Alain Moussi may be the next big action star of the future. A former stuntman, Moussi has worked on blockbusters such as Immortals, X-Men: Apocalypse, White House Down and Suicide Squad. This year he graduated to leading man, playing the protagonist in Kickboxer: Vengeance – a remake of the 1989 Jean Claude Van Damme cult classic. The first in a trilogy, the film also stars UFC fighter Georges St-Pierre, former wrestler Dave Bautista – and a certain Jean Claude Van Damme. We spoke to Moussi about life in one of the world's coolest jobs.
What made you become a stuntman?
I was a martial artist, and I always wanted to get into film – I actually got into martial arts because of martial arts films. I'm from Ottawa, Canada: it's not obvious how to get into film to begin with! One of my friends, who was world champion at karate, had got into stunt work five years earlier. He introduced me to a stunt coordinator. Then Immortals came to shoot in Montreal: it was a good opportunity because they were looking for big guys who could move, who could fight. My friend introduced me to the fight coordinator and that's how I started. I was playing the hero in the pre-visualisation shots, the stunt coordinator saw me – and I ended up doubling Henry Cavill. As a first job you usually get bodyguard No.3 and beat up! I got to double the lead in a Hollywood blockbuster, which was amazing.
Do you have a particular favourite film you've worked on?
Hmmm. Every one of those films was an amazing experience. Immortals was the first; White House Down I did my hardest ever stunt so that was a cool shoot; Warcraft I was away in Vancouver for six months, got to meet amazing people; I have a special attachment to every job I've done for different reasons. It's hard to pick.
Tell us about your hardest stunt?
On White House Down. A 25ft fall through a glass ceiling. We had to be suspended on wires above the ceiling, and then we were dropped through. First, the wire team practice with sandbags to check the timings. Then you put mats down and we started working on the wires on a slow drop, just to see how it feels. Then we increase the speed as we go. It's very gradual – and obviously there's no glass roof, we just practice that fall again and again until the timing and speed are exactly right. It had to be free fall with a small declaration in the middle, then free fall again until we crashed through a table. The deceleration had to be hidden, you couldn't feel it. On the day, everything is ready to go, you get on those wires and you hope for the best! Four cameras, one take and it was done!
Any narrow escapes on set?
I've never been injured which is great. Close calls? There was one on White House Down: when we went through the glass roof, there's a window frame. I hit the frame and the frame is meant to unlatch and hang on these hinges from the beam. One of those hinges broke so this big metal beam followed us to the ground. It hit the ground about two feet away from my head! It bounced from there and landed half on Johnny [the other stuntman], he pushed it away and we carried on. Only later did we notice it was from the roof! You can still see it on playback.
The other one was on this movie Wolves. It was a stunt called the Deadman. You have a wire tied to you, you run and you jump to the end of the wire and that pulls you right down to the ground. It's meant to look like a really quick whiplash down to the ground. I had to jump of this little hill, then I'd get hit in midair – so essentially I'd hit the end of the wire in midair – and then slam on my back. The wire has bungee, just for a little more give. So I put the mat down where I expect to fall, but with the bungee I went further, so I ended up missing the mat and falling straight on my back. Full-on winded! And this was rehearsal: for real we had to remove the mat and I knew it was going to hurt. We ended up doing it eight more times.
Is there a difference between stunt work on big, CGI-heavy blockbusters and more traditional action films such as Kickboxer?
Oh yeah. On big budget films there's so much in terms of safety, everything is matted, if you need wires they're there. It's such a longer set-up – we can set-up for half an hour or more for one stunt. They have a lot more time because they have a lot more money. On a film like Kickboxer, they condense everything. We avoid wires to keep it as real as possible: all the hits are real, most of the falls are done on concrete or wood. Not to be tough: just because there's no budget to fake everything in foam. Plus the time. Kickboxer we shot in 32-33 days. The amount of action we shot on any of those blockbusters would have taken triple the time. It's a whole difference process: soon as you're doing it for real, it's like go, go, go. I'll go for twelve hours straight. It's a different pace, and it's not for everybody. Both are great fun though!
