Ready for a double take?
While actors bask in the limelight of their onscreen roles, it’s the stunt performers who are the true unsung heroes of movie action magic — executing daring, high-stakes feats behind the scenes.
“I’ve basically had a stunt double my whole life,” Ryan Gosling said during an appearance at a special screening of The Fall Guy in March 2024. “There’s this sort of accepted dynamic where they come on set, they do all the cool stuff, they risk everything, and then they disappear into the shadows and we all pretend as though they were never there.”
He continued, “Everyone else on set gets credit, but there’s just some sort of unspoken understanding that they won’t. Well, that ends today!”
From Jason Momoa and his stunt counterpart Kim Fardy to Margot Robbie and her body double Emma Eastwood, here are a few actors and their stunt doubles, side by side.
Jason Momoa
It can’t be easy to find a human dupe for the unmistakable Jason Momoa, but his stunt lookalike for Fast X, Kim Fardy, definitely would make the average person do a double-take.
“Love u kimmy @kim_fardy,” Momoa wrote on an Instagram of him and Fardy twinning. “Mahalo to my amazing stunt team.”
Kaley Cuoco
The actress’s stunt double in Role Play (2024), Monette Moio, was doing stunts for two! After revealing her pregnancy in October 2022, Kaley Cuoco shared a look back at her previous few months, which included filming the action movie while battling morning sickness — and relying on her stunt double to keep the action going while she was laid out.
Chris Pratt
“It takes a village of me’s to be me,” the actor (surrounded by Clay Chamberlin, Alistair Whitton and Chris Romrell) captioned this photo from the Jurassic World Dominion set. And his loyalty to his doubles is no stunt: He followed up with a funny video from the Terminal List set showing Romrell and Chamberlin responding in unison to an off-camera voice calling for “Chris.”
Ryan Gosling
Twice the Ken, twice the fun! Ryan Gosling and his blond stunt double, Adam Hart, donned their neon ’90s best — and in-line skates! — on the set of the Barbie movie in L.A. in June 2022.
Margot Robbie
Meanwhile, Gosling’s costar Margot Robbie (a.k.a. Barbie herself!) grabbed a cup of coffee from her rad double, Emma Eastwood.
Malin Åkerman
Malin Åkerman joked she was “seeing double” when standing next to her stunt stand-in Maria Rådman on the set of The Final Race (2023).
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Aaron Taylor-Johnson was photographed in May 2022 in London on the set of Sony/Marvel’s 2024 superhero film Kraven the Hunter as the titular Spider-Man villain, alongside a stunt double.
Both men were dressed in a pair of dark pants and a white button-up collared shirt, each wearing a necklace with a large ivory tooth hanging from the middle.
Taylor-Johnson’s casting in the lead role was announced back in May 2021. The movie will follow Kraven (born Sergei Kravinoff), an enemy of Spider-Man known for his tracking and hunting abilities.
Natasha Lyonne
As if Russian Doll wasn’t trippy enough, seeing Natasha Lyonne and her two stunt doubles — Tawny Traversa and Becca GT — in one place might really mess with your head.
Tom Holland
Following the 2021 release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Holland thanked his stunt doubles, Luke Scott and Greg Townley, for their work on the film.
“Without these legends this movie wouldn’t be half as good,” the actor wrote on Instagram Stories. “Thank you lads for your hard work and dedication. From Luke’s crash into the stairs to Greg’s falling through the floor to me stubbing my little toe on the glider. It’s been an adventure. Love you lads.”
Isla Fisher
The Australian actress marked National Redhead Day 2021 in November by posting a photo of herself and two of her nearly identical stunt doubles. “Happy National Redhead Day from me and my two sisters,” she captioned the photo.
Vanessa Lachey
Vanessa Lachey (third from left) thanked the NCIS: Hawai’i stunt team, including her double Ellette Craddock, “for making us look good” during a night shoot in the water. “We get to play the bad asses, but these are the real bad asses!” she wrote.
(Also pictured, from left: costar Alex Tarrant, his double Anthony Nanakornpanom, costar Ron Yuan and his double Sonny Sison.)
Awkwafina
Awkwafina thanked her stunt double for Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Lee Chesley, for “making [her] look way cooler than [she] is, being a total inspirational badass, and making sure [her] crotch harness was adequately fit.” The actress also called Chesley, “the real hero.”
Awkwafina
Awkwafina joined forces with stunt star Lee Chesley again, this time for Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).
“Thank you everyone who went to see @shangchi, out in theaters now. And here’s to badass stunt women everywhere !! ❤️❤️ So happy to work with you again @bgirlmislee,” she captioned a shot of the two posing on set.
Brie Larson
Brie Larson honored her two Captain Marvel stunt doubles, Renae Moneymaker and Joanna Bennett, at the 2019 MTV Movie and TV Awards, bringing them on stage with her to accept the award for best fight.
