“Machete” star and all-around Hollywood badass Danny Trejo doesn’t seem like he’s scared of much. But he’s happy to leave stunt work to the stunt professionals.
In a Thursday Facebook Live interview with Yahoo Movies, Trejo criticized stars who do their own stunts, which can have far-reaching consequences when they go wrong — not-so-subtly calling out Tom Cruise, who recently broke his ankle while shooting “Mission: Impossible 6” in London, delaying production for up to eight weeks.
“I know that all the big stars hate me to say this, but I don’t want to risk 80 peoples’ jobs just to say I got big huevos on ‘The Tonight Show,’” Trejo told Yahoo Movies. “Because that’s what happens. I think a big star just sprained an ankle doing a stunt, and 80 or 180 people are out of a job.”
Instead, Trejo believes stunts should be handled by well-trained stunt professionals, who know the risks — and can be replaced without halting production and leaving hundreds of people scrambling.
“We have stunt people who do that stuff,” Trejo said. “And if they get hurt, I’m sorry to say but they just need to put a mustache on another Mexican and we can keep going. But if I get hurt, everybody’s out of a job. So I don’t choose to do that.”
Trejo’s latest film, “Dead Again in Tombstone,” will be released on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD on September 12.