19 Wild Stunts Actors Did Themselves

As confirmed by the Los Angeles Times, Jolie actually pulled off the impressive series of stunts when she leaped off of a bridge onto a container, then jumped from truck to truck until finally, stealing a motorcycle and making her escape. 

One of the most notorious stunts of the silent film era — and of all time, really — is the falling house scene from Steamboat Bill Jr. Buster Keaton, in one of his wildest stunts, stands in front of a falling building facade, only to fit through the window frame without injury. According to the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Keaton used a real-life two-ton building facade and a nail in the ground as a marker for the stunt.

Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn't find someone to sub in for him during the filming of Conan The Barbarian due to his large build, so the action star pulled off all of the stunts himself. In one scene, Conan gets chased down by wolves, who were reportedly German Shepherds. Unfortunately, he revealed that a trainer let one of the wolves go too early in one of the outtakes, resulting in injuries once the wolf caught up to him.

Tom Cruise has gained a reputation for pulling off his own stunts. However, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation included one of his most daring efforts to date. At one point, he holds onto the side of an Airbus A400, which is going at 160mph. He did eight takes of this.

In 2020's The Old Guard, Charlize Theron pulled off her stunts as she typically does, but one particular scene during the airplane fight is a testament to her dedication. She swings herself over Nile (KiKi Layne) and slams her to the ground. She explained in behind-the-scenes footage that it took her four months to pull the move off and "99 takes" to capture it on camera. 

Dylan O'Brien's role in Maze Runner: The Death Cure could've potentially cost him his life. The train chase scene, as shown above, sees O'Brien's character leap from a moving train to a speeding car. Unfortunately, it resulted in major injuries after O'Brien reportedly slipped from the train that was pulling him and ran over by a stunt car. He suffered a concussion, brain trauma, and a facial fracture. 

Viggo Mortensen delivered an impeccable performance in the Lord Of The Rings series as Aragon, but his commitment to pulling off his own stunts is commendable. Though there are conflicting accounts of the dagger scene (some legends claim that he nearly died while filming it), Peter Jackson confirmed Mortensen did, in fact, use his sword to block Lurtz's (Lawrence Makoare) flying knife — which was real — heading in his direction. 

Speaking of the Matrix, we have to give Moss her flowers for this scene from Matrix Reloaded. The iconic motorcycle scene involving Trinity weaving through the freeway with Randall Duk Kim as a passenger is one of her career's most impressive stunts. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she explained how she practiced prior to the scene, except without a passenger. Add to the fact that neither of them was wearing a helmet; it became a stressful situation for Moss. "I'm not a very experienced motorcycle rider. I did train on a little bike and then a bigger bike and then a bigger bike," she said. "A passenger whose life depended on me being impeccable and perfect because I knew that if I allowed my mind one moment of doubt that I could hurt another human being."

Though celebrated for impeccable efforts as a stunt double in renowned Hollywood flicks, Zoë Bell's work in Death Proof showcased exactly why she's such a highly sought-after in the first place. In one particular scene, she hops on and leaps from the passenger side to the roof of the car, and then slides onto the hood holding onto a seatbelt to keep her secure. 

Jackie Chan showed out in the first Police Story, but Michelle Yeoh deserves her flowers for what she pulled off in the franchise's third installment. She hangs off of the side of a truck, only to make a leap into a convertible in what she described as a scene that nearly killed her.  She told Entertainment Weekly that things went left the first time around after she landed on the hood but fell off the car and landed on the road.  "The windscreen was supposed to shatter, and that would have helped me have a break," she said. "But the windscreen didn't shatter, I had nowhere to hold onto, and I kept sliding off the car. All I remember was like 'Duhn!' on the ground. Fortunately, I didn't go head first." Nonetheless, she pulled it off to impeccable results. 

It's hard to pinpoint one precise stunt that Daniel Craig pulled off as James Bond that stands out since he did so many across the 007 films. But, it was the opening parkour scene where Bond chases Mollaka (Sébastien Foucan) in a construction scene. Craig's fear of heights didn't prevent him from completeing this impressive stunt in one of the most memorable moments in the 007 franchise. 

Keanu Reeves earned his second spot on this list, thanks to the John Wick movies. His efforts in martial arts deserve applause, but it's his stunt driving that really steals the show in the fourth installment, specifically the show-stopping scene in the Arc De Triomphe in Paris. Though they had to opt to shoot at Berlin Tempelhof airport, Keanu Reeves handles all of his own stunt driving. "Keanu basically does all his own driving. He’s probably the best actor driver out there. He was training out on that runway for months preparing for the sequence," visual effects supervisor Jonathan Rothbart said. 

Jeremy Renner has often put his life on the line for quality cinematic moments, though his efforts in Bourne Legacy certainly sit high on his CV. Similar to Carrie-Anne Moss's motorcycle scene, Renner weaves through the streets of Manilla with a passenger — both without helmets — as they flee police. The actor explained that he needed to be particularly careful while riding with Rachel Weisz. Ultimately, he delivered an incredibly high-octane scene. 

Cameron Diaz is certainly a daring figure in Hollywood but pair her up with Tom Cruise, and she's just as committed to bringing excitement to the big screen. In the 2010 flick, she and Cruise delivered some impeccable stunts across the screen, specifically the wild motorcycle scene in Cádiz where they're riding with a bunch of bulls chasing them. Though they did use stunt doubles in certain instances, and in others they were attached to a camera rig, Cruise and Diaz really did that scene with bulls alongside them, Entertainment Weekly reports. 

Gina Carano was already an accomplished MMA fighter before she entered Hollywood. Her role in Haywire merged these two worlds together. She performed her own stunts, including many of the impressive fighting scenes across the movie. 

Statham was perfect for the leading role in Crank and his commitment was truly second to none. In the scene where he fought one of the bad guys on a helicopter, Statham really hangs out of a chopper 3,000 feet above the ground. "The stunt men asked me a hundred times, ‘Are you sure you want to do this,’ ” he said. “They couldn’t stress how important it was for me to realize they didn’t want me to do it. That this was really something I was asking to do."