Glenn living the dream
IT'S fair to say that not many people watching a Robert Downey Jr film will realise that when the star goes into action mode they are actually looking at a bloke from Nether Edge.
For the past two years Glenn Foster, already an experienced stunt performer, has been the dedicated double for the star which has taken him to Hollywood and the set of Iron Man 2 and upcoming comedy Due Date.
It puts him in an elite. "In Britain there are only about six people who are stunt doubles – for Russell Crowe, Angelina Jolie and a few others – so it's a great privilege to be among them," he says.
It consolidates a career which has already taken in major movies such as the last three James Bonds, the Batman franchise and working for directors like Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott.
A fascination with movie stunts dates back to when he was given a book about stuntmen at the age of 10. But it didn't seem a realistic career option and he channelled his liking for sport and adventure into becoming an instructor in outdoor activities like sailing, kayaking and climbing, eventually becoming senior instructor at the council's youth base at Rother Valley and subsequently Underbank Reservoir, working with schools and children and adults with disabilities.
Then in 1995 his friend, the climber Ben Moon, asked him to help teach rock climbing to someone who was working to get his qualifications as a stuntman.
"At the time it didn't really trigger those memories from school but after talking to him and seeing he was doing it as a serious career path, I realised now was the time for me to do it," says Foster.
"You had to build up a portfolio of experience and qualifications. So I started doing things like trampolining and gymnastics at Ponds Forge, martial arts on London Road and fencing at Birkdale. It was a three-year process while I was still working at Underbank."
It was a whole raft of skills. Were there some he found harder than others? "Falling backwards off the the 10-metre board at Ponds Forge was definitely something to get my head round. I felt at times I was getting out of my comfort zone but I realised that was what I would be doing in the future. You only know what you are getting into when you get on to the film set. That's what's great, no two days are the same."
Eventually he satisfied the actor's union Equity and was able to circulate his details to production companies and stunt co-ordinators. He landed his first job in France on a martial arts movie and promptly broke both feet. His next job was much happier, working on a Christmas special for Hollyoaks in Barcelona.
"They flew me out, put me up in a nice hotel and I jumped 40ft from a big ferry in the harbour. That's the moment when I thought, that's why I am doing this."
Not long after that he joined stunt co-ordinator Gary Powell's team which led to work on Alexander, submarine drama Below and Batman Returns.
But first up was a thriller called Killing Me Softly in which he was assigned as Joseph Fiennes' stunt double for rock climbing sequences. "Later when he came up to work at the Crucible in Edward II I took him climbing at the Foundry and out in the Peaks."
Then he did Die Another Day. "When you talk about living the dream, my first day on a Bond set was a truly monumental moment. My first goal had been to get registration as a stunt man and then to get on a Bond film. And here I was playing a heavy alongside Halle Berry."
He went on to become a Bond regular, culminating in having a speaking part in the last one, Quantum of Solace, M's bodyguard, Craig Mitchell, who is revealed as a traitor. There is an extensive chase sequence and the part was deemed too physical for the original actor cast. "So I got the opportunity to deliver some lines, although there was a continuity issue because I had been seen getting shot by Daniel (Craig) in Casino Royale but they decided I looked sufficiently different."
The next milestone in Foster's career was Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, where he impressed Robert Downey Jr sufficiently to be invited to become his full-time stunt man.
And so he found himself jetting off to America to work on Iron Man 2 – replacing an American who was lined up to do it, which must have been a bit ackward. "I was a bit sheepish about it. I went with a humble attitude because I empathised with the guy but I gather there are no hard feelings."
Why does he think Downey took a shine to him? "We did some huge things on Sherlock and I think Robert was impressed generally with the British crew and their super professionalism, the way they just get on with things. I knew from seeing him in Chaplin, which was a very physical role, that he has an expressive way of physical acting. For me it's not just about the impact of the expressions but the nuances in movement and I think he noted that."
And Foster is under no illusions that they are best mates. "There's a professional boundary. He's an A list actor who is a nice guy and humble but he's a different breed."
Filming Iron Man 2 was a particular pleasure for different reasons. "I got to be in the Iron Man suit," he says with awe. "That was another significant moment for me personally when I thought, is this for real? I think it goes back to childhood and watching things like Star Wars. I wasn't fascinated by actors, it was the creatures and the puppets, and so to be one of those things and have the chance to bring it to life was special."
Stunt work is a notoriously dangerous profession, although Foster says that it is much more about engineering, calculation and risk assessment than it once was.
"I have been fortunate with injuries," he says. The worst so far was snapping his thumb badly while training for Batman Begins. "The Northern General wanted to wire it up and re-set it but I didn't want to miss Batman so I went through the movie with it taped up and it began to heal up on virtually the last day and a sequence falling through a ceiling. Batman's double landed on my arm and 'unhealed' it."
On Iron Man 2 there was a hairy moment in which he flew through the air and landed motionless in a crumpled heap in front of "a horrified crowd of extras". Mickey Rourke's character catapaults Tony Stark with a whip into an overturned racing car. The stunt man landed the wrong way but instinctively tucked his body in on impact but it took him the best part of a minute to get some air back in his lungs.
"Although I had almost been smashed in two I had to get up and do it eight more times, I really got beaten up that day," he says ruefully. "I'm still doing osteopathic massage at Ponds Forge to try and get it right. Sometimes you feel you are cannon fodder."
Foster is enjoying a break well away from Tinseltown and Nether Edge is where he regards home. As the son of an RAF engineer he moved home a lot as a kid but he has known Sheffield all his life with grandparents running a shop in Tinsley where the family visited most holidays. I love coming back to Sheffield where I can go out on my bike and go bouldering," he says, "and I also have a base in the Pyrenees which means I can do all the things I do in the Peak District in sunshine."
As he turns 40 does he begin to think it may be time to opt for a quieter life and perhaps become a stunt co-ordinator? "I am still living the dream which comes from performing. When a movie is relying on your instinct and ability – and they are because there's been a lot of preparation with special effects and everything by the time you come to do your shot and a lot of investment is at stake – then that's hugely rewarding."
Iron Man 2 opens on April 30.
BUY ONLINE: The Sheffield Telegraph and Property Guide are now out every Thursday. To sign up on line click here.
MORE:
Local News
Local Sport
Arts Guide
Community News
Listings Guide
Restaurant Guide
Letters
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
