Angela Meryl | Fast and Furious 7 behind the scene Photos - Angela Meryl
new-logo
new-logo
Copyright 2021.
  • Nathalie Emmanuel
May 25, 2015
|
by Angela Meryl, author of STUNTS: THE HOW TO HANDBOOK

Fast and Furious 7 behind the scene Photos

First I have to thank Linda Jewel and Jalil Jay Lynch who recommended me for the job! Thank you Spiro Razatos, Jack Gill, and Andy Gill for allowing me to come and work with them!

 

I have  been waiting anxiously to post these! These are some of the behind the scene photos from Atlanta and the LA shoot. I had the chance to work with and ride with the best drivers in the business. Debbie Evans (Michelle Rodriguez double) the best female driver we have (she can out drive some of the guys!!) Jail Jay Lynch,( Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris Double) Henry Kinji (Vin Diesel double Paul Walker) and Steve Kelso (Paul Walker double) and Denny Pierce and Mike Ryan (Truck Driver). One of my favorite scenes was riding with Steve Kelso. The scene on the 6th street bridge in Los Angeles with the helicopter over head going under the truck with the metal tubing on top. (If you look closely you may see me in the car in this scene).. On one take the metal tubing dropped to early! It hit the windshield and cracked it! Their was a camera inside the car and you could see us both reacting like Oh Shit! We had no where to go we’re in a GT Steve floored it under the truck to get us out of there once we were under the truck he had to pull out on the left side into oncoming traffic the timing had to be exact so we wouldn’t have a head on collision into oncoming traffic and then once the truck started to Jack knife he had to go back under the truck to the other side! We did that multiple times I had full confidence in him to pull that off. Each time we did it I’m  thinking this is crazy we’re about to go under and 18 wheeler!

While filming in Atlanta one of the stunts we had to was a bail out. Which is jumping out of a moving car at 25 miles and hour! Myself, Jalil Jay Lynch and Tim McAdams were in the car. Jay was driving and we were being pulled by a cable. It was dark and we couldn’t we really see our mark as to when to jump out of the car. The first take (Yes the first take!!) It was crazy it felt like the car was moving so fricken fast!! As if it was going 30mph! All I heard was go! And I went..Tim and I were both passengers we didn’t have as much to do as Jay did. Tim and I had to be careful of our timing because if it was off we could have landed on top of each other and at 25 mph and hitting the ground getting tangled up with each could have really injured one or both of us. I had the computer bag that I also had to be concerned with as well and I was concerned about this bag bouncing back and hitting me in face. Lucky for me I also had on a wig so I had extra cushion for me head. Didn’t really help though I still hit my head. We did have a stretch of mats to land on but we didn’t jump in time for the first take so we ended up hitting the mats and rolling onto the ground at speed! The second take I landed on more of the mat but still ended up rolling off toward the end and I think I blacked out for a second because I remember Tim And Jay coming to pick me up (which was part of the scene) and them telling me I didn’t want to get up! I kept saying wait wait when they were trying to put me in the car with Debbie.

Another scene I got to do was the car switch. Nathalie Emmanuel (Ramsey) character kept switching cars. This one scene in particular she was going from the GT to the Grey Charger. The two cars were in the middle of the street on a rig basically doing donuts and I’m in the GT with Steve Kelso and Alex Kinji is in the back seat with Jay Lynch driving the Charger. Jack would call action Kelso and Jay would start driving in circles and Alex had to lean out the passenger window and reach in and get me. I would lean out the window as far as possible and we would hold onto each other as the cars are going in circles until they said cut. A couple of takes we would just keep going in and out of the cars because Alex and I couldn’t hear GO or anything the cars were so loud  so Steve would practically push me out of the window and then pull me back in all while driving because he had the ear piece in his ear so he could hear.

While riding with Debbie I got to experience a car crash with her. She really is an amazing driver!!! This one scene she had to crash the Barracuda into the back of a BMW..She was really driving blindly because with the explosion that went off  on the passenger side it blew a lot of dust and mortar and debris so she couldn’t really see where we were going! It all happened so fast that I had turned my head to look at the explosion because it caught me off guard and then BAM into the BMW we went. It was her serious driving skills that allowed her to hit that BMW on the mark!

I had so much fun much and learned so much working with the Fast and Furious 7 family. It is definitely one of the highlights of my career! I have more to share but gotta run motherhood calls!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Angela Meryl, a former model and make-up artist from Willingboro, New Jersey, received her first stunt gig alongside actor Sinbad, in the movie First Kidd. The game changer occurred when she came crashing through a glass table in the opening scene of Kill Bill Volume I, while doubling Vivica A. Fox. That performance garnered industry wide recognition and applause from peers in the business and fans to this day of the Quentin Tarantino directed cult flick hit.
Angela Meryl