Stuntman Crashes and Burns—Repeatedly

SPRINTING THROUGH THE STREETS of New York with cops in pursuit, then getting hit by a yellow cab and shot in the leg was one of the best days of Warren Hull’s life: The brutal 2014 chase scene for the TV series "Person of Interest" jump-started his career as a stuntman. 

“It cemented exactly that this was what I wanted to do,” said Hull, a 2011 graduate of the University of Maryland. 

Since then, he’s done everything from mauling humans as a zombie in “Fallout” to rappelling from the ceiling to arrest Rachel Brosnahan on “Saturday Night Live” and diving across a football field as a Pop-Tart for a series of NFL commercials—and on the side, building the largest stunt casting website in the world. 

“Getting to perform as a real job is amazing,” he said. “I love creating something and watching people be happy.” 

He credits Gymkana, UMD’s gymnastics and acrobatics student group, in part for putting him on the path. Formerly a member of a youth gymnastics exhibition troupe, he was able to keep jumping off mini-trampolines and balancing with a partner on a beam as he studied electrical engineering. When Gymkana got a chance to perform a halftime show for the Washington Wizards, he caught the eye of the mascot and was invited to join a stunt dunking team. 

That led to a dual career after graduation: Hull worked full-time on nuclear power plants for an engineering firm during the day, and performed during nights and weekends with Air Elite about 100 times a year at NBA and college games across the country and even as far as Brazil and China. 

Then, in 2014, his team signed on as extras in the Amy Schumer movie “Trainwreck,” and the producers quickly upgraded the group to stunt contracts. “The difference is huge,” said Hull. Besides the increased pay, “they feed you better and you’re in the residual pool, meaning you still make money after the movie comes out.” Best of all, the two weeks on set qualified him to join the Screen Actors Guild, making him eligible to work on a wide variety of productions. 

Still, finding jobs wasn’t easy—especially because all the casting websites Hull scoured were grossly out of date and hard to navigate. He realized he could put his tool-designing skills, honed through engineering, to work. That resulted in StuntListing.com, co-created with fellow Gymkana member Derric Stotts ’09 and stunt coordinator Jamie Northrup. The easy-to-search database features photos, wardrobe details, skills, reels and more that can be quickly aggregated and sent to the rest of a production team. 

Since it was launched in 2017—shortly after he quit his day job to focus on stunt work—it’s given Hull a leg up in the industry. Working primarily out of New York, he occasionally has weeks-long projects like Marvel TV series “Luke Cage” or “Daredevil.” More often, he’s being contacted on a Monday to ask if he’s free that Thursday—or even the same day. “They’ll say, ‘Start driving to Brooklyn and your contract will be on your phone by the time you get there.’” 

When not on set, he’s training extensively—car drifting, hand-to-hand combat or wire work—so he can become more well-rounded and skilled enough to avoid serious injury. But make no mistake, he said: “All of it hurts … cuts, bruises, bumps, headaches, tweaks, soreness—that’s all part of the job.”

Flip through some of his projects: 

“Queens of the Dead,” a campy zombie movie. Hull was covered head to toe in green glitter as he threatened to eat people before finally getting a drill to the head by Margaret Cho. “It was so funny, but that glitter didn’t come out for weeks.”

Playing a Speedo-clad corpse floating off the coast of Fire Island in 50-degree water for the indie film “Instagays.” “It’s probably one of the most dangerous stunts I’ve done, for hypothermia reasons,” he says. When they hauled him out after four minutes, he couldn’t stand or dress on his own, and was so cold his body didn’t even start shivering for another 15.

Ice-T on the latest season of “Law & Order: SVU.” Hull not only doubled for the actor in a scene where the character gets beat up, but helped develop the fight and even taught the “SVU” veteran a few moves. “You’re trying to save the bodies of the actors,” he says.

Crime drama “Godfather of Harlem.” Hull set his fellow stuntman ablaze while his buddy was tied to a chair—one of about 200 he’s started over the years. Hull’s also been on fire a few times himself; it takes flame-resistant clothing, protective gel and training to hold your breath while squirming convincingly and keeping the heat out of sensitive areas like armpits.

“Kinda Pregnant,” another Amy Schumer vehicle. Her character drives a Zamboni down a crowded street, hitting parked cars and meters. “All you had to do was, as it’s coming, stand up and run,” he said. Easy enough—but if an extra failed to move, the machine, with its 20-foot blind spot, could easily crush a person. “They wouldn’t even know they hit you. That’s why you hire a stunt person.”