Welcome And Meet Amy Greene

Greg Staffa 0:00

You're listening to the Staffa Corner Podcast, a Staffatarian look at entertainment and life with your host, Greg Staffa. My guest this episode is Stunt Woman and Stunt Coordinator Amy Greene. Her work includes acclaimed films like The Holdovers and Sound of Metal. She joins us today to pull back the curtain on the world of stunts and share what it takes to make Hollywood's most physical moments look effortless. Amy, thank you for joining us today.

Amy Greene 0:48

Thanks for having me.

Greg Staffa 0:49

So tell us a little bit about your background as far as growing up and what got you interested in doing stunts.

Amy Greene 0:58

Yeah. Well, I guess I moved to LA out of college and I was working in movies and just kind of taking jobs to pay the bills. And I was also boxing and training a lot. I was always an athlete as a kid, you know, came up in dance and gymnastics and yeah, then went into fighting sports. But because I was working in the industry already and kind of meeting people, uh, someone, you know, said, you know, you could get paid to take these hits. You don't need to be taking them for free in the ring, boxing, you know, said I should check out stunts. And I was, you know, hadn't thought of it. And uh it was kind of the perfect idea. And so I started, you know, training in stunts and I kind of went in and like fight choreography and then learned, you know, falls and high falls and wire work and just kind of cobbled together a stunt education of my own and uh started working on sets and working for stunt coordinators in LA and working my way up.

EMT Training Meets Stunt Safety

Greg Staffa 1:52

You're also a certified EMT, is that correct?

Amy Greene 1:55

That that's right. Yep. That was a little later in my career after working for so long on sets and seeing how you know filmmaking is inherently dangerous, and then obviously the stunt part of it is uh even more so. I, you know, care a lot about the people that I'm working with. And as a stunt coordinator hiring other people, I want to make sure they feel taken care of. So yeah, I went about 10 years ago. Then I went back and went to you know medic school and got certified through NREMT. And I keep up my certification every two years just so I feel like I can help uh in an emergency situation or at least, you know, have a better understanding of how to help people on set, you know, if they're not if they're not feeling well.

Greg Staffa 2:41

And do those worlds ever collide where but the stud coordinator is saying, you know, your brain is saying, let's go for it. And the EMT side is saying, what the hell are you doing? Absolutely not.

Amy Greene 2:54

Yeah, yeah, that's funny. Um, yeah, sometimes I yeah, um, there's certainly a part of stunt work in which, you know, you're putting yourself in harm's way a little bit. And we try to be as safe as possible. But yeah, I I don't feel like there's ever that much of a conflict there. I do feel like I understand kind of what's happening as far as injury risk and uh what to do in the you know scenario that I I get injured or that somebody else does uh on set and trying to, you know, help people out. So yeah, I don't I don't think it conflicts. I think it actually it kind of really benefits stunts. And I also use like on like on the holdovers, we had this stunt where the lead character goes over a vault and he lands weird and then dislocates his shoulder. And, you know, that's something where I mean I've dislocated my shoulder in my life multiple times. And so I had, you know, personal experience to add to that as far as like, you know, making it accurate. But um I also think, you know, the bit of like medical understanding that I have now makes things maybe a little more authentic when you need to do something like that.

How Great Doubles Disappear

Greg Staffa 4:01

Now you've doubled for many incredible actresses, Meryl Streep being one of them. When you're doubling for someone, is there much interaction? Are you studying how they move, or is it really just here's a stunt, you perform it. When we need you, we'll call you and you come in and do it.

