IN A sheltered life based largely at a desk, I have managed to avoid any sort of scenario in which head-butting seemed like a good move. Now I’m being asked to do it with conviction. And it feels so weird that I’m struggling not to laugh.
The stakes are high. I’ve been taken hostage by captors unknown and am being frogmarched towards an uncertain fate. As a menacing man approaches, I kick him in the stomach. And so begins the fight choreography that I’ve been trying to memorise.
I turn to the baddie to my left and – WHAM! – toss her to the floor. Now I turn to the right and – BOSH! – I swing my head at Nikita Mitchell, a 34-year-old former dancer, who was recently Margot Robbie’s stunt double in Barbie. But being much taller than her and lacking physical finesse, I feel like one of those fighting giraffes on David Attenborough’s Africa series.
“Cut!”
Ian Pead pauses the melee to offer some head-butting advice. He knows his stuff; the wiry, 46-year-old former martial artist has worked as a stunt performer and coordinator for more than 20 years. He wants me to adopt a wider stance and move my whole body into the head-butt rather than just thrashing my head. I should also angle my face towards the camera.
I manage a slightly more composed head-butt before I take on more assailants. None of the blows connect, but when the camera position is right, the viewer sees no gap between fist and face. With each hit, stunties, as they call themselves, fall away, grunting and groaning with total commitment to the scene.
この記事は YOU South Africa の 23 May 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は YOU South Africa の 23 May 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
DIDDY'S DISGRACE
A video showing singer Cassie being attacked by Sean Diddy Combs reveals the disturbing reality of their relationship
THE BABY-FACED ASSASSIN
Manchester City’s Phil Foden is fast becoming one of the top talents in the English Premier League
OODLES OF POODLES
Kaz’s latest dog show triumph is the culmination of years as one of the world’s top trainers of the breed
MY LIFE IS PURE HELL
A reader wrote to YOU recounting her harrowing experience of living with a narcissist for decades. Pieter Van Zyl relays her story
THE LOTTO CURSE
Over the years Andy Carter has helped 2 000 lottery winners adapt to life as newly minted millionaires. Here he shares the worst mistakes he’s seen people make and reveals why instead of being a passport to freedom, a jackpot win can actually make things far more complicated
IT'S NOT YOU IT'S ADHD
We ask experts to explain the rise in late diagnosis of the condition in women
BITTER SWEET
Arina was diagnosed with cancer while carrying her miracle baby and made the tough choice to start chemo while pregnant
SHE'S GOT THE POWER
Monica Lewinsky was on suicide watch after the humiliating Bill Clinton scandal, but she has now turned her life around and become a force to be reckoned with
IT'S ALL OVER!
For 26 years she was the Bok coach’s support system on the side lines – travelling with him for work, taking care of the kids and celebrating his world cup victories. Now Rassie and Nicolene have divorced
JUST NO WAY THIS IS GOING TO WORK!
Separate houses, time apart, fundamental differences – fears are mount for Ben and Jen’s marriage