Tan Yifan

    Cicitan2011@gmail.com

    SOME people are born to love watching stunt performances, either in movies or on stage; but some others are born to live for stunt sports, both in daily life and in shows. Craig E.W. Anderson III, a 43-year-old Canadian, is one of the latter.

    Working as a stunt performer intermittently for around 30 years, Anderson is now a manager and one of the leading actors of a stunt performing group at OCT East, a theme park which is located at Dameisha Resort in Shenzhen’s Yantian District and is the first of its kind in the Chinese mainland. Self-trained as a jet-skier in his early childhood, Anderson now performs four jaw-dropping stadium shows a day, each lasting about 20 minutes for audiences of thousands at peak hours.

    “It is kind of like an action movie. We wear costumes and take turns to act either good or bad according to the script. Sometimes we have dialogue and sometimes we need to fight with swords, drive a jet-boat even get set on fire, and jump into water from very high places,” said Anderson. “It’s like watching kung fu films but more authentic to the viewers.”

    “His show is fabulous,” said Yu Yifeng, a Chinese musician who met Anderson two years ago at La Casa Bar in Futian District. “He can jump from over 20 meters into the water, and do tricks on the jet ski. Running, fighting and doing crazy stuff... It’s an amazing show.”

    Learning jet-skiing

    in childhood

    Born in the Great Lakes area in Canada, Anderson said he lived right at the lakeside in his early life. “The place where my family lives is surround with water, so naturally I got connected with water sports when I was little,” said Anderson. “We owned some motorboats, and my father was one of the first waterskiers in the 1950s.”

    Anderson said he began to ride on a jet-boat when he was 7, and the classes of jet-skiing in summer camps in his teenage years had trained him as a professional jet-skier. “I just loved the sport and I got my first job as a water-skiing trainer in the summer of my 17th year,” he recalled.

    Since then his career as an extreme sports performer has grown up with him.

    The way to stunt

    performing

    Having understood watersports so deeply, Anderson chose to study kinesiology and fulfilled his BSc degree at the University of Western Ontario Canada. He thought to carry on with physical therapy after graduation. “But it turned out my career has to build on my hobby, which is great,” said Anderson. “My first job was teaching waterskiing for Club Med — a worldwide French corporation of vacation resorts chains, located in many exotic places. It was a rewarding experience for me to work and travel from one place to another in Mexico and the Caribbean area.”

    Besides just passing his skills of jet-skiing on to other people, Anderson adopted other stunt sports in his spare time.

    “I became a stunt man when I was 27 in Thailand. Then I traveled and did stunt performances worldwide,” said Anderson. “A few years later I moved back to Thailand, where I not only enjoyed my life as a stunt man but also explored my potential in various other aspects. And there I learned scuba diving and later became a scuba diving instructor.”

    With years of experience and fame behind him, Anderson was invited to join an outdoor stunt performance by OCT East three years ago.

    “I work in a group of 14 people,” he said. “That feeling from the best time in my career seems to have come back, because we have very enthusiastic audiences here.”

    Danger-pay and benefits

    Every job comes with its negative side, and there’s no exception with doing stunts.

    Anderson said he has gotten used to bruises and small cuts. “As a professional, I learned to evaluate the level of danger and predict my next move. But still there were some bad hurts in the past.”

    “Once, during a performance in Thailand, the bones near my waist were fractured,” he said. “I was supposed to land on my foot when jumping from high up, but instead my waist landed on some hard object. It was the main show of that day; I thought I couldn’t just quit in the middle of the show. While the adrenaline surged, I had to bear the pain and continue my performance. The audience didn’t notice the change, but after I made it through I was sent to the hospital without answering a curtain call.”

    Anderson said he never thought about a setback even when hurt seriously. “Of course the job comes with danger, but it’s just a part of it. Just as other people’s work has negative parts,” he explained to Shenzhen Daily, “I’ve gotten used to the nature of the job and so have my parents. They were worried when I was a kid, but since I grew up with the sport they know I can handle it well and there’s no point in worrying anymore.”

    “I have other hobbies, and I constantly take a break and work as a scuba diving instructor, but with this job, I get higher danger-pay,” he added.

    What has paid for his performance was not just money, but also appreciation from viewers.

    He said he first felt like a star when he worked for Universal Studios in Osaka, Japan. “I had some of my best shows there,” he said. “Japanese people were very fond of this kind of performance. In its peak time the stadium of 5,000 seats were all occupied. Some of the viewers became my fans and they would make photobooks for me, send me gifts and some even stalked me. I felt I was appreciated.”

    New trials on the way

    To Anderson stunt sports have made him fearless of the unknown that lies ahead. It pushes the practioner to face challenges both physical and mental, to overcome and conquer fear, and keep high spirits in life.

    “I love to learn new skills with my colleagues,” he said. “I also have tried to stimulate my potential through these years.”

    Besides being a stuntman, Anderson has been spotted by filmmakers and TV advertisers. He was shot in several films as a bit role and has enjoyed the experiences. “I was in a American movie ‘Marine II,’ and one about tsunamis called ‘The Impossible,’” he said. “Most recently I was in the ‘Hangover II.’ My friend spotted me in a scene and got excited about it.”

    He’s also an artist in music and fine arts. He said he wants to mix sculpture art with mixed media.

    “After all, I have to retire from extreme sports someday. Working on music and art will be my next trial,” he said.

    “He is a man who is always challenging and fun,” commented his girlfriend of 12 years Justyna Korczynska, a dancer and fashion designer. “I’ve even been encouraged by him to become a ‘stunt woman.’ Once all this has become a part of your life, the things that are amazing to other people just feel natural.”

“It turned out my career has to build on my hobby, which is great.”

— Craig E.W. Anderson III, a stunt performer for around 30 years