Training hobbits to fight no small task for Cochrane martial arts expert
By Eric Volmers, Calgary Herald February 24, 2011
He's stood guard for George Bush Sr., fought in Desert Storm and had his neck broken by Fantastic Four villain Dr. Doom.
And now, Cochrane-based stuntman, film producer and martial arts expert Steve McMichael is teaching hobbits how to fight somewhere in the wilds of New Zealand.
At least that's what we think he's doing. As with many high-profile, megabudgeted films, there is a shroud of secrecy over Peter Jackson's troubled, twofilm adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's 1937 book, The Hobbit.
In an interview with the Herald from Wellington, New Zealand, the 40-yearold former marine can only say that he's landed a job as fight choreographer and sword master on the massive production, which is set to begin filming on March 21. The news came after enduring a few nailbiting months of uncertainty as producers chose from an international roster of fight experts. McMichael got the job through Glenn Boswell, a stunt co-ordinator and friend who he had worked for in 2003, doubling for acrobatic androids in the Will Smith film I, Robot.
"When he called me, there was a little bit of disbelief," says McMichael.
"When he said 'pack your bags' there was a little bit of relief. But it's a bit overwhelming as well. This is a big show."
How big? Well, McMichael has signed an agreement that prevents him from revealing any details about the production. But industry insiders have said the two films, which will be shot back-to-back, are on the way to becoming the most expensive blockbusters ever made. They've also been plagued by delays. Jackson, the New Zealand director who made the three Lord of the Rings films, has battled Kiwi unions and, most recently, a perforated ulcer on a winding road to production that has also included lawsuits and departing directors.
But things appear to be back on track. And while McMichael has worked on numerous big-budget projects, this is presumably the biggest. Not bad for someone who entered the business in a decidedly offthe-cuff manner.
The Colorado native was a world-ranked martial artist and marine in the 1980s. He was a part of the Presidential Color Guard that helped protect President George Bush Sr. and was stationed in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. But in the early 1990s he settled in Vancouver. One day, he saw something out his window that set him on a very different career path.
"I was living in Kitsilano and looked in the driveway and Dave Duchovny was walking by," McMichael said. "So I said, 'Wow that's Dave Duchovny, X-Files is my favourite show. That's outstanding.' And my buddies said 'yeah, they have a huge film industry down here.' It just happened to fit. My buddies said they were having Ninja Turtle tryouts, so I went and got the job.'"
He doubled for the bad guy in the Ninja Turtle TV show. A stunt performer from Red Deer was also on set, doubling for female ninja turtle Venus.
That was Leslie Sponberg, now Leslie McMichael. After the two married, they eventually moved to Cochrane, where they run film company White Wing Films. They are in pre-production stages for two films that will be shot in Alberta. Four Saints, a First World War epic, is set to start shooting in April. Bum's Luck, a family film about a dog and the rodeo, is scheduled to start production in the summer.
But the father-of-five is probably best known in the film industry for developing a pioneering style of acrobatic martial arts that is now commonly used in action films. It's a hybrid of taekwondo, capoeira and wushu, which is the style used by Jackie Chan and Jet Li. In Canada, mixing these styles was a bit of a novelty in the 1990s.
"When I came in, I was a very acrobatic guy," he says. "I could flip and fly and do a backflip with kicks in it.
Everybody, after seeing this, wanted to start training."
McMichael began chocking up an impressive resume in Canadian-shot films. He doubled for Hugh Jackman in the first X-Men film. He impressed James Cameron by cartwheeling down a flight of stairs during a fight scene while working on the Cameronproduced TV show Dark Angel.
But, like all stunt work, McMichael's career hasn't been without its peril. He now believes he injured his neck without realizing it while doing a particularly dangerous stunt involving a bridge and a car for the Superman TV series Smallville. The injuries came to a head a few years later while shooting the first Fantastic Four film.
"I was playing Dr. Doom's bellman," he says. "He was a real elderly gentleman, around 60 years old, and he gets thrown. Dr. Doom comes down the elevator and the bellman says 'Hi (Dr. von Doom) how are you doing?' and then he picks him up and throws him out through the door.
So, it was across the hallway, through the doors and onto the concrete. I was the dumb-ass who went through the doors."
He broke his ankle when he landed, but it wasn't until the next day that he realized he had also broken his neck. He eventually recovered after surgery.
Nevertheless, the experience didn't sour him on the profession. He became a stunt co-ordinator and was soon back in action.
"I get to act like a kid," he says. "I actually have a job where I get to use my craft in something I learned at a young age."
Working on the Hobbit and its sequel -easily two of the most anticipated films of the next few years -will keep McMichael largely in New Zealand until May of 2012.
But he says he is also excited by the possibilities of producing films in Alberta. Five years ago, he went to a wedding in Cochrane and fell in love with the area, telling his wife that he eventually wanted to settle there. Four Saints, the couple's First World War epic, has also had its own arduous journey, facing delays and funding woes that shelved it for nearly a year. It's scheduled to shoot in April in the muddy fields of the Tsuu T'ina Nation reserve outside of Calgary, which will sub for Flanders. While casting is still underway, McMichael says has already had promising experiences with Alberta's film crews.
"They're hard workers, they show up to work," says McMichael. "They cared about the project. There was no job too big. It's the Alberta way. Coming from Colorado, it's the same thing."
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