Wolverine high for stuntman Low
Not many people would be game enough to point a gun at Hollywood heavyweight Hugh Jackman in his burly Wolverine form but Willetton stuntman Kenny Low has done just that.
The 35-year-old was lucky enough to land a coveted stunt gig alongside Jackman in the second spin-off of the Marvel Comics X-Men franchise, The Wolverine, which was shot mainly in Sydney last year.
Low spent close to 14 hours straight working with the 44-year-old actor on an intense fight scene for the action flick, an experience he describes as "mind-blowing".
"I can't explain it - I was kind of speechless," he said. "It was my first time being on such a massive film set for a massive blockbuster; how I landed it I did not know.
"The scene that I had with him, it was breathtaking. Not everyone gets an opportunity like this, it was a professional experience I had with him."
But Low says the audition process was a feat in itself.
"I had to fly to Sydney to go and audition for it, I flew out on a red eye flight," he recalls. "So I got to Sydney at like six in the morning and the auditions were at two o'clock.
"There was 15 or 20 people in the audition and I was the only person from Perth, so it kind of put the pressure on me in that sense.
"The audition lasted for an hour or so, then I basically flew back to Perth the same day."
Thankfully, his whirlwind trip paid off, with Low getting a call-back a month later telling him he'd scored the job.
It saw him spend close to five weeks in Sydney shooting at Fox Studios and in Darling Harbour's iconic Chinese Gardens.
Although his only interaction with Jackman was during the 14-hour night shoot, he struck up a friendship with some of the fellow stuntmen and cast on set, including Japanese actress Rila Fukushima, who stars as Wolverine's determined sidekick, Yukio.
"She was the funniest girl, she was really outgoing," Low says.
"All the cast were really professional."
Although being a stuntman isn't a full-time job for Low just yet - he is working towards becoming a safety officer until more stunt work comes through - the 35-year-old hopes to work his movie contacts and score a stunt role in the next Avatar film.
