Harry Potter stunt actor makes his Kollywood debut

A professional wrestler-turned-stunt choreographer, Greg Burridge, who has been part of films like Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Dracula Untold, is making his debut in Kollywood with Rathindran R Prasad's 'Idhu Vedhalam Sollum Kathai', which stars Ashwin Kakumanu, Aishwarya Rajesh and Guru Somasundaram in the lead. The UK-based stuntman, who is also playing a crucial role in the film, was in the city recently.In a conversation with Chennai Times, Greg opened up on the challenges working in an Indian film, his journey from the wrestling ring to the movie set, watching Indian films and the criticisms on wrestling.
You have finished a schedule for the film. How different is it to work in an Indian film?
It was very challenging, but it was a good experience. Since it was the first schedule of the film, it took time for everything, from the crew to the logistics and the weather, to come together. But we managed to get some great stuff. In England, when we work on a film, we've got only one language on the set, whereas here, we had seven languages. So, there were times here when things got misinterpreted. That was an eye-opener for me personally, and I had to rely on visual communication; I had to express myself more physically to get things across.
Is there any difference in how the stunts are conceptualised and shot?
Not really. The main difference is that things can be done quickly here. In England, we have so many regulations and you have to spend many hours over documentation before beginning work, whereas in India, the union problems are more.
Did you watch any Indian films to get an idea of what is being practised here?
Yeah, I did. I watched a few south Indian films. I like Mahesh Babu, and I hope to work with Rajinikanth, who, I hear, is the biggest star around here. And I was impressed with Sultan, which was on the Indian form of wrestling. Watching it, I thought I'd like to star in its sequel, if they make one.
Is there an audience for our films in the UK?
Let me narrate an interesting thing that happened to me just a few days before my trip here. There is a cinema house near my house in London, and I had gone there to watch a Hollywood film. I noticed that it was full of Asian people and when I looked at the schedule, there were two Tamil movies playing there. I asked at the counter why there was such a crowd and I was told that most of those people were Bangladeshis and they love Tamil movies. This, in fact, has made me confident that when our movie comes out, we will have a sizeable crowd for it in the UK.
Wrestling is often blamed for promoting violent behaviour in children. How do you see such criticism?
The thing is to make people understand that wrestling is performance art, just like how stunt work is a form of acting; pro wrestling is more physical and less violent. You have to educate parents about this and they can, in turn, open their kids' eyes to what it entails to be a professional wrestler. Obviously, when children watch wrestling without knowing this, it has a negative influence on them. That way, even Star Wars can be criticised because kids who watch it pick-up sticks and go around hitting each other thinking of themselves as Luke Skywalker fighting with a lightsaber. So, it all boils down to where you draw the line and determine what is good and what is bad for kids. Once they understand that wrestling is not two guys beating each other up ' it is anything but that ' but a performance art, you can teach them life skills through wrestling. This is why I personally feel that pro wrestling should be taught in schools. You could teach them how the world really works' about politicians, about confidence, physical fitness, how to manipulate crowds without even opening your mouth and only through your body language alone.
How difficult was it to move on from wrestling to doing stunts in movies?
In wrestling, we have only one chance when we are in the ring whereas in films, we can break a movement into several shots, cheat by wearing pads and stuff. So, it was easier for me. The hard thing was trying to get across my beliefs and what I wanted to do to people here. I tried to adapt by using what I already knew from wrestling and learn the attributes of film stunts from the other stuntmen as much as possible. In wrestling, we make contact with the other person all the time, while in stunt work, you can't and use camera angles to convey it. I decided to use the knowledge I had of being a pro wrestler for 17 years and come up with a whole new way of filming an action scene which is interesting and convincing for the audiences. That way, I could come up with a hybrid form of stunt work.
How was it working on a worldwide phenomenon like Harry Potter?
I played a Death Eater in the final Harry Potter film. We were brought in as specialists because we are pro wrestlers and can do a lot more physical stunts. There were loads of us, and I was one of the Death Eaters standing in the back in the final scene that takes place in Hogwarts. It was a fight scene that lasts about 10 minutes and they paid us every day during the entire schedule though we had nothing to do on most days. Shooting for the film made me realise how such big-budget productions work.
What are your other projects?
I currently have got one film that is in pre-production in Los Angeles. I'm starring in the lead role and I have also written the script of the film. It is based on wrestling-based fight clubs. The project will start rolling in autumn.