Amy Greene 4:18

Yeah, absolutely. I think um that's one of the you know, most key, you know, important things about doubling is getting into the body of the you know character that your actor or actress is performing and certainly how that person moves, but also, you know, they're doing the work physically each each time. You know, if I was to double the same person in a different project, you know, those characters might move differently as well. But yeah, I certainly have a lot of interaction um with the actors. Every stunt, you know, say it's a fight scene, um, you're gonna have pieces of it that is gonna be, you know, kind of like the cast coverage of the fight at a minimum, some reactions and some close-ups of your the person you're doubling. But, you know, you work together, right? So it's a kind of like a team effort to put together a fight scene. It's not really just like a separate thing where it's like you go in and just do the stunt, unless it's, I don't know, some kind of like something very different, like flipping a car or something. But in the fight scene example, yeah, you work uh you work closely and you, you know, want to wanna make sure that you are uh, you know, that it's seamless and that you're embodying the same character that your actress is is uh portraying as well. So yeah, I definitely work closely with um the actresses I double when I work with them and try to do my best to emulate them.

Greg Staffa 5:35

And what is it like you're working with Meryl Streep, you're getting to know her. She has her job to do, you have your job to do. Is there a mutual co-respect? How does that interaction work and what kind of respect that you that you feel that you're given when working with these actors and actresses?

Amy Greene 5:53

Well, uh, yeah, Meryl as an example is kind of, you know, I mean, she's the the best in the world. She is so um incredibly kind and you know, one of our you know greatest talents and all of Hollywood. So she is incredible to work for. She, you know, knows everyone, she remembers everyone's names. And uh I always I I watched that happen and kind of took that on, and and um I know how important it is uh, you know, for everybody on set to feel like a part of the work that we're all doing together and and watching her do that at that level is amazing. But yeah, I think Laura Lenny was the same. She was just so incredibly lovely, and we had a good, you know, relationship. I think the actors that are, you know, absolute pros like that really know how to work with their doubles. And then yeah, I uh I recently uh did a movie in the Dominican earlier this year that's uh it's a Kianya Reeves film called Shiver. And um, I was doubling the lead actress in that named Callie Cook, and she could not have been sweeter. And I I you know have a great relationship with her. I look forward to doubling her in the future because she is someone that you know we just really got along well and uh and had a great time for the the months that we were, you know, out there in the water doing the stunts. So yeah, I like it's it's nice to have a good relationship with the actress that you're doubling for sure.

Greg Staffa 7:16

I'm a little biased, but I wish Meryl did more interviews because she is an amazing, not only an amazing actress, but an amazing person. I had the uh fortune of being an extra for about a month on a movie that she did where the set was closed. And so a lot of the time between takes, she would just be hanging out with the extras. And just a wonderful woman, a potty mouth, but uh she is actually very funny and very kind, and so it's nice to hear other people have kind of felt the same way about working with her.

Should Actors Do Their Own Stunts

Greg Staffa 7:53

One of the questions I have, and I've gone, I've talked to a couple of stunt people on the podcast, and I've gone back and forth, and I keep on going back and forth. As a professional stunt woman and a coordinator, what is your thought on someone like Tom Cruise doing his own stunts? Is it good for the film industry? Is it good for the stunt industry? Is it what is your opinion? And I'll go through why I have some of my own opinions after your answer.

Amy Greene 8:21

Yeah, you know, usually when the Tom Cruise topic comes up, I say, you know, he just happens to he happens to be, you know, an A-list, incredible, you know, huge like celebrity actor, but he's also a really amazing stunt man. And, you know, he's got the stunt training and the stunt work for his whole career. Uh, you know, he he he knows what he's doing. So I have to, you know, respect that and understand that that's you know a part of his world. There is an element to stunts where I think, you know, having a stunt double, you know, benefits in ways beyond just, you know, can this actor do this stunt? It's, you know, is this person, you know, as trained as the double to do blank? And maybe in some scenarios it works for an actor who's, you know, really good at stunts like Tom Cruises to do his own stunts. And in other scenarios, and I think quite more often, it's uh better to have someone that maybe has a little more experience, or at least, you know, we spend a lot of our time trying to, you know, focus specifically on this one thing and not the broader picture, you know. And I think that's when you have kind of a mind that is attuned to really just achieving the action and the stunt for this character, that might come across better on screen. But I certainly would never take anything away from Tom Cruise because he's an amazing uh stunt performer.

