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Mic Rodgers
American director, second unit director, stunt coordinator and stunt performer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Michael G. “Mic” Rodgers (born 1954) is an American film and commercial director, second unit director, stunt coordinator, and stunt performer. As a stunt performer, he is known for serving as a stunt double for actors such as Mel Gibson.[1] He has also served as a second unit action director and/or stunt coordinator for films such as Braveheart,[1] Hacksaw Ridge,[2] The Fast and The Furious,[3] and Twister.[4] A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, he won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 2002 for his invention of the “Mic Rig,” a stunt vehicle.[5][6] He has also won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his work on Hacksaw Ridge[7] and two Taurus World Stunt awards.[8][9]
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In the 1970s and 1980s, Rodgers worked as a stunt performer on television series such as Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk, and Airwolf.[10] He also played minor roles on productions such as the aforementioned Airwolf.[11]
In the 1980s, Rodgers also began doubling for Mel Gibson on projects such as Lethal Weapon.[10] Lethal Weapon was the first of his multiple collaborations with director Richard Donner.[12] He went on to double for Gibson for 25 years on projects including Braveheart and Maverick.[10] He also served as the main stunt coordinator on Maverick and Braveheart, and co-coordinator for Lethal Weapon 2 and Lethal Weapon 3.[10][12] While doubling for Gibson in Maverick, Rodgers performed a team-to-team stagecoach transfer, which was a stunt originated by Yakima Canutt in the film Stagecoach.[12] He also served as a second unit director for Braveheart.[1]
In 1999, Rodgers made his directorial debut with the film Universal Soldier: The Return.[13]
Rodgers was a second unit director and a stunt coordinator for the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious.[14] During the production of The Fast and the Furious, Rodgers developed a vehicle named the “Mic Rig” in collaboration with special effects coordinator Matt Sweeney and the rest of the film's special effects department.[14][15]
Rodgers received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 2002 for his efforts designing the vehicle.[6] Rodgers would return for other films in the series, including Fast & Furious (2009), for which he won the Taurus World Stunt award for Best Stunt Coordinator and/or 2nd Unit Director.[8]
In the 2000s, Rodgers went on to serve as a second unit director and/or stunt coordinator for films such as Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle,[16] Mr. and Mrs. Smith,[17] and Wanted.[18]
Rodgers served as the stunt coordinator for the 2012 film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, training the film's star Benjamin Walker to perform the film's choreography.[19]
In the 2010s, he continued working as a second unit director and stunt coordinator for films such as the 2015 remake of Point Break,[20] Hacksaw Ridge,[7] and 12 Strong.[21] He would win a Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance By a Stunt Ensemble for his work on Hacksaw Ridge in 2017.[7][22] He also won another Taurus World Stunt Award for Best Stunt Coordinator and/or 2nd Unit Director for Hacksaw Ridge.[9]
Rodgers continued working as a stunt performer for productions such as Django Unchained[23] and Sons of Anarchy.[10] He has also directed commercials such as BMW’s “Epic Drift Mob.”[24]
He was a long time member of the stunt organization Stunts Unlimited, leaving it to become one of the original members of Brand X Stunts.[25]
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Awards and nominations
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Filmography
Director / Producer
Second-unit director / Stunt coordinator
Stunt Performer
Actor
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References
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