Know Your Role: Manny Perry -Stuntman Extraordinaire

With over 200 stunt and stunt coordinator credits to his name, Manny Perry has made a career out of getting his ass kicked. Not just anyone can say that they’ve gone against some of the top names in action cinema for over 30 years and is still available to coordinate on shows like Empire and Shooter. Perry may not have filled the role of a main bad guy like a Gary Oldman, or a top henchman like Bolo Yeung, but Manny’s roles as the random big black dude in the room is of vital importance when it comes to building up and creating a hero with the believable ability to take down any and all villains. The greatest thing about Manny Perry as a stuntman was that he knew exactly what his role was, and that is a very good thing in an industry full of liars and wannabes.

Perry grew up in Plymouth, Massachusetts and had loads of success in the bodybuilding world prior to his on screen career. Perry auditioned to be a stuntman for Lou Ferrigno on The Incredible Hulk and would soon find that his size and ability to do just about anything in the way of stunts would lead to his amazing success in front of the camera. Manny has, over the years, shared fight scenes with the best of the best in the world of action. If you name a hero, chances are, Manny has been killed by him.

But Manny didn’t just spend his career getting beat up by the crème de la crème of the action world, he parlayed his experience into his successful move into stunt coordination. A move that has created opportunities for the man to land roles such as this amazing performance in True Lies as “bass player”.

I’m kidding around, of course, but it shows the diversity of the stunt roles that Manny was taking as instead of being shot to death by Jamie Lee Curtis or something, he was merely jumping out of the way of a horse-mounted Arnie.

You can also see Manny in a couple of my favorite early 90’s action flicks; duking it out with Wesley Snipes in Drop Zone …

…and holding Phillip Rhee and Eric Roberts hostage in Best of the Best 2. He also contributed to killing Sonny Landham, which is probably something that many people have dreamed of doing.

I always recognize Manny from his trademark flattop and mustache combo. It’s a look that seems to pop up in almost every movie I watch these days and I thought it proper to take the time to showcase the great work that Manny Perry and other stuntmen like him have done. Without guys like him, movies like Armageddon and The Rock just wouldn’t be what they are.