Greg Staffa 9:44

Well said. I'm still on the fence. The reason I bring it up is when you look at some of the roles that you've done and like filling in again with you know, Meryl Streep, the idea is that you're blending the reality. You want the audience to feel like she is doing this herself. We kind of in the back of our minds know it's a stunt woman, but we want to kind of feel like that's her character performing that. Whereas when watching Mission Impossible, your mind is going, Oh my god, Tom, what are you doing? Oh my god, Tom. You're not saying Ethan Hunt, you're saying Tom Cruise. And so in doing it, when he does it, it almost takes you out of that movie, which what you're trying to do is put yourself into that character and make that blend kind of seamless. Whereas when you're watching the Tom Cruise stunt, it becomes taking you out, and now you're watching Tom Cruise doing his stunt rather than Ethan Hunt performing a dangerous task as a special agent or whatnot. And so I've always kind of wondered what others thought of that role of doing that.

Amy Greene 10:51

Yeah, that's a really good point. I like that, and it's something that I can talk to as

Action Design For Story First

Amy Greene 10:55

well. I my as far as a performer, I kind of do all sorts of stuff, but as a stunt coordinator, I definitely have a brand, and that is, you know, with like story-driven action, an action that, you know, helps develop a character or serve the narrative. And to your point, I think uh it's nice when you can kind of it's not standing out, right? You're not standing out going, like, oh my god, that's such a big stunt that I'm watching. It's something that is um a part of the story and blends in. And uh, for example, I have this movie Tony out right now that is the you know, A24 film, Anthony Bourdain's, you know, kind of origin story in the Cape in the 70s. And we had a lot of stunts in that, you know, and we had a big stunt team. And I think it's interesting in interviews to talk about the stunts in that film because they don't they don't stand out. It's not someone, you know, jumping off a building or jumping out of a plane or or something like that, but it's all pieces of action that are really, really important to the story. And so sometimes, I mean, I take it as a as a compliment that a lot of those stunts are kind of hidden and uh they don't stand out too much, they just serve the story.

Greg Staffa 11:59

When we think of stunt people, we think of like the Tom Cruise action. We think of falling out of buildings or flipping cars and you know the the movie The Fall Guy and stuff like that. But a lot of stunts, and you kind of mentioned it there, are almost subliminal. You know, you have actors that are insured for millions of dollars. If if one of these actors goes down with a broken ankle, you know, they shut down production that is hiring, you know, hundreds of people to work on it. So a lot of the stunts are small and not, like you said, almost unnoticeable, where it's not worth that actor jumping down, you know, three feet because they could break the ankle or something like that. We have this mindset of stunt actors always salivating for like the big stunts, but do you find enjoyment in doing the little things or is it kind of mundane?

Amy Greene 12:53

Yeah, no, never mundane. I love it. I mean, I even love you know the safety days. We all have days on set where we are like, you know, you're not in quite as much danger as you would be in those, you know, big stunts. And I think we all appreciate those days. But yeah, I like I like all of it. I like, you know, when there's something simple, but you know, it's meaningful to the story. Even that, you know, example I said earlier about the holdovers where Dom was going over the vault and dislocates his shoulder, you know, that's not a that's not a big stunt. It's a it's a you know gymnastics beat of action, but it's so pivotal to the story. And so doing something like that was really exciting. And you know that you're like, you know, part of the creative process. And I think that's part of the way the you know stunt community is moving a bit more into uh a world of you know, what I call action design. I think most of us call action design. And I um I think the action design of a of a narrative is really uh is really fascinating, even when it's not, you know, um blown up a building. It's uh maybe these small pieces of you know, a fight or a or a fall or uh, you know, certainly driving action. I mean, every movie that I ever you know work on has, you know, car work and usually a near what we call a near miss, which is actually a near hit, but you know, somebody like almost getting hit by a car. And those kind of pieces are like, you know, the stuff that we do all the time, common stunts, but they're they're still really important. And uh every single time you pull one off and it looks good and it uh serves a story, it feels really good.

