Former stunt double to Arnold Schwarzenegger, creator of the award-winning TV series Stuntdawgs, Stuntman Hall of Fame inductee... no, this isn't the resum茅 of Superman or his bespectacled alter ego Clark Kent, but of Squamish's own Peter Kent, Hollywood stuntman extraordinaire and owner of the only stunt school in Western Canada.
"I was also named on CNN's list of top 10 stunts in history for my motorcycle jump in [Terminator] 2," Kent said. "A lot of people don't understand it was done on a wire. There's no way you could drop an 800-pound Harley 30 feet onto the concrete without having the bike disintegrate, and yourself for that matter."
Founded in 2010, Peter Kent's School of Hard Knocks offers thrill-seekers from all walks of life a shortcut into the competitive industry of stunt performing. Students are taught high falls, on-camera fighting, fire scenes, car hits, wire work and more by top industry professionals, and walk away with a professional high-definition demo reel to help launch their careers. Classes take place at a number of locations across the Lower Mainland, including a downtown Vancouver sound stage for glass, wire and weapons work.
"Basically, it's just like a film shoot," Kent said. "For the full burns, we do those outside - we can't have an interior with that because the flames are usually 20 feet off of people."
A pre-screening process helps instructors determine new students' understanding of balance, air sense and body mechanics
"We have turned a few people away because obviously you don't want somebody coming in and getting hurt," Kent said. "We're very proud of the fact that all we've had so far is two dislocated fingers [out of] about 40 students."
The schedule is designed to meet everyone's needs and class size is usually between seven and 10. Although the program is designed for aspiring stunt performers, Kent encourages anyone interested to come out.
"Quite a few young guys come in with the intent of being stunt people, but we also get quite a few that come in just to put themselves through it and see what it's all about," he said, adding that one past student was a 36-year-old stripper who wanted to try something crazy because she felt she was getting old.
"Actually, I was very surprised," Kent said with a chuckle. "She did really well, she was gutsy, the only thing she was a little bit antsy about was the high falls - we went from about 80 feet."
A North Vancouver native, Kent got his big break in the movie business after moving to Los Angeles with dreams of becoming a Hollywood actor, where he was cast - because of his Canadian accent - in what was to become a major box office hit.
"I was living in the YMCA and taking handfuls of change every day and making phone calls from a little casting newspaper they had in the 7-Eleven," Kent recounted. "I called one of the casting agencies and the girl on the other end of the line was from Calgary, and she said, 'You sound Canadian,' and I said 'So do you!'"
The agency was casting the extras for a little movie called Terminator and sent his photograph to a director named James Cameron, who requested that Kent come by his office.
"So I walked in and Jim took a look at me and said, 'You sound Canadian' and I said 'So do you!' And then he goes, 'Have you ever done stunts before?' and I thought if I don't say yes to this I might not have the job, so I just lied and said yes."
Learning on the fly, his lack of experience went unnoticed until the film's stunt co-ordinator approached him to say, "You have no idea what you're doing, do you." But instead of firing Kent, the stunt co-ordinator, seeing his potential, took him under his wing and began to train him. Kent went on to make 14 films with Schwarzenegger.
"I was very lucky," he said. "I was in the right place at the right time."
Kent moved to Squamish in 2006. His wife is a nurse at the hospital and he's the proud father of twin boys. With a resum茅 that includes stunts as well as acting, producing, directing and writing, not only does Kent want to share his skills through his School of Hard Knocks, he is constantly juggling projects. Current ones include writing an action series and flying to New York to help direct a movie he co-wrote on bullying.
"Can you hang on a sec? My agent's on the other line," said Kent while on the phone with The Chief. When he returned, it was with the news that he had just been offered an acting role on the TV series Alcatraz.
"I love it all," said Kent.
For more information and videos, visit www.peterhkent.com or Peter Kent's School of Hard Knocks on Facebook.