Best part of your job?
The best part for me is being on set. I love performing. Any scene: action, drama. The set is like a magical place for me. I love it.
Worse part of your job?
Being away from my family. There's a lot of travel, last time I was away for eight weeks. You shot on location and it's away from where you live. That's the hardest part for me.
What's the biggest misconception about being a stuntman?
That we're all dumb jocks. People think these stunt guys and just the meat that gets hit and all this nonsense. Not at all. There are some very talented people, very intelligent people, very creative people. Everything in stunt work is thought out, rehearsed. These are not blockheads – these are very intelligent and creative people.
How was it making the transition to leading man?
It's definitely a challenge. From a stunt perspective, you're in and then you're out. It's a physical acting gig and that's what it is. When you do the other part, you've got to have that physicality but also all the emotional acting that comes with it. Me being a rookie...well, I consider myself a rookie now. I have so much respect from the craft, and tried to learn from all the other actors I worked with. I tried to be as focus and proficient with the acting as I could be, to match what I could perform in action. It's a different challenge but it's so much fun being able to merge everything together.
How was it working with Jean Claude Van Damme?
It was interesting! I thought his presence was the icing on the cake. He's a cool guy, very fun to work with. He comes in as his character in the film, not the character he played in the original. Jean Claude's got tremendous experience and it shows. You can see his presence on set. What made me even more at east, I saw that as confident as he is, the first day is the first day for everyone. It's the same for him too! You saw performance jitters occur for everyone: just that put me at ease.
Who would win in a four-way fight between you, a young Van Damme, Georges St Pierre and Dave Bautista?
Whoever could pick up the weapon the fastest! I'll say Georges, just because he's the UFC champ. I think it's the easiest answer to give. But everybody has so much baggage. Jean Claude is such a great martial artist... Georges has been in the Octagon, and Dave has been in the Octagon. Dave's got size and power, but Georges has so much experience that I think he could match Dave's strength, power and size with sheer technique and strategy. It would be really interesting. And for me, I've trained in a lot MMA, and I've coached MMA... but I'd still go with Georges! Obviously I'd go with Georges!
What can we expect from the sequel – which stars Mike Tyson and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, aka The Mountain from Game of Thrones?
Because it's a true sequel, you see an evolution in Kurt Sloane's journey which is really cool. With Mike Tyson, you bring a boxing legend and one of the biggest names in boxing history. Tyson brings this amazing presence and charisma. I think we capture Tyson in a way nobody's ever captured him before, because on film he does comedy, a lot of jokes. We really wanted to capture Tyson the boxer. Who's this guy, what does he bring? And then the Mountain – this guy is 6ft 10 and 420 lb. I've been tossed by him like a rag doll. The power in the due is incredible. You're going to see a major David versus Goliath fight, it's really cool what we've been able to put together. What you're also going to enjoy is seeing Van Damme and Tyson in the same scene!
If you book any fighter for the third film of the trilogy, who would it be?
Oh man! One guy who would be really cool to see is Brock Lesnar. He's got size, he's got athleticism, he's got physicality – he's got so many different elements. He's a bit bigger than Bautista but he's not as big as the Mountain, so I think he'd be a very cool dude to see the film.
What ambitions to you have left as an actor?
Tons! This is only the beginning. While I love the martial arts genre, I also want to do action, action comedy – there's tons of stuff I want to do later on. I definitely want to establish myself in a genre first but there's so much more out there to do, and I intend to do it.
If you weren't in film, what would you be doing?
I'd be teaching martial arts. That's what I used to do. I owned a martial arts school, I'm still part owner of a school, but I'd be teaching martial arts full time.
Any gear you can't go without?
I'm into a lot! I love Under Armour stuff, for clothing and shoes I wear Under Armour. I'm a watch guy. I have a few Diesels, a few Nixons. Definitely Nixon, it's a really cool brand. And for suits, I'm Hugo Boss. I love the fit – my James Bond look is Hugo Boss right now!
Buy Kickboxer: Vengeance on DVD: amazon.co.uk
