How did you get into the film and TV industry as a stuntman?

One of the guys at a rodeo who was a good friend of mine took me under his wing and gave me my first shot.

What was your first gig?

That would have been as a stunt guy on a show called Davey Crockett. It was a Disney miniseries they shot in Vancouver in 1988. I played an Indian and did stuff like getting shot off horses and shooting arrows into people and stuff.

Is there any kind of formal training school?

I was in the rodeo professionally for about 10 years and as an amateur about four years before that. So my initial training was horses and cowboy stuff, knowing how to fall off horses, and then I moved on to other stuff.

Have you ever been seriously injured on the job?

I’ve been stitched up here and there, but probably the worst was being knocked out and separating my shoulder.

What kind of insurance policy do you have?

We belong to the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), which is the actors’ guild. We have group plan with some health and dental coverage. Otherwise we couldn’t buy insurance for ourselves or it’d be too astronomical.

If you weren’t a stuntman, what would you be doing?

I don’t know. Probably still in the rodeo. I always said the movie industry would be my stepping stone to something else, make some money and move on, but just never found that something else.

What’s the craziest stunt you’re ever done?

I did a stirrup drag that was almost life-threatening on a TV series called Bordertown. I ended up getting dragged by a horse down a logging road full of rocks and got the shit beat out of me. Thankfully a wrangler jumped out and made the horse jump and I popped out and ended up in a ball in the middle of the road.

I also had an airplane land on top of my truck by accident on a show called Trapped a few years back. A floatplane landed right on the cab of my truck when it was supposed to land in front of me while I was going down the highway.

Are there any stunts you won’t attempt?

There are probably a few, I just don’t know what they are. I’m not a martial artist so I can’t fool anyone on that front. Pretty much anything out there I’m game for.

What TV shows or movies have you worked on?

Highlander the TV series, I doubled Adrian Paul for two-and-a-half seasons. I doubled for David Duchovny in the X-Files for three seasons. Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore, I did the whole fight scene with Bob Barker.

Are you moving towards co-ordinating and less actual stunt work?

As you get older you don’t bounce around like you used to and there are less opportunities. I like a bit of a mix because it keeps you busy on both ends. When you’re not performing you’re hiring some of your buddies that will hire you in return.

Is it difficult to find work in Alberta at the moment?

Right now yes. It comes and goes in waves. There will be no work in Alberta for five months and then three good shows will happen at the same time and you can only work for three months on one of them. Through the 1990s and early 2000s it was busier, but it’s progressively getting worse.

What do you make of the province’s 15 per cent cutback in funding to Alberta's Film Development Program?

Well it definitely doesn’t help us. Everywhere else seems to be upping their funding and we’re going backwards.