Pitt was impressed,and soon Leitch became his go-to guy,doubling for him inThe Mexican,theOcean’s franchise, TroyandMr&Mrs Smith.
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Eventually,Leitch stepped behind the camera,making his directorial debut in the 2014 action filmJohn Wick before teaming up with Pitt again for the 2022 filmBullet Train.
“That was very special,and I realise how lucky I am to go from working with Brad to directing Ryan;they’re both incredibly charismatic as human beings,” says Leitch.
So what’s it like to spend the better part of two years telling the biggest actors in the world what to do and where to stand?
“They both have incredible work ethic;it doesn’t feel like work to them because they love making movies,and they’re not jaded,coming to set feeling like it’s a chore,” explains Leitch.
“Yes,they’re both gorgeous people physically,but I think what they’re both good at is creating a character that audiences just can’t help but root for.”
The Fall Guy will hit cinemas on February 29 next year,but the first trailer was released on Friday morning. These days,the first trailer drop marks the beginning of the cycle of fan and critical feedback,and Leitch admits the entire process makes him a little nervous.
“You just spent two years of your life every single day watching these frames of this movie you love,and then you send it out and then people are like,“f–k you,it sucks,” laughs Leitch.
“I try not to go down a rabbit hole online and remind myself that this will reach millions of people,and you’re reading four or five people’s comments.”
The trailer includes a teaser of the high-octane stunt scene shot on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Gosling and Leitch made headlines in January when the bridge was closed in both directions from 3am to 10am to allow filming ofThe Fall Guy.
It was a major logistical operation involving the City of Sydney and,according to Leitch,“many,many permits,” but based on what we see in the trailer,it was worth navigating the red tape.
“We did feel the responsibility that day because we didn’t want to betray all the hard work that all these people had done,” says Leitch.