An Interview with Brahim Achabbakhe
The classic 80’s action adventure series The Fall Guy had a memorable theme song. The star of the series himself, Lee Majors, crooned “The Unknown Stuntman” during the opening credits of The Fall Guy. The song was not only a real toe tapper, but a tribute to one of the most thankless jobs in Hollywood.
Hollywood may not give stuntmen the credit they deserve, but we here at Bulletproof Action know just how important stunt performers are… especially to our beloved action movie genre. So when we have the opportunity to put the spotlight on a stunt performer we do not hesitate.
Recently I had the chance to interview stuntman, aspiring action movie star and a shining example of someone who is putting in the hard work to make his dreams come true, Brahim Achabbakhe…
CTB: What attracted you to stunt performing? Were you a fan of action movies growing up?
BA: I honestly think it was kind of my only way to get into the movie industry. After all those years as a teenager punching, kicking, flipping and entering various martial arts tournaments I think it was like the next step for me and the performance I saw from Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan later on made me wanna give it a try. The physical part and the martial arts on screen is definitely what attracted me into this world. I was the number one fan of Hong Kong action movies when I was growing up in France and used to visit my video store every week to see what was new. I was a huge fan of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao.
CTB: How did you get involved with the world famous Jackie Chan Stunt Team?
BA: Back in 2014, Jackie Chan produced and starred in Dragon Blade, which was a period film set during the Roman Empire, and he needed some foreign actors to play bad guys in the film. Now back in 2012 I worked on Man of Tai Chi with Tiger Chen and he is a very close friend to one of the action directors from the JC Stunt Team. I got an e-mail one morning from the action director asking me what my rate was and if I had a Chinese Visa in my passport. Luckily I still had a Chinese Visa from a previous job so the next day I was on an airplane to shoot for three weeks in the Gobi Desert. I played one of the captains of Adrian Brody’s character in the film and I had a little fight scene against Samy Hung, who is the son of Sammo Hung. Later on when I was done I thought that was great, said thanks to the stunt coordinator and went back to Thailand. They contacted me later on to work on a Russian film in Moscow called Viy 2 where I doubled Jason Flemyng. I also worked with the JC Stunt Team on the upcoming Foreigner and Bleeding Steel.
CTB: You are obviously in a very physical profession, have you ever sustained any serious injuries on the job?
BA: Doing stunt work can be very dangerous and requires your body and mind to be at 100%. I am happy that in 10 years of working I never had anything more major than a dislocated shoulder or a lower back sprain. I think one of the reasons is that over the years I really made sure to condition my body for impact or falls. I have a training routine that I do everyday and so far it has kept my body strong and in shape. So if you want to last long and not hurt yourself in this business, preparation is key and also not doing everything you are offered. If you don’t feel it, there is no shame in letting someone else perform it.
CTB: You had the chance to have a pretty prominent role in front of the camera in Boyka: Undisputed as Igor Kazmir. Are you hoping to do more acting in the future?
BA: This is my next big goal yes to make the transition from stuntman to actor. I really enjoyed working on the film and playing that role. I love playing bad guys and Isaac Florentine was very kind to trust me to carry this part. I really hope to get more roles with a lot of action in the future.
CTB: Will the day come where we see Brahim Achabbakhe headlining an action movie?
BA: I am positive it will happen one day. I always try to go for bigger opportunities in life and when I am not working, I am taking acting classes on the side and continuing my martial arts training so that if the opportunity comes to star in my own picture I am ready. I use what you call visualization which means I visualize my goals and work on them until they come true. All I achieved in life came from this technique. I am looking forward to this happening in the near future.
CTB: You’ve worked with Scott Adkins on a couple of projects. We already mentioned Boyka, but there was also Hard Target 2 and you were Scott’s stunt double in one of my favorites, Ninja: Shadow of a Tear. What is it like working with Scott?
BA: Scott is a very friendly person on and off camera. He has no ego and always puts out a very nice vibe on the set. When it is time to work though, he is very demanding and puts in the work. I rarely saw an action star this physical to be honest and I got to say he really motivated me to get better and push forward in my career. Scott also loves to train and he is a big UFC fan so he always chats about this on the set. I love working with him. He always gives me great advice. On the set of Boyka we talked about my acting. Scott will tell you if you screw up and that is what I also love about him, his honesty. I hope in the near future I can be on camera with him again. Until then I’ll keep on working on my craft.
CTB: Another action movie icon that you’ve worked with and doubled for is the legendary Jean-Claude Van Damme. Any fun stories of working with JCVD?
BA: Working with JCVD was an amazing experience. He always upgraded me as an actor when I first got a job to double him… He is the one who put in my head I should go for an acting career and he always motivated me to push forward. So I really loved working with him.
CTB: You have served as the fight choreographer on a number of projects. How difficult is it to choreograph a quality fight scene? What is your process on putting a fight together?
BA: Choreographing a quality fight scene is easy. The challenge is who is gonna film it and who will be performing it? Without good performers, a good cameraman who understands action and of course the editing, if you don’t have those elements whatever you choreograph will look terrible. As a martial artist, I choreograph in my head by visualizing the fight scene with the cuts in my brain so the editing is already starting as I choreograph. I often write down a breakdown of the fight on paper so I can later teach it to whoever will be performing the sequence. I shoot a pre-visual of the scene with a dslr camera with my team then show it to the director who will agree with it or tell me to change this part or that part. Now when shooting comes the dream for anyone who choreographed a fight scene is to be in charge of the camerawork but sadly this never happened to me. I always get the thank you we got the sequence now let’s demolish it. A lot of directors have no idea how to shoot action and ruin a lot of talented choreographer’s work. If a director is smart enough, he lets the fight choreographer be second unit director on each action sequence of the movie but many times this does not happen and I think it should be obligatory.
CTB: What is next for Brahim Achabbakhe?
BA: I just wrapped a Netflix series we shot in New Zealand called The Legend of Monkey where I choreographed all the fight scenes for Season 1. Now I am working a lot with an acting coach and I have a couple of projects in front of the camera I hope will start rolling soon.
CTB: Thank you Brahim for taking the time to answer my questions. Looking forward to watching your career progression.