“I could not have made this film without them. They are really the baseline for who she is. They are the living embodiment of Captain Marvel,” she said.
Halle Berry
Halle Berry has talked about how hard she trained for action flick John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum, and her stunt double Anisha Gibbs can confirm Berry is all business when it comes to her workouts.
“Halle’s work ethic is absolutely incredible and I admire her so much,” Gibbs told PEOPLE in May 2019. “Halle loves the craft as much as I do, which made training that much more intense, and her work ethic, drive and determination were impeccable.”
Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon introduced fans and followers to her body double, Marilee Lessley, for the first time on Instagram, and the resemblance is uncanny.
“I want to introduce you to someone who has been working with me for years. This is Marilee and she’s my double. Don’t we look alike? We totally do,” Witherspoon said in a now-deleted selfie video from the set of her HBO series Big Little Lies.
Reese Witherspoon
Witherspoon was thankful to have stuntperson Marny Eng to “make her look tough” in Hot Pursuit (2015).
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
The Rock posted a heartwarming video on Instagram revealing that he gifted his stunt double, Tanoai Reed, a custom pickup truck to thank him for 17 years of work.
Reed, who is also Johnson’s cousin, thought he was doing a behind-the-scenes interview and instead was surprised with the token of appreciation.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Neither The Rock nor his double seemed to be too pleased by whatever was cooking on the set of Pain & Gain (2013).
Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck gave a sweet shoutout to his longtime stunt double and “legend” Rich Cetrone while filming their fifth movie together, Triple Frontier (2019), in Hawaii. Affleck expressed his appreciation in his now-deleted Instagram caption, writing, “Grateful to work with such incredible people.”
Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra and her stunt double, Aja Frary, scoped out the Brooklyn, New York, set of Quantico ahead of filming their scenes.
Jaimie Alexander
She’s got her full support! Blindspot star Jaimie Alexander supported her stunt double, Heidi Schnappauf, at the 10th Annual Action Icon Awards, where the actress’ lookalike was serving as presenter.
Amy Schumer
“2nd movie with @bamastunts and couldn’t love her more!” Amy Schumer captioned a since-deleted post on Instagram of Meredith Richardson, who stood in for her in I Feel Pretty (2018).
Chris Hemsworth
Chris Hemsworth and his double, Bobby Holland Hanton, practiced their pouts on the set of The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016). Hanton goes way back with the actor — they also worked on several Thor movies (and other Marvel-related projects) and In the Heart of the Sea (2015) together.
Emilia Clarke
Emilia Clarke a.k.a. Daenerys Targaryen, twinned with stand-in Rosie Mac on season 5 of Game of Thrones — and they were both total queens.
Jared Padalecki
Mike Carpenter and actor Jared Padalecki of Supernatural have shown each other a lot of love — and teasing — on X (previously Twitter).
Lena Dunham
“Any time I need to crash a car [or] fly off a bike, this bad bitch appears,” Dunham captioned these pics of herself and her Girls stuntperson, Dakota Brown, on Instagram.
Ellie Kemper
“Triple Threat Monday!!,” Kemper, star of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of herself sandwiched between two of her stunt doubles.
Adrianne Palicki
Adrianne Palicki and stuntperson Alicia Vela-Bailey cozied up on the set of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Shailene Woodley
Vela-Bailey also helped Shailene Woodley out with stunts for Divergent (2014).
Kate Mara
Professional double Casey Michaels called the astronaut get-up she got to wear for Mara in The Martian (2015) her “favorite costume so far” on a since-deleted post on Instagram.
Zac Efron
Zac Efron and his stunt double, Jordan Scott, proved that two six-packs are definitely better than one as they filmed scenes for Dirty Grandpa (2016) in Tybee Island, Georgia.
The two continued to work together in The Iron Claw in 2023.
Robert De Niro
Are you looking at him? Or him? Robert De Niro watched his stand-in, Rick Avery, closely as he executed a full-body lift on the Dirty Grandpa set.
Anthony Mackie
Anthony Mackie and his double, Aaron Toney, made sure to look before they leaped into the Falcon’s high-flying stunt on the set of Captain America: Civil War (2016) in Atlanta.
Chris Evans
Is anyone else feeling patriotic all of a sudden? Chris Evans and his double, Sam Hargrave, suited up to save the world once more in Captain America: Civil War.
Daniel Craig
No, James Bond didn’t change his look! 007’s stuntperson, Gordon Alexander, proved himself to be a master of disguise as he wore a mask of Daniel Craig’s face while filming some dangerous water scenes for Spectre (2015).
Andrew Garfield
Andrew Garfield and his double, William R. Spencer, synced their Spidey senses (and hairstyles!) as they rehearsed a scene for The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Taylor Lautner
Taylor Lautner sized up his stunt double, Gabriel Nunez, as they took a walk on the New York City set of Tracers (2015) — though to be fair, he did do some of his own scary stuff!