Let's give stunt doubles the recognition they deserve.

Keanu Reeves in 'John Wick: Chapter 4.' MURRAY CLOSE/LIONSGATE

Where do I begin with this?

I recently went to go watch the latest instalment in Keanu Reeves's stellar John Wick series and I can honestly say it's my favourite John Wick film in the series and one of my favourite action films of all time. Its 2 hours and 49-minute runtime never feels like it's overstayed its welcome, they get the most out of every frame of this film in the most spectacular and thrilling way from the outstanding acting from likes of Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Donnie Yen, and Bill Skarsgård to the stunning cinematography from Dan Laustsen alongside the outstanding directing from Chad Stahelski. I could go on and on but I want to actually focus on the stunt doubles who are the heart and soul of this franchise.

Credit where it's due for Keanu Reeves despite being 58 years old, he does most of his own stunts which in itself is incredible but even Keanu can't do all of them and that is left to the stunt doubles who put their body and in some cases their lives on the line all for our entertainment. And let me tell you, this film is a stunt masterpiece extravaganza from throwing themselves across a room to falling from crazy heights and launching themselves down an insane about of stairs in what can only be described as a dance of violence and action. Everyone who works on these films or watches these films can see the blood sweat and tears these people put themselves through so my question is why doesn't the academy see this? We have a multitude of categories for film ad TV awards for different departments in the film/TV industry and rightly so they all deserve praise and recognition for the work they do but why can't the stunt teams join in on the party too?

There are dedicated awards for stunts in films such as Taurus World Stunt Award but having a category dedicated to stunts in the major film and TV awards would be the best way to honour those in the industry. The Academy is often criticised for its slow catch-up with the rest of the world in terms of inclusion and diversity and this seems like just another example of this.

Please let me know your thoughts on this subject in the comments

Thank you for reading!