Greg Staffa 14:23

When you're talking about some of the smaller stunts, like holdovers, you know, we mentioned before, isn't exactly an action movie. When you're doing a stunt coordinator job on that, are you sitting down with a director and maybe some of the actors saying, No, you should be able to do that? This is something that I should be able to do. This is something you should do, this is something I should. Is there is there a back and forth, or how does that that work out? Like, are you always looking to do any possible stunt, or are you kind of evaluating this is what the actor should be good enough to do? This is where I need to step in. How does that that balance work?

Amy Greene 15:00

Yeah, a little bit of all of that, I would say, yeah, one of my strengths as a stunt coordinator is the way I collaborate with directors, and I have some really good relationships with some directors that I've worked with through my career that I feel are, you know, interesting, um, creative collaborations. And to the holdovers point, you mentioned that's Alexander Payne, who I've worked with a couple of times, and I am always excited to work with him. I you know, can't wait to work with him again in the future. But yeah, he and I would sit down and talk about you know what we want out of each piece of action and kind of go through it. And he always said on Holdovers that I would bring the HBF, which stood for uh horrendous, believable, and funny, which are the three attributes, you know, he wanted from every kind of like uh, you know, little piece of uh action in the film. And I think we worked together to make that happen. I recently was, you know, talking to a director about a film that I'm up for. And in that kind of interview, as a director I hadn't worked with before, but I, you know, I put together an action design lookbook and kind of came to him with all of the ideas that I had for the different sequences in the film to, you know, start the creative, you know, conversation of, you know, what do you think about this? And do you like, you know, version A, B, or C? And then um, you know, the director, you know, once you're working together, would say, okay, I don't really like what you were doing in version C, but let's do this. And then you kind of end up, you know, putting something together that works for the movie, but that is a combined effort with the director and you know, sometimes the other department heads that you work with. We certainly, as some people always work with special effects closely, and sometimes, you know, production design and certainly picture cars and a lot of other department heads that you want to um kind of work with to, you know, you all you all put it together. It's the greatest thing about filmmaking is the kind of collaboration that we all do together.

Women In Stunts And New Recognition

Greg Staffa 16:53

Now, growing up in the 80s, there are countless films where I could I remember seeing, you know, a woman jumping off a ledge and it was clearly a bearded man with a blonde wig on. How has the evolution of women in stunt work evolved? Are we at a point where you're feeling like it is equal? Just now where the Oscars are now doing an award for stunt work, which I think is years overdue. Where do you see yourself as a woman in the industry that many might feel is kind of a male macho, you know, dominated world?

Amy Greene 17:29

Yeah, um, well, uh yeah, I too am happy that we're getting an Academy Award in the next couple of years. That is, you're right, overdue. And um I'm excited about it. And I intend on getting one of those at some point in my near future in my career. But yeah, as a woman in stunts, I feel like, yeah, we're we're at a really nice place where people um are talking about this quite a bit. But I um I am in the International Stunt Association, which is ISA, um, which is a group that I've um collaborated with and worked with for years in my career. And I was so lucky enough to be voted in in this past year. And I'm currently the only woman in the group, but I'm sure that will change in the near future. There's a few women and you know, some of the other groups as well, but uh I think we're moving our way into a world of equality that makes a lot of sense. We don't really need men to double women, like you mentioned, used to happen a lot. There's a lot of really talented women, and I think we're uh getting the kind of quality and attention that we deserve, which is nice. And, you know, I hope to just uh keep that moving forward for sure. But I think as a as a female stunt coordinator, I mean, there's even you know less less women in in that world. I yeah, I think it's it's there's something interesting that um women bring to the table. And I think for different movies and different stories and different directors, a female stunt coordinator might be the right choice and might kind of add something to the mix. So I'm happy to be in that elite group.

CGI, VFX, And The Future

Greg Staffa 19:02

And where do you feel the future is as far as stunts? We now live in a world where CGI and motion capture can really replace a lot of things. I was watching the new Spider-Man movie with some people, and they had mentioned, you know, that Tom Holland can do backflips and he can do some of his own stunts, and yet for some of the simpler flips they use CGI because it just became easier. Is there a fear that technology might push stunts kind of more into fiction versus practical stuff?

