & Mrs Smith (2005).

During the pandemic they met again, but now to carry out the adaptation of Bullet TrainKotaro Isaka’s book which became a best seller since its publication in 2010. Here, Pitt plays Ladybug, a down-on-his-luck hitman on a mission on a bullet train in Japan.

On the same train he meets several killers who have other goals. But they soon discover that their missions are connected. So the journey becomes a back and forth between fights, hits, and huge action sequences.

Brad Pitt was under the direction of David Leitch along with Sandra Bullock, Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio (Bad Bunny), Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree HenryZazie Beetz, Joey King, Logan Lerman, Hiroyuki Sanada, Andrew Koji, Kren Fukunaga, Michael Shannon, and more.