Few moments in television rival the thrill of an action sequence unfolding before your eyes. And unless your name is Tom Cruise, those unforgettable moments are most likely brought to life by a stunt performer. The Envelope spoke to the teams from five Emmy-nominated series that stood out not just for the action but for how they elevated the story.‘Fallout’ “The Profligate” (Season 2, Episode 3) Stunt performers: Jeremy Fitzgerald, Tim SoergelWatching a supercharged power armor battle in the postapocalyptic adventure “Fallout” is like witnessing a clash between unstoppable war machines. So when stunt performers Fitzgerald and Soergel stood in for Aaron Moten (Maximus) and Kumail Nanjiani (Xander) during a series-altering battle between machine gun-slinging security robots, they put all the cards on the table. “Our job is to come up with a lot of options and they’ll pick and choose what they want, time permitting and other factors,” says Fitzgerald. Learning to move, fight and perform in the 100-plus-pound practical suit from Legacy Effects took serious effort. “It’s really trial and error,” admits Soergel. “We have to watch playback to learn what looks good.” The exoskeleton’s biggest hurdle? Its limited vision. “When we previs, we have to be clear where everyone is going to be because when we start to throw a fist, there’s no stopping it,” notes Fitzgerald. “There’s a lot of communication to make sure the performances are safe but come off looking real.”‘FBI’ “Crusader” (Season 8, Episode 15) Stunt performers: Chris Barnes, Bryce Biederman, Hannah Scott, Adam ShippeyWhen the high-stakes procedural called for an undercover agent to fight an assailant in the trailer of a speeding semi before leaping onto the windshield of a pursuing vehicle, the stunt team knew only practical action would make it believable. “One of the greatest things about ‘FBI’ is how collaborative it is,” says Scott, who drove the chase car. “And no matter what we do, it has to push the story forward.” As the truck swerves through traffic (driven by Barnes), every hit between performers Biederman (assailant) and Shippey (agent) becomes more uncertain, until Biederman is hurled onto the street. “It’s a mix of holding reality and keeping it interesting for viewers,” Biederman says about escalating the action. For the climactic escape? Safety equipment is in place, but “you’re totally free up until the moment something might happen,” Shippey says. The stunt team stuck the landing on all three takes.‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ “In the Name of the Mother” (Season 1, Episode 5)Stunt performers: Chris Cox, Jake Cox, Zach Roberts, Gyula TothWeeks of meticulous preparation and production went into crafting the gritty, unforgiving clash of steel in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” where 14 men collide in a violent melee for honor. “We were pushing for what’s real,” says Roberts, who stood in for Prince Aeron (Finn Bennett) as he fights Ser Duncan (Peter Claffey) in a savage hand-to-hand duel. “We didn’t want things that look ridiculous. It had to be brutal.” In creating the close-quarter combat and mounting character tension, camera movements were designed to give “the feeling you’re there” while unpredictable surroundings turned every step into a greater risk. “You’re always trying to convey the right emotion. We spent a lot of time and made a lot of very intelligent choices of how we can use our freedom with the camera,” notes Roberts. “We’re trying to honor them and their character choices as much as possible.” The only question left unanswered: “Do you yield?”‘Palm Royale’ “Maxine Finds Herself” (Season 2, Episode 6)Stunt performers: Colby Lemmo, Sonja WajihMayhem erupts with the unexpected arrival of Maxine’s reckless twin Mirabelle (both brought to life by Kristen Wiig), culminating in a wild showdown with “Palm Royale’s” dubious socialite Raquel (Claudia Ferri). “We were making it really over the top, and then within the performance, not holding back knowing that not everything had to be perfect. The messier it was, the funnier it was,” says Lemmo, the stunt double for Mirabelle. The action tears through the estate’s lavish rooms, turning paintings, candelabras and fabric into improvised weapons before ending with a splash in the pool. “I think using things you’d find around a mansion adds to the hilarity of everything because it’s stuff that you don’t normally get to play with,” says Wajih, who stood in for Raquel. But it was another clever technique that kept performers concealed. “Our wigs were very helpful in what we call ‘hairography,’ where we can hide our face or swing our hair around,” says Wajih. “Knowing where the camera’s going to be is how we’re able to dial that in.”‘Spider-Noir’ “Tread Lightly” (Season 1, Episode 2)Stunt performers: Solomon Brende, Jimmy Chhiu, Micaiah Chau, Kyle PotterThe first time we see Nicolas Cage as the Spider it’s a bold mashup of period grit and superhero spectacle as he chases down a gang of henchmen, swinging from one vehicle to the next, tossing them aside with ease. “We wanted to emulate the style of old noir films and some of the newer neo-noir films like ‘L.A. Confidential,’” says Chhiu of the stunts in “Spider-Noir,” which follows Cage as a hardened private detective confronting the criminal underbelly of 1930s New York. Fight choreography was made to look more like brawling, with Chau noting performers dialed back “strong shapes, motions and lines” into characters that are “a little bit more broken down” to underscore the noir aesthetic. Cage’s stunt double, Brende, took it one step further. “I watched him on the monitor and thought to put some of his mannerism into the performance,” he recalls. “Nick actually saw the playback and he was like, ‘That was really good.’”