Amy Greene 19:40

Yeah, I mean, I think that's definitely a c a conversation right now that um we're all having in a non-every set we talk about it, you know, and there's there are ways that, you know, I think uh even AI, but um certainly in the VFX department and CGI and everything, um there's there's really good use of all of that. And there's a way that we all can, you know, kind of work together, and uh it's not quite as scary as it seems, maybe. I don't know. But in this film that I was talking about that I filmed in the Dominican earlier this year, I won't be out for like another year. It's a you know, it's a big action movie that I was doubling on. And uh, so there's certainly a really big, you know, post-VFX world uh of this film. And the the one takeaway, I guess I would say, is we still had an entire stunt team, a big uh well-staffed stunt team that did all of the action for the film. So none of the stunt people lost their jobs to to AI or to you know that world uh in that scenario, which I was happy to see. But I know that it is kind of a big, a big fear that everyone has, really, you know, in all of the film world. But I think maybe there's a way to make it work with us, hopefully, fingers crossed, and not uh and not have it take over. I don't know.

Hiring For Kindness Under Pressure

Greg Staffa 21:04

No, I read in an interview that you did that when hiring other stunned people, the thing that you look for first is kindness, which isn't exactly something that I would look for on resume involving fights and crashes and falls. Was there some kind of experience that you had in Hollywood that taught you that kindness is forefront to being able to do the fights and crashes?

Amy Greene 21:31

I do think it says something, you know, about the person. And I think, you know, when working in a you know high-risk scenario and a high stress environment, you know, we all get exhausted, we all have long days, and you know, it can be even more dangerous because of that. I feel like your your attitude and how you as an individual are managing yourself on set and around others really makes all the difference in, you know. uh success and safety. And, you know, when there's uh in any department, when there's someone on set that you don't like or is uh, you know, not kind, unkind, um it kind of bleeds into uh the rest of the, you know, cast and crew, and it, you know, can really affect a project. And I think that it's super important in what we do to lead with kindness and be looking out for each other rather than competing or uh, you know, uh taking it out on each other. So I think I think that, you know, being kind, being humble, being, you know, hardworking, these are all traits that I look for in the people that work in my stunt department. And I think that, you know, makes for a nice group and someone, you know, a group that can collaborate with others well and and also increase the level of safety for not just us, but everyone out there.

Greg Staffa 22:59

Now you've mentioned the um the action film that you did that was coming out later this year. And we've also talked about the um the holdovers when you're given a set of scripts where the holdovers doesn't scream that it's an action film, but the one that you're doing uh later this year is uh a heavy action film. When you're given two scripts that are very sounding different, what is your process for going through and saying this is the one I'm I'm more I want to work on is the bigger action one just more of your immediate draw or was there something about the the holdovers that said this is something that I might pass on other things for?

Amy Greene 23:41

Yeah no I um that's a great question. And what one thing is that I I was a I was doubling on the action film. So the big the Warner Brothers action movie that I did um I was a double not the stunt coordinator the stunt coordinator was the incredible Adam Curley from the UK uh who I really enjoyed working with. But when I get scripts as a stunt coordinator like when I stunt coordinated um the holdovers or Tony or the drama the films that I've done recently I do try to keep within that that kind of like brand um I like you know films that are original and uh I like storytelling and I try to you know live in the world of somewhat you know I like indie movies. I certainly have uh made a bunch of you know A24 films at this point. I like you know running in that circle but I look at um projects that are uh really good stories um and then see what I can bring to the table in the way of action rather than reading a script and going oh this has a ton of stunts I want to do it I read a script and I go can I bring some original creative action to this story and can I benefit the story as much as you know other you know other departments or other creatives. So yeah so as a coordinator I do look for kind of those narratives and then as a double I uh I was you know really happy to take you know that action film this year and um I really like kind of doing just anything and everything doubling because I still really love performing and I uh I enjoy it's kind of like the two different sides of of this stunt world and I yeah well take a job doubling an actress that I like or you know working on an action film that has some really fun interesting stunts and maybe something that I haven't done before or maybe something that I really enjoy doing physically and uh and that's you know what'll lead me to take a a doubling project but the coordinating projects are certainly more creatively driven and I have to respond and really like the script and the story um first.

