Wait, why the heck isn’t there a stunt category at the Oscars? That question has become a major talking point and rallying point for cinephiles in recent years, and it’s easy to understand why. When you consider the enormous presence and importance of films like Star Wars, the Fast &‌ Furious franchise, and the MCU‌ at the box office and in the landscape of cinema at large, it’s pretty dang crazy that the crew members responsible for some of those films’ most iconic scenes aren’t getting awards recognition on par with their peers. So what’s the holdup?

John Wick directors and 87Eleven co-founders David Leitch and Chad Stahelski definitely know a thing or two about the issue. Over the years, the veteran stuntmen turned filmmakers have worked on The Matrix franchise and MCU‌ favorites before going on to create one of the most iconic original action franchises with Wick. Collider recently hosted an extended interview with the duo as a part of our Collider Connected series and they offered some interesting insight into where the industry and stunt pros stand on the issue and if we still have far to go.

Speaking to the ongoing efforts to make the stunt category a reality, Leitch explained,

"Well, I think that there are a lot of great people working on it internally. I know the inside of the academy there’s a group of veteran stunt performers that have slowly become members at large… and hopefully, they’re gonna have enough embers at large where we can have our own division inside the academy and then maybe we’re a step away from officially asking for our own sort of award."

And as to why it's an important matter to him and stunt professionals throughout the industry, the Atomic Blonde and Deadpool 2 director explained,

"Look, for me, how we define that awards, I think that’s up for debate and I think everyone has a slightly different opinion. But I think we’ll have to get unified soon. I just think it’s out of respect. Every year when you watch our contemporaries in every department celebrate film and the cinematic experience, it just feels weird to be left out of that when we’re as import as makeup or hair or special effects or visual effects. And we’re not more important, I think we’re as important. I just think it’s more about getting the recognition and allowing us to celebrate with our peers and celebrate cinema and how important we are to it. Just to be locked out of is so odd, to me. That’s my opinion. Hopefully, we’re close and I think there’s more awareness every year and I think there’s a lot of people working hard to make it happen."

Stahelski added his own thoughts, agreeing that it's time for a stunt award to exist, but the Wick franchise director pointed out some fascinating considerations into the actual logistics of the award that a lot of us might be overlooking. Specifically, when you're celebrating an accomplishment that involves so many departments, who accepts the award?

Stahelski explained in-depth,

"I agree with Dave. Number one, I’m all for it. I think the major —It’s hard because a lot of people don’t understand, if you have a wardrobe supervisor, that’s the head of the department. If you have a production designer, that’s the head of the department. If you have a cinematographer, that’s the head of the department. I’m all for stunts, for someone to get an Oscar. I think we’re a big part of it, if not one of the biggest parts especially in the visuals in some of the biggest movies out there. My problem is, who do you give it to? Who walks up and gets that statue? Can anybody give me an answer? That’s where, I think, everyone’s got problems.

 

I don’t think anyone fights us that we shouldn’t get one. I’ve never heard anyone at the Academy tell us we shouldn’t get one. The question is always who do you give it to? Is it the stunt coordinator? Ok, that’s great, let’s give it to the stunt coordinator. On the first Matrix, so you want me to give the Oscar to Glenn Boswell, not Yuen Woo-ping Woo Ping. OK. Or, what if there’s three stunt coordinators? Or what if all three stunt coordinators are great, what if you’ve got something like Nightcrawler, so you’ve got a stunt coordinator that did the pipe ramp but the overall vibe of the movie from the director because he’s a fantastic writer. All action doesn’t necessarily come from the stunt coordinator. It can come from the fight choreographer, it can come from the second unit director.

 

Like Spiros Razatos, he’s very rarely the main stunt coordinator, but he’s the guy that does every massive car chase out there. So are you going to give it to him on the Fast and the Furious or are you going to give it to the guy in first unit that’s babysitting. Not to diminish that guy, but ok, people don’t realize that because stunts are so big, on the big movies out there, there’s three or four — we’re a fractured department. The fight choreographer on a big fight movie doesn’t work for the stunt coordinator. He’s his own department."

Leitch responded with his take,

"I think that’s where it’s hard and in terms of the community we’ll have to figure that out, but I think that again, you can’t, in the Academy give it to an ensemble. I think what SAG does is great, like best Stunt Ensemble because then you’re including all the creative elements that go into it.

 

But as a first step, at least for me, and Chad may disagree, is that if you gave it to the coordinator, whether it was the right coordinator or the wrong coordinator, the first unit coordinator or the second unit coordinator, but if you gave it tot he main unit coordinator, it was symbolic that the movie had great action. And then he or she would ultimately would have to give credit where credit is due. That’s kind of how the rest of the departments do it. In a film, in sound, there’s fifty designers working on things but somebody gets the awards. It’s really recognizing stunts first and then we’ll figure out — because, again, I get it. We do, as choreographers do a lot of heavy lifting and the coordinator’s administrative sometimes. And sometimes, the coordinator’s right in there, measuring the ramp, and it just depends. But I think it would be a step at least if we got the department head, at least. the award."

So there you have it folks, a full break down of where the idea of a stunt Oscar category stands and how the stunt community is approaching it, from two of the leaders in the industry. For more from Leitch and Stahelski, be sure to check out what they had to say about working on The Matrix 4 and what's next for John Wick.