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You may not know his name, but you've seen him in action. Bond stuntman and ex-SAS member Steve Truglia makes Chuck Norris look like a rank amateur.

Alex Eckford caught up with Fifth Gear's resident stunt driver to find out what it's like to be beaten up by pub landlord Al Murray, and what he thinks of the stunt which almost killed Richard Hammond.

In a street in central London, stunned onlookers watch slack-jawed as Al Murray punches a traffic warden in the face, picks him up and throws him into a pile of boxes.

The stunt is so convincing two national newspapers are taken in by the story, running headlines such as 'Murray goes ment-Al!'. It's one of stuntman Steve Truglia's proudest moments.

"The producers of 'Al Murray's Favourite On-Screen Fights' gave me a call - they wanted someone to teach Al stage combat for a link in the show where he'd pretend to argue with a warden. I taught him slaps, hair-pulls, punches to the stomach," says Steve. "I've got to say, I was really impressed with his physical acting and how quickly he picked it all up. And doing the stunt in public was a really big buzz."

It’s rare to interview a man whose business card shows him pictured with his arms on fire. Stuntman Steve Truglia is an industry veteran, with over ten years of high-profile films and TV shows, including two Bond films, Saving Private Ryan and Hollyoaks, under his belt. But he wasn't always the high-adrenaline, outdoor type.

“I’ve got my local education authority to thank for all of this," says Steve. "When I was at school they sent us on a ten day outward bound course in the Black Mountains. It totally and utterly turned my life around. It was the first time I’d come out of an urban environment, and I became hooked on the great feeling of being outdoors,” says Steve.

Steve spent six years in the Territorial Army SAS, taking part in combat exercises with one of the toughest fighting forces in the world. The only problem? It was a bit boring.

“Believe it or not it can become a little dull," says Steve. "When I was in it, it was a peacetime army. Now a lot of TA SAS boys are posted all over the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan. I decided I’d had enough of going round the same circuit and doing the same training again and again. You can only learn to blow things up so many times!"

Looking for a fresh challenge, Steve set his sights on the Special Boat Squadron - the SBS.

“It was cold and wet. You do the same things the SAS do - in the sea, which makes it ten times worse. I suffer from seasickness - and quite frankly it was miserable. You’ve got 120 pounds on your back, so it’s always very, very physically tough, and really hard work," says Steve.

As a side-line Steve began to carry out stunt work for television, getting work on shows such as London's Burning and 999.
"I immediately found it exciting - it was great to be involved in something that people would see," says Steve.

After a year in the business Steve was offered his first speaking role in the Robson and Jerome drama Soldier Soldier. But Steve's bosses weren't exactly enamoured with the amount of publicity he was receiving.

“As I started appearing on screen more, and got speaking roles the SBS bosses called me in and said ‘You’ve got to make a decision - if you don’t stop appearing in front of the camera and in magazine articles we’ll ask you to leave. It was clear my career was growing, and I got sick of the cold, salty water, so I thought ‘I’ve done that now’, and decided not to hang around in the SBS for the sake of my career," says Steve.

Steve's big break came as a stunt driver on the James Bond film 'Tomorrow Never Dies', which he filmed in 1996.

"It was my first big, high-profile driving job," says Steve. "I was in the Range Rover that chased Bond through the Saigon streets. I got a call to go on the film and they stuck me straight in one of the cars," says Steve.

"The sets were incredible and the pressure was massive - if I'd have screwed it up it would have taken 24 hours to rebuild the set. It was six weeks of really intense work. I also got to fly in a helicopter which chases the car. It's really odd to watch the scene, because I know I'm in both vehicles," says Steve.

Steve went on to do more stunts on the 1999 Bond film The World Is Not Enough, but was unsuccessful in his bid to become stunt co-ordinator on the recently released Casino Royale.

"I'm still looking forward to seeing it. I have nothing but respect for the people who work on the Bond films – they're a great team," says Steve. "And I will be bidding to become stunt co-ordinator on the next one."

Steve has done several stunts for Fifth Gear - Channel Five's flagship motoring show.

"I met their producer while I was doing some crash test dummy stunts, which they were filming for the show," says Steve. "Since then they've given me lots of work, and adopted me as their 'resident stuntman'.  I did a stunt recently where I had to drive through breakaway signposts at 70mph. That was the fastest stunt car crash ever performed in the UK," says Steve.

"The biggest killer in accidents like that is deceleration - if you imagine that your innards are all travelling at the same speed you're driving at, and at that speed you stop dead, your lungs, heart, spleen, liver are all going to hit the inside of your ribcage or the abdominal wall, and your brain is going to hit the inside of your skull at that speed - that's what kills people."

Speaking of dare-devil stunts, what does Steve think of the stunt which seriously injured Top Gear star in September this year?

"I would never have let him do that stunt on that airfield in that car," says Steve. "From what I hear, there were strong cross-winds on the day, and they should have known that the dragster, travelling at 300mph, would stick its roll cage straight into the ground if it rolled off the tarmac onto the grass. As far as I'm concerned it was dangerous."

So what does the future hold for Steve?

"I'd love to become a TV presenter," says Steve. "I absolutely believe I've got what it takes. I've got a couple of ideas I'm taking round to TV production companies at the moment. One is a behind-the-scenes show about stunt work, showing the reality of how the stunts are put together - a real 'warts and all' programme."

"The second is a show called Beyond Houdini," says Steve. "I take a journey to discover the secrets behind the greatest stunts ever, stunts which took real skill. It's a reaction to my frustration at people like David Blaine, who gets three million quid for standing on a pole. Things like that make me mad. It's an insult to the viewer's intelligence."

As I leave Steve, he's on his way to a company dinner to do an after dinner speech. As a natural public speaker (this is a man who got bored of being in the SAS) its not surprising Steve is asked to appear at such functions. If it's half as entertaining as my talk with him, they won't know what's hit them.

External links

Steve's official site – prostunts.net

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