“The Miner” gets BITTER!

We’re very pleased to announce another addition to the cast AND crew of “Bitter”, Chris Carnel.  As a stunt actor/double Chris is best known for not being known – but we’re willing to bet you’ve seen his work.  And if you’re a Canadian cinephile, you’ve almost surely seen him stalking around with a pick-axe as The Miner in the remake of a Canuck cult classic, “My Bloody Valentine” (3D).

Chris has doubled for such actors as Christian Bale, James Franco and Billy Bob Thornton.  Working on such under-the-radar pics as Spiderman (I&III), Friday the 13th (2009), Rescue Dawn, Hatchet (I&II), xXx, The Devil’s Rejects and Iron Man, as a double, stunt rigger, fight choreographer, and stunt co-ordinator, Chris comes with an amazing toolbox of skills.  We are humbled by his decision to come on-board our little production and we know the film is going to be better for it.

Chris took the time to answer some questions for us, so we’ll let him take over.  Enjoy the read!

SKG: How did you get into doing stunts for movies?

CC: I got into stunts by having a misspent youth!

SKG: What’s your favourite “get pumped” music on set?

CC: My favorite music is by artists like Elvis Costello, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and any kind of Rockabilly, Ska or Punk Rock.

SKG: What are the five best movies you’ve worked on?

CC: That’s a tough one.  “Mr. Woodcock” was not a great film, but working with Billy Bob Thornton was awesome!  My biggest influence on a film was “The Crazies” and the most screen time was on “My Bloody Valentine 3D” (The Miner).  “Rescue Dawn” was shot in Thailand and Steven Zahn and Christian Bale were great.  The producer, Harry Knapp, was the unsung hero on that project!

SKG: What’s your craziest stunt story?

CC: Craziest stunt story is a long story, but not from on the set.  It was at a bar where the whole crew was.  In Georgia, it’s like being in Rome…ya gotta do what the Romans do.  We went to the mud bog races at 7PM.  It was awesome.  By 10 PM we were done with the mud bog races so we went to Bahama Bobs, a double wide trailer that had a bar and a Karaoke machine in it.

My fellow stunt buddy Andy Martin, a great singer and guitar player, got up and sang the Lynyrd Skynyrd song “Gimme 3 Steps” and just tore the house down!   Next up was this huge ex-con looking guy and his average-sized pal.  They sang a Pure Prairie League song called ‘Amy”.  It was rather uninspired and flat.  There was some light applause and they got off the stage.  I walked up to Andy Martin and said – maybe a little too loudly – that he was a hard act to follow.

Moments later I am leaning on the corner of the bar, drinking water (I was the designated driver that night) and talking to some crew members, when I look over the person’s shoulder and see the ex-con guy shooting daggers at me with his eyes.  I look over both shoulders to see if he is looking at me and sure enough his evil was directed right at me.  He began walking my way.  Uh Oh!  He walks right up into my space and starts yelling at me, telling what an asshole I am for saying that Andy Martin is a hard act to follow!

I apologized up and down for saying that and that I did not say it to disparage him, but to pump up my buddy!  He would not take “I am sorry” for an answer.   Andy Martin broke in in the beginning to try to stop this guy but he would have none of it.  Andy came in for one more “hey, he said he was sorry” and the guys turns to Andy with a throat strike!

This guy was about 6’4″ and I had to do this right, so I jumped on his back, sunk a deep rear naked choke into his neck and wrapped my legs around his waist (got the hooks in) and cut the blood flow off to his brain.  It takes about 4 seconds to do, but I gave him about 10 seconds before I laid his limp body back onto the floor.  I look up and say “boys it is time to leave!”   We head out to the car and start it up and guess what song is on the radio:  “Gimme 3 Steps!”  We jammed out of there laughing our asses off!

SKG: Any nasty mishaps during your career?

CC: During the filming of Rescue Dawn, I was hospitalized two times.  Thai hospitals are strange places.  They kept saying “Batman Stuntman” when referring to me. The first time was a heap of broken ribs on my left side.  The second: burns all over my face and right arm.  These are both long drawn out stories, but basically language barriers and Thai laws that got me into those jams!

SKG: How did you find out about the film (Bitter)?

CC: They way I found out about Bitter was on Facebook!  Jason Armstrong hits me up with a random message asking what my rates are without much more information.  So I reply with the amount and it was high for the budget of his project, but the process/friendship began!  (ed. note: Andrew Roth, the lead in 48 Hours in Purgatory is friends with Chris and encouraged the initial contact.   F’realz!)

SKG: It’s obviously a bit lower on the radar than your usual projects.  What drew you to get involved?

CC: Jason’s coolness and overall enthusiasm drew me to the project.  Seems to be a great person to be directed by, a big plus in a business filled with people that don’t know what they want, but get mad a you for not showing them what they want!  Ha ha!

SKG: What’s your involvement going to be with the film?

CC: In Bitter, I will have a supporting acting role and will be the fight and stunt coordinator.

Check Chris out on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0138691