Prep Early, Manage Risk, Say No

Greg Staffa 25:41

When you're hired on as a coordinator where in the process of the film are you brought in are you brought in early to go over the script and say you know maybe this fight doesn't make sense or maybe this fight might be too difficult because they want to do it in the rain or they want to do it in some condition that you're not comfortable and you say how about we switch it out and put it inside a warehouse instead or how do you have a lot of input in how the fights play out or are you given a script saying we want an action scene outside in the rain this is what you're gonna do and you figure it out after that yeah I would say it's a little bit of both.

Amy Greene 26:18

It depends on the director and the project and kind of you know what they're going for. But I I do appreciate being brought on early at least being in conversations early in prep, you know, that can you know lead to not only creative answers that might be nice for the movie, but certainly safety. So like there's two movies that I'm doing you know later this year and one of them has some outdoor, you know, some water work in a cold weather state and you know I started talking to them about you know what we're gonna do in our you know marine team and safety and you know how we're gonna you know deal with people in the water. And uh then I looked at their one line schedule when they sent it and um that their AD had done and you know they'd scheduled some stuff a little bit later in the season. And uh so we started talking about water temperature and you know how how we could possibly make this work. And the answer was you know doing that work way up front early in their schedule so that the water temperature is still a little bit warm. So sometimes it's like a safety reason that it's smart to consult with a with a stunt coordinator or stunt person before you're before you're too deep in prep um and before certainly way before you start shooting. But other times you know a movie you know has a plan and they you know give a stunt coordinator um maybe a couple of weeks of prep and you jump in and you talk with the director immediately and figure out how to do it and then uh you're off and running. And yeah sometimes it's just um creative problem solving on the day and uh trying to get the director you know as close to the vision as possible.

Greg Staffa 27:52

Matt Damon has a funny story that he tells I'm not sure if you've heard it or not I was one on one of the late night shows and he was having a I think it was a social gathering with Tom Cruise and he's like Tom you gotta tell me how you you pulled off that stunt on the on the built outside of the building in one of the films the Mission Possible films. And Tom explains and I'm paraphrasing but he goes I went to the stunt coordinator and I told him you know this is my plan and I want to go on the outside and and he said no way in hell and he pauses for a minute and goes so then I found found another start coordinator and so he basically vetoed and until he got as a stunt coordinator have you ever had to say you know this I have to draw the line I this is a no and if you still want it I can't do I mean how much of a responsibility as a start coordinator is there to to find a solution or are there points where you just have to say we can't do this?

Amy Greene 28:53

Oh yeah that's a huge huge part of the job is decision making on you know what's safe and then uh you know first off thinking about the humans the cast uh you know the actors and the stunt people performing the action what's safe next we're gonna think about can this actor do some of you know the work? What's the coverage that we'll do for cast work? And then is that going to put us in risk of if it's a fight scene of that cast member getting kicked in the face even if it has nothing to do with that person's ability to um execute you know fight choreography, that doesn't mean that you know things don't happen and uh when your lead actor gets kicked in the face, then your movie goes down for a couple of days until that stuff heals up. So you don't want to run into that. And then third, certainly you know insurance and risk management is a really big part of it. So kind of considering the big picture and looking at you know what's best for the film and how to get you know the scene that you want first for you know as safe as possible and then next mitigating risk as much as possible. So I think in in those times then you know that's the conversation that we have with actors. And sometimes there's actors, I mean tons most actors I work with want to do as much of their own you know stunt work as possible. And I think um that that's that that is great. And then I you know try to make that happen up until a point and then just say here's where we're gonna draw the line because it makes a lot more sense to put our stunt person in our stunt double in for this part of the sequence. And then we'll come back to you and do your coverage you know here. And you know just have those conversations on every film. And I talked to Cast really early I always talk to Cass before we start shooting all the casts that have stunts. So as a coordinator I'll reach out and talk to everybody individually and go through you know kind of their experience and and what they can do. You know, sometimes it's as simple as like we've got this actor is gonna you know ride a bike uh downhill and uh it's uh you know what what is their bike riding experience and then we go from there and then look at you know risk management and what do we do if someone how do we carry on with a film? So yeah that conversation is part of every project.

