Bobby Holland Hanton is a strong dude with a great body – it just isn’t his body. Well, not exactly. With over a dozen summer blockbusters to his name over the last three years, Hanton is arguably Hollywood’s top stunt double. That means the Australian ex-gymnast has to be agile and tough, but also capable of morphing himself into the shape of the leading man he’s doubling.
“It’s up to you to get into the shape as close as possible of the actor you’re doubling or you will lose the job,” he explains. “That’s how simple it is. If you’re not matching up or the director doesn’t believe that you’re a good double for him, they will just replace you.”
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The easiest element of Hanton’s job turns out to be the part where he falls off buildings and jumps through plate glass windows. The real work happens in the gym, where he focuses his efforts on different muscles depending on whether he’s playing a Norse god, a British superspy, or an alien soldier with wolf DNA. Hanton walked Men’s Journal through the various workouts he uses to take the form of the world’s most famous leading men.
