History Main / NoStuntDouble

* Creator/CaryElwes and Creator/MandyPatinkin did their SwordFight in ''Film/ThePrincessBride'' themselves.

* Creator/WesleySnipes often does his own action scenes. According to Creator/DenisLeary, on ''Film/DemolitionMan'' it got to the point where the crew would wait for him to leave, then film scenes with his double.

* Paul Darrow performed most of his own stunts on ''Series/BlakesSeven''. In retrospect, he thought he must have been mad, as some of them were quite dangerous.

** Creator/RogerMoore, who once joked that he did all his own stunts and all his own lying, did his own stunt driving in ''Film/AViewToAKill'', having been a truck driver in his youth.

** He performed many of his own stunts for ''Film/{{Commando}}'', as producers found it difficult to find a stunt double for the bodybuilder. He suffered a dislocated shoulder and several stitches during the shoot.

* Creator/MargotRobbie did Harley Quinn's elevator fight scene in ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' herself, amazing the rest of the cast and crew as she did it in heels and did not require wires or other special effects to perform Harley's agility.

First, it allows for greater artistic freedom. Stunt doubles usually have be obscured in some way (by keeping the camera far away, or by keeping the cut really shot, or by keeping the lighting low, or by filming the double from the back so we can't see their face, etc.), because otherwise the audience will either get confused about who they're looking at or complain about the ObviousStuntDouble. But if the actor does their own stunts, you can do more closeups or bright lighting or whatever you might like to do. (The tradeoff, of course, is that you might need to make the stunt itself less impressive in order to match the actor's skill level in stunt work.)

* Creator/WillemDafoe did 90% of his own stunts for ''Film/SpiderMan1''. The only thing he had a double for was when the wall collapsed on him.

First, it allows for greater artistic freedom. Stunt doubles usually have be obscured in some way (by keeping the camera far away, or keeping the cut really shot, or by keeping the lighting low, or by filming the double from the back so we can't see their face, etc.), because otherwise the audience will either get confused about who they're looking at or complain about the ObviousStuntDouble. But if the actor does their own stunts, you can do more closeups or bright lighting or whatever you might like to do. (The tradeoff, of course, is that you might need to make the stunt itself less impressive in order to match the actor's skill level in stunt work.)

Second, it's a cool thing to brag about even if it doesn't make an artistic difference. It's a way of hinting that the actor isn't merely a badass in-character; they're also a badass InRealLife!

** Creator/HiroshiFujioka, the actor for [[Series/KamenRider Kamen Rider Ichigo]], did his own stunts... until an accident ended up breaking his leg. This was worked into the show with Kamen Rider 2, the first of the franchise's secondary riders, and from then on, to prevent another similar incident, most {{toku}} heroes henceforth were portrayed by suit actors. Having said that, while toku actors usually have very few unmorphed fight scenes in the show itself (to prevent the same thing that happened to Hiroshi Fujioka), in [[BigDamnMovie their movies, they often have plenty, and they mostly do their own stunts there]].

* * ''Film/SweetLiberty'': Movie star Elliot James refuses to have any stunt doubles when doing risky pratfalls. Ironically, there's a JumpCut showing where Michael Caine was replaced by ''his'' stunt double in the questioned stunt.

* ''Film/ALeagueOfTheirOwn'': The actresses playing the baseball players insisted on performing their own stunts (yes, even Music/{{Madonna}}, meaning their injuries--like Creator/RosieODonnell's knee-brace and Renee Coleman sporting a bruise on her thigh the size of a dinner plate--were real. In fact, Coleman said it took ''a whole year'' for that bruise to go away. However, the baseballs used in the film were actually tennis balls to minimize ''some'' of the risk.

* ''Film/ALeagueOfTheirOwn'': The actresses playing the baseball players insisted on performing their own stunts (yes, even Creator/{{Madonna}}, meaning their injuries--like Creator/RosieODonnell's knee-brace and Renee Coleman sporting a bruise on her thigh the size of a dinner plate--were real. In fact, Coleman said it took ''a whole year'' for that bruise to go away. However, the baseballs used in the film were actually tennis balls to minimize ''some'' of the risk.

* ''Film/ALeagueOfTheirOwn'': The actresses playing the baseball players insisted on performing their own stunts, meaning their injuries--like Creator/RosieODonnell's knee-brace and Renee Coleman sporting a bruise on her thigh the size of a dinner plate--were real. In fact, Coleman said it took ''a whole year'' for that bruise to go away. However, the baseballs used in the film were actually tennis balls to minimize ''some'' of the risk.

* ''Film/ALeagueOfTheirOwn'': The actresses playing the baseball players insisted on performing their own stunts, meaning their injuries--like Creator/RosieODonnell's knee-brace and Renee Coleman sporting a bruise on her thigh the size of a dinner plate--were real. In fact, Coleman said it took ''a whole year'' for that bruise to go away. However, the baseballs used in the film were actually tennis to minimize ''some'' of the risk.

* ''Film/ALeagueOfTheirOwn'': The actresses playing the baseball players insisted on performing their own stunts, so their injuries--like Creator/RosieODonnell's knee-brace and Renee Coleman sporting a bruise on her thigh the size of a dinner plate--were real. In fact, Coleman said it took ''a whole year'' for that bruise to go away. However, the baseballs used in the film were actually tennis to minimize ''some'' of the risk.

