Inside the Craft of Action With Emmy-Nominated Stunt Coordinator Victor Paguia
“Telling the story of the movie is more important than performing the action.”
'FBI'
In this episode of the No Film School Podcast, Emmy-nominated stunt coordinator and performer Victor Paguia joins GG Hawkins to explain how action sequences are designed around character, story, safety, and production realities.
Drawing on more than two decades of experience—including his work on I Am Legend, Zombieland, and CBS’s FBI—Paguia discusses breaking into the stunt industry, developing distinct fighting styles for characters, creating ambitious television action on an eight-day prep schedule, and using previsualization to make sequences safer and more effective. He also shares practical advice for independent filmmakers staging action with limited time and resources.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How competitive diving prepared Paguia to perform under pressure
- Crashing the callback that led to his first stunt job on I Am Legend
- Why effective stunt work must serve the story rather than spectacle
- Finding the line between exciting action and physically unbelievable action
- Developing a shared movement language for zombies and other creatures
- Why fast zombies are more intimidating—and more enjoyable to perform
- Building action around the established strengths of a character
- Giving the agents on FBI distinct fighting styles based on personality and physicality
- Keeping fights, chases, and takedowns fresh across multiple seasons
- The differences between preparing action for a feature film and a network television series
- Choreographing and teaching fights to actors while filming on a tight schedule
- Why filmmakers should slow down instead of rushing on set
- How stunt doubles help actors learn choreography and improve their performances
- Using an iPhone to previs camera angles, movement, costumes, and choreography
- How smaller camera systems have expanded the possibilities for action photography
- Monitoring multi-camera stunt sequences when playback is unavailable
- Why micro-budget filmmakers should design action within their actual resources
- The driving, fighting, falling, and wire-work skills aspiring stunt performers should develop
- How collaboration between departments creates memorable action
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