Is the Diva Action Star in The Fall Guy Based on a Real Person?

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By Roxana Hadadi, a Vulture TV professional who besides covers movie and popular culture

Photo: Eric Laciste/Universal Pictures

The Fall Guy is a emotion missive to the stunt community, an accidental to bask successful Ryan Gosling’s sky-high levels of charm, and possibly, successful the signifier of 1 of its villains, a unsighted point astir a narcissist Hollywood actor.

Tom Ryder, an enactment prima played by rumored caller Bond histrion Aaron Taylor-Johnson, is the prima of The Fall Guy’s film-within-the-film, the sci-fi epic Metalstorm. He’s besides a smug, showboating asshole who lies astir doing each his ain stunts; kills his caller stunt double, Henry (Justin Eaton, Taylor-Johnson’s existent stunt treble successful the film), with a misplaced kick; and tries to framework his aged stunt double, Gosling’s Colt Seavers, for the crime. Taylor-Johnson and Gosling person a batch of amusive with Tom’s braggadocio and Colt’s deadpan replies erstwhile the prima histrion and his stunt treble yet look off. Tom’s each puffed-up, pompous, and a teensy spot intersexual arsenic helium shirtless-ly reveals that helium sabotaged a stunt Colt did for him connected a erstwhile film, which led to Colt breaking his back; Colt calls Tom a “Bond villain dipshit” and says they’re getting “tangled successful exposition” arsenic Tom over-explains his evil plan.

The Fall Guy emphasizes that for radical successful the movie industry, films are virtually and figuratively their full lives, the mode they recognize their feelings and their reality. It’s wherefore Colt and his brag and person Dan (Winston Duke) get themselves amped up for a combat country by quoting The Last of the Mohicans, and wherefore Colt, erstwhile declaring his emotion for manager Jody (Emily Blunt), wonders if his large admittance of adoration is “from a movie, oregon did I conscionable marque it up?” The boundaries betwixt fabrication and world are beauteous fluid successful this film, which leads to the question: Is The Fall Guy shading anyone circumstantial with its depiction of Tom Ryder?

Director David Leitch, writer Drew Pearce, and Gosling developed the film’s communicative together, and fixed Leitch’s hands-on approach, it’s tempting to deliberation his experiences moving with movie stars mightiness person helped signifier these characters. So let’s see the evidence, drafting from the movie, Leitch’s career, and the wide tract of starring enactment men these days. (All successful the tone of gossipy fun, don’t writer us.)

Ryan Reynolds, Chris Pratt, Brad Pitt, Jason Statham
Let’s commencement with 4 enactment stars who person worked with Leitch — connected Deadpool 2, Jurassic World (for which Leitch did second-unit work), Bullet Train and Fight Club, and Hobbs & Shaw, respectively — and who acceptable the wide “omnipresent achromatic dude each implicit genre franchises” mold. In existent life, each of them beauteous openly praise stuntwork oregon their stunt doubles; retrieve that Leitch was Pitt’s stunt treble successful Fight Club. More than a decennary ago, Statham supported the stunt community’s run for the Oscars to adhd a circumstantial class recognizing their work: “It’s a full injustice. They’re the ones getting busy. Then you person immoderate feline lasting successful beforehand of a fucking greenish surface screwing his look up pretending similar he’s doing the stunt. To me, it’s similar a farce.” Given that a country beauteous overmuch precisely similar this plays retired in The Fall Guy astatine Tom’s expense, I deliberation it’s harmless to presume that Statham (and each these dudes) are escaped from mockery due to the fact that of their vocal enactment of the manufacture successful the past. Now, Pitt did bash a bid of ads for Chanel N°5, and Tom does person a quality run successful The Fall Guy that Colt rolls his eyes at. But I deliberation that item much intimately aligns with different histrion connected this list.

Tom Cruise
We indispensable see Tom Cruise due to the fact that helium is arguably the world’s biggest enactment star, and the 1 whose insistence connected doing his ain stunts makes the astir headlines (and wins Vulture Stunt Awards!). There’s besides the information that Tom Ryder is named, well, Tom. But The Fall Guy has lone praise for Cruise, similar erstwhile Colt jokes astir wanting Metalstorm’s deepfake exertion to crook him into the Mission: Impossible star. Is it imaginable that Hannah Waddingham’s character, Gail Meyer, Tom’s longtime producer, is modeled aft Cruise’s former publicist, his sister, Lee Anne DeVette? Eh, astir apt not. All they person successful communal is that they’re women; Gail seems much similar an updated mentation of The Godfather producer Robert Evans than anyone other (note their likewise oversized glasses). I deliberation you can’t marque an enactment movie astir enactment movies without acknowledging Cruise’s beingness and impact, but that’s the grade of the transportation betwixt Tom and Tom.

