Kentucky to the World hosted Tom O’Connell on Friday at the WKU Innovation Campus for his talk, “This is the Way: Stagecraft, Stunts, and Fighting on Screen.”
O’Connell, a Louisville native, is best known for his stunt double roles as Heavy Mandalorian and Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” franchise.
As stated on its website, Kentucky to the World is a non-profit organization that displays Kentucky’s cultural and intellectual wealth to the world.
O’Connell told stories of his life from his childhood in Kentucky to moving to Los Angeles and sharing the screen with Obi-Wan Kenobi. O’Connell said he used his life experience as a guide for success.
“I would say, be curious about new opportunities,” O’Connell said. Be curious about new ideas. Be curious about new things you might be able to learn in life.”
He explained if he never had curiosity, he wouldn’t have taken his first stuntman role. O’Connell also explained certain morals he tries to take into his work.
“I always say there’s three kinds of things that I always like to take with me into every job, and that’s work hard, be humble, and be kind,” O’Connell said.
He said these principles are rich in Kentucky, and his childhood in Louisville is where they were first instilled. O’Connell said if he never held those values, he would have never been called on for the role of Darth Vader.
O’Connell was first working his way into the stunt industry at the time of filming for “Bullet to the Head” starring Sylvester Stallone and Jason Momoa. Even though he doesn’t look like Momoa, O’Connell said he was called to be a stand-in while mapping out a fight scene between Stallone’s and Momoa’s characters.
“At the time, they just needed somebody tall, and because I was tall and I had athletic ability, and they had worked with me before, and they liked me enough to keep me around,” O’Connell said.
The stunt-man who stood in for Stallone was hired to the early stages of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” ten years later. The actor for Darth Vader needed to be someone tall and with stunt experience.
“There’s only so many tall people in the stunt industry, there’s five to 10 maybe,” O’Connell said.
Of those few tall stuntmen, O’Connell said he stood out because of the connection and positive work experience he had made with members of the Kenobi team. Thanks to those positive connections, O’Connell was able to bring Darth Vader to life, he said.
News Reporter Anthony Clauson can be reached at [email protected].