Work She’s Proud Of And What’s Next

Amy Greene 31:03

Now we always remember the big stunts the car that flipped over many times or the big fall from a building is there any particular scene or moment in your portfolio that you just are especially proud of yeah I would say it's not yeah not like not just the like one moment but I do think it's the the film that you know I have out right now Tony I'm uh I'm I'm really proud of all of the action in that movie because uh like we were talking about earlier I think it's seamless I think it's integrated into the story and that it's meaningful and and you know uh helps helps the narrative so I I I would point to Tony as something that I'm really proud of. I love all the the action sequences in this movie Night Always Comes that I made. It's a Netflix film of Vanessa Kirby and directed by Ben Karen. I had a great time doing the action in that movie in Portland Oregon a few years ago and um certainly yeah certainly the holdovers is a big I I will always want to work with Alexander Payne. That was one of the best experiences of my life and each time I work with him uh it feels like a really good collaboration and I hope to work with him again in the future but I'm I'm proud of the the bits of action that we put together for holdovers.

Greg Staffa 32:17

Now you have done a lot of collaboration you've worked a lot with actors and directors producers and whatnot has there ever been like a curiosity to get more in front of the camera and be an actress I mean it's it doesn't seem like the leap would be that much of a stretch as far as doing that. Is there any thoughts of producing more or directing or writing or acting?

Amy Greene 32:41

Yeah I really I think the I think the the progression for me in the stunt world and with action is more towards second unit directing uh or you know just action directing enjoy doubling like I said I will always um perform and I've done a number of like you know on camera stunt performance you know uh work uh where you're not doubling you're actually just being a character um in the film it's usually like you know some a smaller character that gets killed or something a lot of times you want to cast stunt people for that because it's easier to just film the stunt person doing it even if it's a you know a few lines or whatever but um but no I don't really have an ambition to be uh acting in any way I actually just really love the action so um as I carry on my career and move forward and stunt coordinating I certainly want to do some second unit directing and and you know take a look at action direction and do something of my own in the future as well.

Greg Staffa 33:36

Now you've mentioned a little bit of what you have going on in the future but tell us a little bit more of what you have going on.

Amy Greene 33:43

As for what's coming up for me I stunt coordinated a film called Little Man which is um a Mark Wahlberg movie uh for Apple and I know that'll be coming out I don't know sometime later this year I guess and then I mentioned the movie that I stunt doubled in which is a Keanu Reeves action film for Warner Brothers and then I've uh stunt coordinated a few other uh indie films um that'll probably come out you know in the next year as well and I'm I'm just about to start another one so definitely staying busy um which I'm super happy about I know it's been kind of slow in the industry certainly in uh some cities but um I've been lucky to be uh working as much as I have been so I'm thankful for that.

Greg Staffa 34:26

Well that is good to hear. So final question and I thank you for coming on but anytime we we talk about Amy Green we include you know she's a stunt woman she's a stunt coordinator we we mentioned films like the holdover so it's tied to your work and everything that you do but when you wake up in the morning and you go into the bathroom for the first time splash a little water on your face and look in the mirror who is it that you see wow that's quite a question.

Amy Greene 34:53

Yeah I see I see someone who is has been very uh career driven and career focused and I'm proud of the work that I've been doing and I feel like I'm in a really good place in my life and uh I am I feel lucky every day that I get to do what I get to do. I can't believe that um you know I do what I love and I I I do it for free. But it's uh I feel like someone who is lucky and accomplished.

Greg Staffa 35:24

That's good. Well Amy Greene I look forward to seeing your work in the near future and I appreciate you coming on and taking time out of your day.

Amy Greene 35:32

Thank you so much. Great talking to you