This Is Everything They Don't Tell You About Being A Movie Star

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09-04-2025

Warning: This article contains depictions of prop firearms and stunt violence performed on a controlled film set. These actions were performed under the supervision and guidance of professionals. Do not try this at home.
We've seen Viola Davis in many powerful roles from Annalise Keating in How To Get Away With Murder to The Woman King 's Nansica. Now, she's taking on the challenge as ~leader of the free world~ — President Danielle Sutton — in her latest film, G20.
Ilze Kitshoff/Prime
G20 follows President Sutton as she navigates a life-or-death situation involving terrorists that have hijacked a world leader's summit to create a global scandal. It's up to Danielle to take them on and save her family, the leaders and (no pressure) the world.
In the world of remakes and reboots, G20 adds to the classic action movie genre and cements Davis' status as an undeniable badass. You'll see her engaging in hand-to-hand combat and gun fights — and that's just in the trailer:
Shooting the movie at 58-years-old, Davis stressed that she wanted to look like she could actually take the bad guys DOWN. Producer Julius Tennon shared more about the "intense training" that Viola went through to prepare for the role — including boxing and multiple martial arts.
To see if I could possess one minuscule fraction of Viola Davis' unlimited aura, I volunteered myself for a stunt training day in celebration of the film's launch.
Spoiler alert, I could never be her, BUT I did learn a lot about what it takes to be an actor — more specifically, AN ACTION STAR! Here's what I picked up from my day on set:
1. First things first, doing fight scenes is like doing a choreographed dance!
Prime Video/Angeline Barion
If you're good at following instructions and memorising movement patterns, you might make it as a stunt person.
2. The camera and your scene partner's reaction creates a lot of the magic — especially as a newbie. Like this:
Prime Video/Angeline Barion
In the training sequence, it was important that amateurs didn't make any contact with the stunt people. Basically, we don't know how hard we're hitting or how to control the impact of our body-to-body strikes.
3. But they can only do so much if you're not a great actor and forget the choreography.
4. Leading to my next point: the adrenaline of being in a fake 'fight-or-flight' scenario can sometimes lead you to forget your sequences — no matter how many times you run through it before the director yells "ACTION!". Here you can see me stalling because I forget the steps:
Prime Video/Angeline Barion
Each time prior to stepping into the scene — rehearsal and filming — I can safely say I practiced the sequence 10 times and yet, I would still mess it up with each take because I was overthinking the entire choreography.
5. "Slower is better", according to the stunt coordinator on set.
Going slow allows the camera to capture big movements and reactions that can be sped up in post. You'll also have more thinking time to get the choreography right! (I did not adopt this approach AHAHA).
6. No matter how you mess up, improvise and keep going until you hear "CUT!" — you might come up with something great.
7. Your face acting is just as important as your body language. Lock in and remember what the scene's about, so you can put that expression on your face.
Prime Video/Angeline Barion
By thinking about it in a real life context, you can appropriately emote to what suits the scene. If I was smiling through the filmed sequences, like I was in training, the whole mood of the scene would've been totally unserious. Not very G20!
8. Creating the sense of urgency that a rescue operation would have in real life is not as easy on set, because the atmosphere is calculated and clinical.
There's very little ambient noise to create the atmosphere of a scene. So, you're moving through the sequence in silence — barring other actors and yourself saying your lines.
9. There's a lot of red tape around the use of firearms or props that resemble firearms/weapons in film.
These vary from state to state in Australia and in some states you cannot use live rounds on film sets. During the stunt training day, we used wooden prop handguns.
10. You may have a height requirement in your dating life, but when it comes to acting, shorter feels like it's better!
Tap to play GIF
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Prime Video/Angeline Barion, Prime Video/Jackson Langford
When it comes to scene set ups that have areas of low clearance — where you have to duck, crouch or crawl — shorter people are less likely to hit their head. The height difference between my co-amateur Jackson and I is 11 inches, so he towers over me IRL. But guess who didn't hit their head entering the set? Me and my little legs!
11. Knowing exactly where the props and safety mats are on set is just as important as memorising your choreo.
Walking through and blocking the scene before you actually start moving at a high pace is very important. You need to know where to run to and the potential hazards to avoid any injury or accidents on set. You might not notice ground level obstruction.
12. But still, you can be as careful as you want and you'll still fall on your ass.
Prime Video/Angeline Barion
Just don't forget to get back up and shake it off (after you've been checked by the necessary people).
13. Your body is going hurt afterwards.
Doing the same thing on repeat and in explosive bursts pushes your body to limits you might not be used to. Fitness is very necessary.
14. Observe the proper way to hold and move with things in your hand.
Prime Video/Angeline Barion
There's a proper way to hold and move with items in your hand to make it more believable on film. Loose grips and flimsy wrist movements vs proper hand placement and controlled movements when using prop firearms take the production value from amateur to Hollywood.
15. There's an art to falling down stairs!
During the training I asked the stunt team, "How do action stars fall down the stairs?". They said "Over and over again, with a lot of bruises and maybe broken bones."
16. Working on set might take away the illusion of watching your favourite action films.
Will I ever watch my favourite movies the same way ever again? Maybe not — I'll be too busy thinking about how they choreographed the fight scenes.
17. And finally, the excitement and intensity of a day working on set will make you want to do it over and over again (and perhaps even consider a career change).