, s t n tS u
THOUGHTS FROM THE MAN CAVE
Ninjas, and the X-Games Mentality
Left: Kevin Cassidy spent more than 17 years working as a stuntman in a variety of blockbuster films. Below:Cassidy now owns Ninja Nation in Huntersville, which provides both adults and children a stateof-the-art obstacle course.
Kevin Cassidy dishes on what it’s like to live a stuntman life and why you should, too by Mike Savicki | photography courtesy of Kevin Cassidy/Ninja Nation
When I first learned I’d be interviewing an actual Hollywood television and movie stuntman for this article, I decided I’d first make a list of every badass thing I could think of that a stuntman might actually do then compare it to the reality of the craft as we chatted. The obvious badass stunts like busting through glass windows, falling from buildings, hand-to-hand fight scenes, getting lit on fire, swinging from precarious perches, driving and crashing a car, getting crushed and smothered by bad guys, and otherwise defying gravity while flying through the air all topped my list. But when Davidson’s Kevin Cassidy and I started chatting, I learned that my list had some major omissions, and there is a spiritual, soulful side to his craft. Let’s start with trampolines and sport stunts. Who would have thought these could lead to a career? You see, Cassidy, a two sport (football and baseball) high school athlete at Providence High School who then played college baseball at Lenoir-Rhyne and semi-pro baseball, initially found his way to Hollywood as one of 25 athletes in the once popular, full contact sport of Slamball, made famous on Spike TV in the early 2000s. He was chosen 26
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from a nationwide pool of 20,000. He gave up a job as a middle school teacher to live (and get crushed) above the rim. When Slamball lost its bounce, Cassidy transitioned to movies. In one of his first films, he was signed as a “Special Ability Extra” in “The Longest Yard.” As the free safety on the inmates team, every hit, tackle, and full speed collision earned him fame and fortune, plus some bumps and bruises, too. He put his sports skills to good use and added vivid, bone-crushing reality to the movie. I never knew stuntmen played football. As far as hand-to-hand fighting and weapons use, Cassidy tried to take it to Angelina Jolie. In the movie, “Salt,” he was one of the Russian guys who tried to kill her. He got his butt kicked but earned a pretty penny.
An impressive resume Over 17 years, Cassidy appeared in more movies and television shows than he can list, including eight Marvel films such as “Avengers Infinity War,” “Endgame,” “Spider-Man Homecoming,”
