Ryan Hockensmith is a Penn State graduate who joined ESPN in 2001. He is a survivor of bacterial meningitis, which caused him to have multiple amputation surgeries on his feet. He is a proud advocate for those with disabilities and addiction issues. He covers everything from the NFL and UFC to pizza-chucking and analysis of Tom Cruise's running ability.place in Redondo Beach, California, the"Stunt House," and everything about it lived up to the name.
Those humble backyard beginnings launched Leitch on an unlikely trajectory. Over the next 30 years, Leitch did lots of preparation, which got him lots of opportunities, which resulted in a miracle. Leitch is at the forefront of the first generation of filmmakers who loved the 1980s action era but also learned what real fighting looks like, which has revolutionized the way combat appears on screen.
It certainly helps that Leitch is widely regarded as a pretty badass martial arts practitioner himself. He grew up in Kohler, Wisconsin, a small town known mostly for the behemoth plumbing company that was founded there. His parents were both elementary school teachers and thought maybe he would be someday, too. But they also pushed him to try many different activities as a kid, from sports to music to acting.
Leitch went back to Minnesota with a plan to get his master's degree while teaching second grade at Oxbow Creek Elementary School just outside Minneapolis."It was a fun year -- a great year," he says."But I knew in my heart I wanted to get to L.A. I didn't want to stay in the teaching profession just yet. I thought I could come back to it in 10 years. But if I was going to try to be a stuntman and be in movies, I needed to go to Hollywood and go for it.
Leitch went from lugging stuff around set to being a credited stunt performer in"Perfect Target." That's one of the coolest things about the stunt community -- it truly is a collection of people who feel like scrappy, vital members of an industry that sometimes takes them for granted. He pauses for a second and says,"And they were always worried about the tarp. 'We have to put the tarp over it soon!'"
By all accounts, Leitch and Pitt hit it off right away. They talked a lot about their shared love of Jackie Chan, and the tricky dance between humor and action on film. Leitch trained Pitt, who ended up doing some of the fight scenes himself. But during one particularly difficult fight where Leitch stepped in for him, Pitt says he was standing behind the camera watching the scene and thought to himself,"Damn, I look pretty good there," as Leitch fought.
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