Ryan Gosling Did the 12-Story Fall Despite His Fear of Heights

Ryan Gosling has a fear of heights, and the opening of The Fall Guy asked him to fall backward 12 stories down the inside of a building. He did it himself, harnessed in and dropped backward, and said afterward that he wanted to feel a little of what stunt performers go through every day.

Dropped Off a Building

In the 2024 action comedy, Gosling plays stuntman Colt Seavers, who suffers a bad accident in a 12-story fall inside a building atrium at the start of the film.

Gosling told People the production "dropped me 12 stories off of a building, and I have a fear of heights."

In a Men's Health interview, he described being harnessed in and then dropped off the building. "I think I blacked out for at least nine of those stories," he said.

The Sunglasses

For the stunt, Gosling wore sunglasses. Co-star Emily Blunt explained why: he wore them to cover the whites of his eyes.

Gosling agreed, telling TheWrap, "I had terrified owl eyes."

Why He Wanted It

Stunt designer Chris O'Hara said the opening needed a fall that was iconic, memorable and safe. "Ryan was game for it," he said. The team tested the fall with Gosling first, and then pulled it off.

Gosling has said he would have been happy to say he did none of his own stunts, but felt it was important to do a few. The fall, he said, gave him an idea of what stunt performers do every day on some small level.

Who Did the Rest

Gosling is quick to give credit. At the film's SXSW premiere he joked that he did almost none of his own stunts and thanked stunt performers Logan Holladay and Ben Jenkin by name.

The film's 150-foot helicopter back-flip went to a different performer, Troy Brown, according to VFX Voice. The 12-story atrium fall is the stunt reporters credit to Gosling himself.

A Fall Guy Who Hates Heights

The film is a love letter to stunt work, directed by former stuntman David Leitch. Its star, a man who does not like heights, took one of the longest drops in it himself.