'I really thrived in the process, I was a theatre nerd.'
There were a lot of ripped, shirtless War Boys in Mad Max: Fury Road,. Each War Boy was toned and bald, making them difficult to tell apart. There was one however, as written in Kyle Buchanan's book, that stood out to me. Aussie actor and stuntman Ben Smith-Petersen was both written about, and quoted in many parts of Buchanan's book Blood, Sweat & Chrome.
I was initially intrigued reading about the then 19 year old hot circus performer who was discussing his role as both an actor and a stuntman during the making of the film. Smith-Petersen calls the movie a stuntman's dream as given the non-stop action and intensity, there was one stunt after another to prepare for and perform. One of the most visually spectacular was the pole sequence and if you've seen the film, you know it certainly took advantage of Smith-Petersen's circus background.
It was interesting to see the process George Miller put into place to prepare the actors playing the War Boys to prepare for their roles. Stunt ad physical training was a must, but he also put them through a sort of 'emotional' boot camp which tested many of the actors. Part of the process was a feminist view on the role of men in war and many acts of aggression and conflict. Not many directors would insist their action actors look inward at the history and consequences of toxic masculinity.
It was also on the Fury Road film set that the young stuntman met, and eventually married, his wife Riley Keough. In addition to playing Capable one of Joe's wives, Keough also happens to be the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley, making her the granddaughter of Elvis. Despite the struggles during filming, it was also a bonding experience for many of the actors, no more so than Smith-Petersen and Keough.
In addition to his stunt work on Fury Road, Smith Petersen also worked on films including; The Great Gatsby, Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Suicide Squad. Although the majority of his work has been as a stuntman, Smith-Petersen has been getting more and more acting roles and will appear next in the indie horror flick, The Dead Thing.
Images below by Blake Ballard
Ben Smith-Petersen on Instagram
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