Latest news with #JoeDryden
New York Post
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘Thunderbolts*' stuntman reveals embarrassing first interaction with Florence Pugh
Hey there, Miss Flo. 'Thunderbolts*' stunt performer Joe Dryden exclusively told The Post that he had an embarrassing first interaction with the star of Marvel's new blockbuster movie. Dryden recalled being decked out in a brunette wig, an oversized helmet and glasses to film Bucky Barnes' (Sebastian Stan) infamous motorcycle scene when he met Pugh, 29. 7 Joe Dryden in his interview with The Post. The New York Post 'I just remember being in this thing and obviously my friends are laughing and we're having good jokes and we are having a giggle about it,' he said. 'I knew what I looked like and I felt ridiculous. And then I was sitting on the bike and we were lining up for a shot and I was getting ready to go and I see this SUV pull in. It's all blacked out and right away I'm like, 'Oh, it's the cast, I'm sure.'' 'The door opens and Florence walks out,' Dryden continued. 'And I just remember sitting there thinking like, 'Ugh, I can't believe I'm wearing this helmet right now.'' 7 Florence Pugh in 'Thunderbolts*' AP Dryden called Pugh 'brilliant' and said that he 'was such a fan' of her past work, including 'Oppenheimer,' before they met. But he didn't lose focus on the job just because of his fandom. 'I see her right away. I'm like, '[Look] straight ahead, just do your job. It's fine. No big deal,'' Dryden explained. 'And I can see her out of my peripherals walking over. And I was like, 'Oh, come on.' And she's so sweet.' 'She comes over and introduces herself. She's like, 'I'm Florence,' and I'm like, 'I'm Joe, nice to meet you.' And she's like, 'I've seen some of the dailies and you're doing some amazing stuff. It's incredible, it looks so good,'' he recalled. 'And I was just like, 'I can't believe I'm wearing this helmet and goggles right now.'' Dryden noted the irony that Pugh, Stan, 42, and the rest of the 'Thunderbolts*' cast joked about his wig and helmet look when they appeared on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' last month. Kimmel, 57, pulled up the embarrassing picture of Dryden and said that he 'went to the worst wig person.' Both Pugh and Stan, 42, praised called Dryden's work and called him 'one of the best motorcyclists' in the country. 7 Joe Dryden in an Instagram photo. joevertical/Instagram 7 Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan in 'Thunderbolts*' ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection Dryden, who posted a clip of the interview moment on Instagram, told The Post how he learned about the late-night interaction. 'Somebody sent it to me. I didn't see it originally. Somebody sent to me and then I reposted it on my page,' he shared. 'And that thing just, like, caught fire. I think it's got almost 500,000 views on my page, which I only have, like, 7,000 followers. It was pretty funny.' 7 Joe Dryden doing stunt work for Sebastian Stan on the set of 'Thunderbolts*' joevertical/Instagram 7 Joe Dryden during the filming of 'Thunderbolts*.' joevertical/Instagram Dryden continued, 'I knew what I looked like and I knew it was ridiculous. But I also know the ins and outs of it all. It's easier for VFX to shrink down my head a little bit and the hair movement is natural and it's just easier. And also I will always wear a helmet if I'm given the option, no matter how ridiculous I look. I'm totally fine with that.' 7 Florence Pugh in 'Thunderbolts*.' ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection The stunt coordinator noted he's not offended by Wyatt Russell jokingly saying on Kimmel's show that his wig looked like an animal. 'It really is hilarious because it's exactly how I felt,' he said. 'I'm a good sport about it and I just think it is really funny. And sometimes it's cool that the audience and fans get a little bit of a peek behind the scenes.' 'Thunderbolts*' is in theaters now.
New York Post
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
'Thunderbolts' stunt performer on filming Bucky's motorcycle scene
Wild ride. Marvel's 'Thunderbolts*' features an epic scene where Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) shows up on a motorcycle to save his allies, including Yelena (Florence Pugh), from Valentina's (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) agents. Joe Dryden, the stunt performer and coordinator who rode the Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 ST in place of Stan, 42, exclusively spoke to The Post about how the team pulled off the thrilling moment. Advertisement 8 Joe Dryden in his interview with The Post. The New York Post 'The majority of my free ride work, we shot on a splinter unit,' Dryden said. 'We were at the exact same location. They were just further down the road with [director] Jake [Schreier] and the cast were a little further away. And then we would meet up and shoot some stuff together, but then we'd kind of break off and do some stuff in a smaller unit.' 8 Sebastian Stan in 'Thunderbolts*.' ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection Advertisement 'And in that smaller unit was just a lot of people that have worked a lot together,' Dryden continued. 'George Cottle, second unit director, who's brilliant, he was around for it. [Stunt coordinator] Heidi [Moneymaker] was involved. And then our stunt drivers were around me. And even our camera vehicle operator and company owner is my best friend. So we've done so much together. That little unit works super well together. It's calm, collected. Everybody knows what they're doing.' 8 Joe Dryden in an Instagram photo from 2023. joevertical/Instagram Dryden explained that they spent three weeks shooting Bucky's motorcycle scene in Utah. 'I went to Georgia first in February [2024]. I also went to Utah to scout,' he recalled. 'First to look at the road, which is something that I never get to do. And again, that's a huge credit to Heidi to make sure that I was prepared for what we were doing is involving me in the scouts. And even Jake in the very beginning was so cool about just saying, 'Hey, look, if the boards aren't gonna work or we think there's a better way to do this or there's something cooler, let me know what it is.'' Advertisement 8 Joe Dryden doing stunt work on 'Thunderbolts*.' joevertical/Instagram 8 Sebastian Stan, director Jack Schreier on the set of 'Thunderbolts*.' ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection 'And we did collaboratively as a team come up with something a little different than the original concept,' Dryden added. 'I think it works well. The nose wheelie wasn't in the original boards.' Despite working on other Marvel movies before, 'Thunderbolts*' marked his first collaboration with Stan. Advertisement 'Motorcycles for me are my specialty and it has carved me out quite the niche in this business. I've doubled Tom Hardy in 'Venom.' Keanu [Reeves] in the 'John Wick' series,' he shared. 'So I've been able to kind of really carve out a good name for myself and a good reputation. And I've doubled some pretty unique characters.' 8 Joe Dryden talking about 'Thunderbolts*' with The Post. The New York Post 8 Sebastian Stan filming 'Thunderbolts*.' ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection Working on 'John Wick' is the reason he landed a job on 'Thunderbolts*.' 'Heidi Moneymaker is close with Chad Stahelski. And when she got this and she read this sequence, she was asking Chad for a little bit of advice. And he just recommended that she give me a call and work me into the fold a little,' he explained to The Post. 'So, roundabout way was my work on 'John Wick' kind of got me into the 'Thunderbolts*' spot.' 8 Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Lewis Pullman as Robert Reynolds, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Wyatt, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes in 'Thunderbolts*.' ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection Dryden 'was moved' watching the superhero flick for the first time. Advertisement 'It's an incredible film and it for sure touched me,' he said. 'Just the performances were amazing and the way Jake helped craft this story and the parallels with mental health and how they address it. I was completely blown away. It was not what I expected at all.' 'Thunderbolts*' is in theaters now.
New York Post
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘Thunderbolts*' and ‘Sinners' stunt performer reveals which film was more ‘pressure'
Stuntman, assemble. Stunt performer Joe Dryden can brag that he worked on two of the biggest movies now in theaters. Dryden did stunt work on both 'Thunderbolts*' and 'Sinners' — and is revealing which film was more strenuous for him. 'In my particular role, 'Thunderbolts*,' there was just a little more pressure there from a performance standpoint,' said Dryden, who filmed Bucky's infamous motorcycle scene for Sebastian Stan in the Marvel flick. 8 Joe Dryden in his exclusive interview with The Post. The New York Post 'I had a different challenge on 'Sinners,'' he explained. 'I am a character, a bad guy. I get shot and blown up in a truck. I play around in a utility kind of role and the prep in the beginning was a little bit nerve wracking just because I think sometimes I get intimidated a little by people like [director] Ryan Coogler, who's incredible.' 'And when I'm shooting a previs that I have to show somebody like that, that's a little bit nerve wracking, you know? But he's so nice that he kind of made the process almost easy,' Dryden said of Coogler, 38. 8 Michael B. Jordan in 'Sinners.' ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection 8 Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan in 'Thunderbolts*.' ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection The stuntman continued, ''Thunderbolts*' was more of an, 'Okay, now I'm in the middle of the desert and everybody's looking at me and we've sold this gag that has to work.'' 'I will also say Marvel is like a whole different universe,' added Dryden. 'There are so many moving parts. So many. There is so many people that have involvement and every one of them has such an important role in making this whole thing come together, you know? And it's an impressive thing to see the final product work because there really are so many hands involved in making it happen.' 8 Sebastian Stan filming 'Thunderbolts*.' ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection As for 'Sinners,' Dryden wasn't surprised about the massive success of Michael B. Jordan's horror film. 'Sometimes you're on set and you can just feel that there's a little bit of a different energy, there's little bit a sauce happening,' he shared. 'I was in very early on the prep for 'Sinners' just because it shot here in New Orleans and stunt coordinator Andy Gill on that had me involved pretty early and I actually shot all of the previs for the fights and the action. And then we rehearsed any rigging that we had and all of our action beats, just to make sure that we were all feeling good.' 8 Michael B. Jordan in 'Sinners.' ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection 8 Joe Dryden on the set of 'Sinners.' joevertical/Instagram 8 Joe Dryden working on 'Sinners.' joevertical/Instagram 'But I had read the script and I remember reading it thinking, 'Wow, this is really cool,'' he recalled. 'And then when I was told it was being shot 70 mm for IMAX, I was kind of like, 'Oh, okay.' I initially right away went with Ryan Coogler thinking 'Black Panther,' and then just going right into thinking this is going to have a lot of VFX in it and a lot a digital. I was kind of surprised by that choice just because it's a different media and it's a little more challenging to work with, right?' 8 Joe Dryden in his interview with The Post. The New York Post Dryden went on, 'So I think that was my first sort of like, 'Oh, this has a little bit of a different feel.' And then once we started getting into it, you can just tell. And then Michael B. Jordan as well showing up his first days of rehearsal with us and he's such a pro. Everybody was so cool through the whole deal that it just felt special. So I had a feeling.' 'It's, in my opinion, going to go down as a very important piece of cinema history,' Dryden stated. 'I believe it will.' 'Thunderbolts*' and 'Sinners' are in theaters now.
