Interviews Conducted by Robert J. Beck

How did you get into stunt work?

Well this could be a long story... however, I'll keep it short by saying my NFL career never transpired so looking for the next big adrenaline rush I decided to get into stunts. It really was planted in my head when I was much younger though, when watching the old James Cagney movie I always wanted to be the guys that Cagney would shoot, punch, or throw out of a window, so doing the big window gag for Greg kinda made it come full circle for me!!! It's been a heck of a ride; I can only hope my body can continue to take the beating!!!

How did you get role on Heroes?

I actually worked on the pilot and Greg and I kinda hit it off we joked about (IF) the show turned out to be any good and it got picked up that he would like to have me double him! The Show turned out as we know to be a Hit and I got a great job doubling a fantastic guy!

Do you have any on-set stories?

One story that comes to mind is the Gag where Matt gets thrown out of plate glass window—now I've done plenty of crazy gags over the years... doubling John Travolta in the 90's had me working on some of John's best films, Face/Off and Broken Arrow—however this day we had to hit an air ram fly through a window and fall in a catch pit of 12 by 12. The stunt had a lot of variables, the main one being if I overshot the catch pit I would have landed 30 feet to the bottom down onto 5th Street in LA. As it turned out, it went off without a hitch, and at the end of the day Greg confirmed I was his man by saying even if he had to step off an apple box he would call me in!

   What power you would like to have?

  Hmmm any power? Maybe the power of knowing the lottery numbers
  or foresee the results of the horse races before they're posted!

  Do you have a favorite Hero?

  Easy one: Matt.

  How are things going on Heroes?

  Yes, things are going well on Heroes; however, it would be great if
  Matt's character would flip a car or maybe do a fire burn more often.
  But you have to take the slow times with the good times. Doubling for
  Anthony Lapaglia on Without a Trace, as well means I stay fairly
  busy.

What kind of things do you do when you double for Anthony Lapaglia?

Working with Anthony Lapaglia has been a 5 year gig. I was brought in by my good buddy Dennis Madalone .Even though its been along running show my services have been just here and there . Anthony Lapaglia’s character is just not a guy who does a lot of stunts but the show is fun to work on and every time I show up Anthony treats me like I’m his guy and leaves all the action to me .We have a great trusting relationship .I have his walk and his persona down so when I show up on set I’m Anthony.

Mark Riccardi jumping out of a window for Greg Grunberg on Heroes.