Keanu Reeves
Is determination immoderate imaginable world successful which Tom Ryder is simply a subtweet of Mr. John Wick, renowned bully man? There can’t be, right, not erstwhile Leitch’s large interruption was co-directing that Keanu-starring picture? Admittedly, Leitch’s enactment went uncredited due to the fact that of immoderate Directors Guild of America rules, and Chad Stahelski kept directing the John Wick films solo (Leitch retains an EP credit). But precise fewer actors are retired present championing the stunt assemblage similar our beloved Neo. Keanu innocent, probably.

Matthew McConaughey
It has to beryllium acknowledged that Tom is, for immoderate reason, American, and Taylor-Johnson (who is English) is doing a Dazed and Confused–era Matthew McConaughey accent. This antheral tin bash a perfectly serviceable, perfectly level American dependable (we heard it successful Godzilla, Savages, and the Kick-Ass films), truthful the put-on Texan drawl is decidedly a choice. But is McConaughey an enactment star? Nope; adjacent successful films similar The Dark Tower and The Gentlemen, McConaughey isn’t doing a ton of carnal work, nor pretending to. So let’s conscionable enactment the accent down arsenic “ATJ trying immoderate things out” alternatively than McConaughey shade.

Johnny Depp
Here’s wherever things get interesting. Remember that advertisement run I mentioned earlier, the ones each implicit the airdrome successful Los Angeles erstwhile Colt flies to Australia, and each implicit autobus shelters successful downtown Sydney? They look precise overmuch similar Depp’s Dior Sauvage ads, successful that they spot Tom successful a dusty, godforsaken scenery successful beforehand of mountains and a beauteous watercolor sky, and marque him look similar a mysterious, brooding antihero arsenic he’s sledgehammering rocks to beryllium his masculinity, oregon whatever. And past aboriginal successful the film, erstwhile Gail walks into Jody’s trailer and sees that it’s messy — arsenic if 2 radical person fought, due to the fact that they have, unbeknownst to Gail — she says it looks similar “Johnny and Amber” were successful there, a gag that’s gotten immoderate bad press but that is astatine slightest contextualized successful the movie arsenic different denotation of however crappy Gail is arsenic a person. Those 2 moments unneurotic consciousness pointed; possibly not exactly similar an insult toward Depp, but a reminder of the magnitude of powerfulness and taste sway helium erstwhile held and however that representation was, similar Tom’s, manufactured and manipulated. Something to deliberation about!

Dwayne Johnson
An enactment prima who (allegedly) disappears from set, shows up late, has an entourage whose members bash immoderate helium wants, and who is overly acrophobic with his nationalist representation to the constituent wherever it starts to impact his existent acting. All of Tom’s behaviour successful The Fall Guy seemingly aligns with Johnson’s (alleged) misbehavior connected the upcoming movie Red One, arsenic documented successful this piece astatine the Wrap. And callback that Johnson and Leitch did enactment unneurotic connected Hobbs & Shaw. Something to deliberation about, portion two! (It’s besides worthy considering that perhaps Tom could incorporate elements of Vin Diesel, who’s besides been accused of diva behaviour connected set and who was rumored to beryllium feuding with Johnson connected The Fate of the Furious. But Diesel has talked before astir however the decease of Harry O’Connor, his stunt treble connected the xXx set, affected him and emphasized to him the value of harmless stuntwork, truthful it seems improbable helium inspired a quality who is truthful blithe astir stunt safety.)

Jason Momoa (not!)
The 1 idiosyncratic we tin presume Tom Ryder isn’t supposed to beryllium mocking is Momoa, who ends up appearing successful the movie arsenic himself, replacing Tom aft the enactment prima explodes successful a pyrotechnics mishap helium caused by utilizing his compartment telephone wherever helium shouldn’t. It’s amusive to spot Duncan Idaho amusement up and footwear ass, since truthful overmuch of Metalstorm is Dune-coded (set successful abstraction connected a sandy planet, with a Hans Zimmer–like people and Teresa Palmer looking similar she’s wearing a Lady Jessica Halloween costume). Also, haven’t galore of america wondered “is it Momoa oregon Mamoa” astatine immoderate point? The Post-It enactment Tom has successful his loft with that question mightiness beryllium his astir relatable quality!