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Watch: Stunts

What Was Happening 100 Years Ago? | 1926 on FilmBritish Pathé · original on YouTube

Watch

What Was Happening 100 Years Ago? | 1926 on Film

California - Stunt Gone Wrong (0:00 - 00:21) (Film ID 658.20) Peking - Men at Work (00:21 - 00:41) (Film ID 888.06) Italy - Public Fountains Run with Wine (00:41 -…

British Pathé · original on YouTube

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Career ladder

From first job to head of department

Entry needs qualifications across set sporting disciplines and a minimum age of 18. Grades as the BSR published them in 2019; check the register for current rules.

British Stunt Register grades

  1. Entry grade Probationary member Stunt work under a BSR-registered coordinator only.Watch and read
  2. Step 2 Stunt performer Stunt work, still under a coordinator.
  3. Step 3 Senior stunt performer Can risk-assess and work without a coordinator on some jobs.
  4. Step 4 Key stunt performer Assisting an experienced coordinator on bigger action.
  5. Top of the ladder Full memberAlso: stunt coordinator Can conceive, coordinate and supervise action as stunt coordinator.Watch and read
Grade by grade: what you need before moving up
British Stunt Register grades
GradeWhat you doBefore moving up
Probationary memberStunt work under a BSR-registered coordinator only.Required time and experience as a probationary.
Stunt performerStunt work, still under a coordinator.More credits and experience.
Senior stunt performerCan risk-assess and work without a coordinator on some jobs.Experience leading your own stunts.
Key stunt performerAssisting an experienced coordinator on bigger action.Running action alongside a coordinator.
Full memberAlso: stunt coordinatorCan conceive, coordinate and supervise action as stunt coordinator.The coordinator's role on productions.

British Stunt Register · Every department's ladder: Careers A–Z · Getting work · Working freelance

Learn it, step by step

4 paths
See all: Learn it, step by step

Safety first

The coordinator's plan and staying out of the action

Stunts are planned, rehearsed and run by the stunt coordinator with registered performers. Nobody else attempts, changes or improvises a stunt. Everyone else learns where to stand and when to stay still.

Start the safety module Take the safety check

Watch first

Module 1 of Stunts, SFX and armoury: awareness for everyone on set. Mark them done there to track your progress.

The hazards

6

What hurts people in this department on UK sets, and what keeps them safe.

  1. Only registered performersOn UK productions, stunts are done by performers on the British Stunt Register under a registered coordinator. Actors only do what the coordinator has planned and rehearsed with them.
  2. The plan and the rehearsalEvery stunt has a plan, a risk assessment and a rehearsal. Nothing changes after rehearsal without the coordinator agreeing it and the unit being re-briefed.
  3. Where you standThe briefing tells you where to stand. Stay there. Moving to get a better look is how crew end up in the path of a vehicle, fall or fight.
  4. VehiclesStunt driving happens on controlled roads or sites, with marshals. Crew stay behind barriers or where the coordinator puts them.
  5. Height, water and fightsFalls, water work and fights each have specialists and kit that are not to be touched or moved. Pads, rigs and wires are set by the stunt team only.
  6. Medical coverA medic is on set for stunt days. Know where they are. If someone is hurt, the coordinator and medic go in first.

Who is responsible

  • The stunt coordinator plans and runs every stunt, and has final say on its safety.
  • Registered stunt performers do the stunts.
  • The 1st AD briefs, rehearses and calls them.
  • The unit medic is on set for stunt work.

As a trainee, never

  • Never attempt, demonstrate or 'try out' a stunt or a fall.
  • Never move pads, rigs, wires or markers set by the stunt team.
  • Never cross or stand in the action area until the coordinator gives the all-clear.

Anyone can say stop. If something feels wrong, say so to your head of department or the 1st AD.

Where this comes from

Checked 13 November 2026. This is awareness, not a safety qualification: follow your production's risk assessment and your head of department.

Check yourself

4 situations. Get them all right.

Pass the awareness check. One wrong safety answer means try again. It's practice, and your answers stay on this device.

Question 1: Between takes, a background artist asks you to show them how the fall in the scene is done.

Question 2: You need to get from one side of the car-stunt area to the other. The coordinator hasn't called clear.

Question 3: The director asks the lead actor to 'just do the jump themselves this time'.

Question 4: A crash pad is in your shot's way. The stunt team are on a break.

Stunts, in detail

What it does on a UK unit

Anything that could injure someone goes to the stunt coordinator: falls, fights, fire, vehicle hits, high work, water, horses, anything beyond acting. The coordinator designs the action with the director, plans it with the 1st AD and other departments, casts and rehearses the performers, and supervises on the day.

Stunt performers double actors, play their own roles in action, and do the stunts. Big shows have a stunt team in prep for weeks, with rehearsal space, riggers and fight choreographers.

Registration and competence

  • The law asks for competence. The HSE says producers must make sure only people with the necessary competence, knowledge, experience and training take part in a stunt, and that stunts are normally performed by a stunt performer competent for that stunt (HSE ETIS17, 2017).
  • The register is how the industry shows competence. From 1973 the UK stunt register was overseen by industry committees, including the Joint Industry Stunt Committee (JISC). It was known as the Equity register or the JISC register, and its grading scheme was the Joint Industry Grading Scheme (JIGS). It was disbanded in 2017. HSE's 2017 guidance still points to JIGS, so read it with that in mind.
  • Since November 2017, the British Stunt Register (BSR) has been the UK's peer-reviewed register of stunt performers and coordinators. It is a members' association with an office at Pinewood Studios. No law requires membership, but it is the main way UK productions check a stunt professional's grade.

Check the British Stunt Register directly for current entry rules and grades. They have been revised since 2017.

Who it works with

  • Director and 1st AD: what the action is, and how and when it is shot safely.
  • SFX: fire, explosions, rigs and vehicle effects.
  • Costume and hair and make-up: doubles' costumes, padding, wigs and matching.
  • Camera and grip: camera positions, crash boxes and cars.
  • Unit medic and safety adviser: medical cover and risk assessment.

Kit and vocabulary

Term What it means
Double A stunt performer standing in for an actor in action
Fall A planned fall, from a stumble to a high fall onto an airbag
Ratchet A rig that pulls a performer suddenly, for a hit or a blast
Descender A controlled-speed wire device for falls
Crash mat / airbag Landing protection for falls
Fight choreography The designed, rehearsed sequence of a fight
Stunt rigger Specialist who rigs wires, harnesses and descenders

How to get in

There is no quick route. The BSR asks for high-level, independently verified achievement in several sporting disciplines across set categories, including a martial art, plus acting experience and a minimum age of 18. Training usually takes years. Read the BSR's current requirements before you spend money on courses.

Pay

There is no Bectu stunt card. Stunt performers and coordinators are represented by Equity, which negotiates with producers.

Where Futures in Film helps

We don't train stunt performers. These pages are a start:

Who to know: Stunts

Other departments

17 departments
See all: Other departments

Where we come in

Hold a stunts grade on a crewed unit.

ApplyTrain in Stunts

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Last reviewed 9 November 2026