** Creator/PierceBrosnan and Creator/SeanBean did their fight scene in ''Film/GoldEneye'' themselves.

* Creator/GaryCooper and Creator/LloydBridges did their fight scene in ''Film/HighNoon'' themselves. Beau Bridges, then a youngster, was in the hayloft watching the filming. When water was thrown on his father after the fight, Beau could not help laughing, requiring the scene to be shot a second time. Cooper was unwell and in pain, but was gracious and understanding, according to Lloyd.

* In ''Series/TheWildWildWest'', Robert Conrad did almost all his own stunts. One stunt went horribly wrong, almost killing him and shutting down production of the series for 3 months. After Conrad recovered they picked up where they left off and used the botched stunt in the final cut of the episode in question.

* Shaquille O'Neal did his own stunts for ''Film/{{Steel}}'', largely because they couldn't find a stuntman to match his size.

* For [[TheMovie the live-action movie finale]] of ''Series/TheFamousJettJackson'' Lee Thompson Young did around 90% of his own stunts. One of the promotional commercials featured behind-the-scenes interviews of his experience doing the stunt work, including footage of him running during an explosive stunt.

* In Manga/SkipBeat, Ren Tsuraga insists on doing his own driving when filming the climactic car chase for "Dark Moon": when a toddler ignores the filming restrictions and runs into the street, Ren manages to avoid him with a driving maneuver that leaves the on-set stunt co-ordinator highly impressed. While filming "Tragic Marker" in the persona of Cain Heel, (who is both too cool and too tall for a stunt double) a stunt goes wrong from a dangerously high set piece: his co-star falls into a net set up in case of just such an accident, but Ren/Cain ends up doing a horizontal jump by kicking off the set while falling and twisting to land safely on his feet, a stunt that at least one person watching declares should have been impossible. Not to mention the classic moment when Ren and Kyoko met as children when he lands a perfect backflip ''out of a tree''! [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in-universe by establishing previously that Ren has an extensive background in martial arts, and as the cherished offspring of a Hollywood star, was given stunt training and driving lessons at a very early age from professional stunt workers.

* Creator/JeanPaulBelmondo always did his own stunts, be it climbing on the rooftops of Paris, fighting (he was a boxer in his youth) or hanging on helicopters.

* Creator/HughJackman as {{ComicBook/Wolverine}} did many of his own stunts, enough that his list of injuries includes clipping his right ear, stabbing himself above the left eye with own claws, [[GroinAttack hanging by his "wedding tackle" from a harness high in the air]], and nearly breaking his own neck. After that last one, his wife nixed any more risky stunts.

* For [[TheMovie the live action movie finale]] of ''Series/TheFamousJettJackson'' Lee Thompson Young did around 90% of his own stunts. One of the promotional commercials featured behind-the-scenes interviews of his experience doing the stunt work, including footage of him running during an explosive stunt.

* In Manga/SkipBeat, Ren Tsuraga insists on doing his own driving when filming the climactic car chase for "Dark Moon": when a toddler ignores the filming restrictions and runs into the street, Ren manages to avoid him with a driving maneuver that leaves the on-set stunt co-ordinator highly impressed. While filming "Tragic Marker" in the persona of Cain Heel, (who is both too cool and too tall for a stunt double) a stunt goes wrong from a dangerously high set piece: his co-star falls into a net set up in case of just such an accident, but Ren/Cain ends up doing a horizontal jump by kicking off the set while falling, and twisting to land safely on his feet, a stunt that at least one person watching declares should have been impossible. Not to mention the classic moment when Ren and Kyoko met as children, when he lands a perfect backflip ''out of a tree''! [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in-universe by establishing previously that Ren has an extensive background in martial arts, and as the cherished offspring of a Hollywood star, was given stunt training and driving lessons at a very early age from professional stunt workers.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'', Ernesto de la Cruz boasts that he did his own stunts in his movies. [[spoiler:Though, considering what we find out about him over the course of the movie, we probably shouldn't take him at his word.]]

* ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'': Target Dino Bosco is an old school B-movie actor who insists on doing his own stunts, even in his vastly overbudget superhero film that he's also directing. This being ''Hitman'', [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident it can prove to be his undoing]].

* Everybody in ''Series/HomeMovieThePrincessBride'' acted out their own stunts, because this ''is'' supposed to be a home movie. For the scene where Westley and Buttercup roll down the hill, a flight of stairs inside a house stands in for the hill, and the characters are substituted with garbage bags loosely stuffed with some other clothes for weight and volume, "dressed" in the characters' costumes, and then tossed down the stairs with their dialogue dubbed in post. (The "Buttercup" trash bag has a blonde wig affixed to it, and the wig falls off once it reaches the bottom.)

* Although many stunt drivers are credited for ''Film/{{Drive}}'', Creator/RyanGosling did a number of stunts himself, after completing a stunt driving car crash course.

** He then went and one-upped that for the sequel ''Film/MissionImpossibleFallout''. One of the stunts has him hanging out of a helicopter mid-flight. ''With no pilot''. Because ''he'' was piloting it. And as if that wasn't enough, he also did over a ''hundred'' [=HALO=] jumps to get three usable takes.
** In ''Film/MissionImpossibleFallout'', this finally caught up to him as he broke his foot doing a jump across two rooftops (he still finished the shot despite knowing immediately he'd broken it). Naturally, he ensured that the take where he broke his foot be the one used in the film.

* Josh Pais who played Raphael in the suit and also did the voice in Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1990 did most of his own stunts, save for the backflips and skateboarding.