In a heart-stopping display of precision and skill, Logan Holladay, stunt driver for Oscar® nominee Ryan Gosling‘s character in Universal Pictures’ new 87North film, The Fall Guy, shattered the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for most cannon rolls in a car, achieving an astonishing eight and a half rolls during the film’s 2022 production on the beaches of Sydney, Australia.
Holladay said:
Growing up, my dad was a stuntman, so the influence of film sets and the world of stunts was always there.
When I learned about The Fall Guy going into production, I knew I had to be part of it. As for the cannon rolls, after two practice runs and one real take, we had one car and one shot left. And after I hit the eight and a half rolls, I had a pretty good feeling that I had broken the record because it felt like the spinning was never going to stop. It was a surreal moment and I’m incredibly proud of what the team achieved.
This groundbreaking feat in blockbuster director David Leitch’s latest film surpassed the previous record held by stuntman Adam Kirley, who achieved seven cannon rolls during the filming of 2006’s Casino Royale.
The cannon roll, a classic stunt dating back to the early days of cinema, involves fitting a cannon-like apparatus beneath a car that shoots toward the ground. As the vehicle reaches a designated speed, the mechanism triggers and propels the car into a series of rolls. Holladay executed the stunt behind the wheel of a modified Jeep Grand Cherokee fitted with an external fiberglass body.
The Fall Guy, inspired by the 1980s hit TV series of the same name, is directed by filmmaker and former stunt performer Leitch, whose company, 87North Productions, is synonymous with adrenaline-fueled action in films such as Bullet Train, Deadpool 2, and Atomic Blonde. The film, which stars Gosling as a stuntman and Emily Blunt as a film director, pays homage to the unsung heroes of the stunt community.