seeing double

 Scrolling down Facebook I did succumb to some click bait. It was an article about stunt doubles. It was interesting to see how many stars had a stunt double that really did look like them. I mean, some were uncanny in how closely they resembled them. They do say everyone has a twin; I've never seen mine though. But I suppose if I became famous and needed a double one could be found. 

 While flipping through the pages I began to wonder about all of that. You have to find someone that closely resembles the star of the show. Okay, but then that person has to be willing to do whatever it is the star doesn't want to do. But it's not that simple, is it? This person has to be able to do the stunt. I get that they don't need any acting ability, but they do have to be athletic and willing to risk injury. Isn't that the purpose of the double? The double gets hurt, oh well, at least the star is ok. 

 I read where a stunt double may or may not be in a union. It was pointed out that union workers are forbidden from working non-union gigs though. The average annual wage for a good stunt double is 70,000. That's a pretty good living I'd say. I mean, how many days in a year do they actually have to work? It would be cool to get paid mostly for the way you look. Combine that with some skills and training and you're set. Of course, there is the issue of the actor you are doubling. If their career takes a dive, so does yours. 

 I've never seen the film the Expendables but that's what came to mind in thinking about stunt doubles. They are expendable! That's their job in fact. I suppose that is just the nature of the game in Hollywood. We wouldn't want the star of the film to be injured in any way, bring in the double. All we need you to do today is just off the roof of a burning building, into a pool of burning water while a building explodes. Ok boss got it. I did listen to an old Indian gentleman that was a friend of a friend talk about being an extra in the movies. His specialty was falling off a horse after being shot by the Cowboys. He told how he got paid one hundred dollars each time he did the stunt. He said he would sometimes feign he didn't understand the directions and fall off the wrong side of the horse. Then he would have to do it again, for another hundred, on the other side. He said he broke his arm and legs a few times, but the studio paid the medical mills. 

 I did have a person walk up to me once and begin talking away. Just like we were old friends or something. I just stood there thinking, who is this? Turned out I didn't know that person and he hadn't known me. He swore I looked exactly like someone else and apologized. That's the closest I came to being a double. I sometimes see people I think I might know but have never approached them. It's just a feeling I get more than anything else. I always say I would be the worst person to choose as an eyewitness to anything. That is especially true with identifying a person. If I haven't known you and been around you for a good while I couldn't describe you accurately. Eye color? Height? Weight? Well, I don't know. I've had friends for fifty years now and still don't know the color of their eyes! Some are taller than me, some shorter. Same with weight, more or less. Ask me about a classic car though and I can tell you all about them. Cars after 1970, not so much. 

 It is amazing how much alike some of those doubles really are. I expect the Hollywood make up people enhance that as well. Dolly Parton once said, it costs a lot of money to look this cheap! I'm guessing that would apply to doubles as well. I do wonder how they find these people though. Do they just go walking around looking at people? It has to be easier these days with all the social media and all. If they need a grey bearded, pot bellied, old guy I could be your man. I don't ride horses, jump off buildings, do any sort of fighting or much of anything dangerous. Still, if you need me to eat that burger because the star is a Vegan or drink a beer because he is a teetotaler, I'm your man.