Peter Kent is not one to shy away from risk. When asked what led him to stunt work, Kent explains how he got his big break in movies after being sent to a casting call “for a little movie called The Terminator” shortly after moving to L.A. from Victoria in 1984. Casting agents were looking for a stand-in for star Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“[Director] Jim Cameron caught my Vancouver accent and said, ‘You’re Canadian, I’m from Toronto. You’re the right height and size for lighting,’ which is what they wanted me for initially, and then said ‘hire him’ to producer Donna Smith. Then he looked back and asked, ‘You’ve done stunts before, right?’ And I thought, if I don’t say yes to this I might not have a job so immediately said ‘yes!’ and… the rest, as they say, is history,” Kent chuckles.
The resemblance is uncanny. In a circa 1980s photo with Schwarzenegger on Kent’s website peterhkent.com, the two look like they could be fraternal twins.
About six months after Terminator ended, Kent got a phone call from the star.
“Peter, vee have dis movie called Commando now and I need you to come out heer,” Kent says in a classic Arnold accent. “He knew I had experience as an actor, which helped, and I learned German so I could understand when Arnold was screaming at me in his native tongue on the set, which was usually something belittling. He’s quite a prankster.”
His career doubling Schwarzenegger spanned over 14 of his films. With several hundred stunts in movies and TV shows, Kent has had close calls. He says that his passion to understand the science of each stunt, combined with physical fitness and willpower, are what kept him alive. In 2009 Kent was the first Canadian inducted into the Hollywood Stuntmen’s Hall of Fame. He’s a Gemini Award winner and his Terminator 2 bike jump stunt earned him a spot on CNN’s Top Ten Stunts of all time. Kent now shares his professional expertise through his stunt school, Peter Kent’s School of Hard Knocks.
“I need to stress that when we do these stunts, we use professional gear. You can’t buy the gear if you’re not a professional stunt person. Please, do not try this at home,” Kent said about his planned stunt to set himself on fire this Friday, Feb. 13.
Kent also recommends to parents to use discretion with young children attending the fire stunt on Friday as it may be frightening.
So, other than keeping his first election promise, why is the recently elected Squamish councillor doing this?
“I’ve had numerous interviews and certainly don’t need any more media. My family and I have invested and made Squamish our home for the past nine years.
“We’re at such an incredible time for so many wonderful reasons, and some not as wonderful as we know, and the press is so intently focused on us right now. Why not keep that ball rolling? I want to keep the spotlight firmly on Squamish and live up to our branding that Squamish truly is hardwired for adventure.”
Kent, surrounded by his professional stunt and fire safety crew, will perform the fire stunt for the public at Squamish Logger Sports grounds 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 13, rain or shine.
The councillor encourages the public to bring canned goods, as donations for the Squamish food Bank will be accepted by volunteers on site.
