Director David Leitch and producer wife Kelly McCormick on why Sydney was the perfect spot for Ryan Gosling’s hit The Fall Guy

The Hollywood power couple who brought Ryan Gosling’s latest blockbuster to Sydney — and infamously shut down the Harbour Bridge — say they wish they could stay.

Director David Leitch and Ryan Gosling (as Colt Seavers) on the set of The Fall Guy.

The Hollywood power couple who brought Ryan Gosling’s latest blockbuster to Sydney — and infamously shut down the Harbour Bridge — say they wish they could stay.

Director David Leitch and producer Kelly McCormick arrived in the Harbour City on Monday for the red carpet premiere of The Fall Guy, starring the Oscar nominee and Emily Blunt.

“When you live in Los Angeles and work in the film business, you rarely make films in Hollywood,” McCormick told The Daily Telegraph.

“Some of the inspiration came from asking, where can we set our movie and make it feel like it’s a long way away, really summery and fun and sexy at the same time?” she said.

“That’s Sydney. It’s awesome to be back, we’re having so much fun. I wish we were here longer.”

Director David Leitch with his producer wife Kelly McCormick at Sydney Opera House. Picture: Justin Lloyd

The Bullet Train, Deadpool 2 and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw director was formerly a stuntman for the likes of Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, who spent one year in Sydney performing stunts for the Matrix sequels.

Shutting down the Harbour Bridge for four hours “was no easy task,” he said.

“Thankfully, the city was really kind to give us this window to do something.

We scouted it a few times by climbing to the top, to generate a great stunt and I think we landed on something really fun.”

Actor Ryan Gosling on set at the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the production of The Fall Guy. Picture: Gaye Gerard

In January 2022, iconic landmarks were shut down for filming to take place.

The CBD light rail and Dawes Point at the Rocks were also shut down intermittently over the six-month filming period for the movie adaptation of a popular 1980s television series.

“We call it a joy bomb,” McCormick said.

“The movie is a love letter to all the stunt performers, and all the below-the-line workers in the film business.

“It’s a love letter to cinema goers, and it’s really a love letter to Sydney. Because Sydney plays one of our most important characters, was a really important place for us to have all of the fun that we had.”

Silver Beach on the Kurnell peninsula also inadvertently became the site of a new Guinness World Record during filming, when Gosling’s stunt double Logan Holladay cannon rolled a modified Jeep Grand Cherokee eight and a half times.

“We ended up shooting our whole third act there because we were able to make it a playground of sorts,” McCormick said. “We did a lot of stunts there including the jump off the car, 38 metres over this giant crevasse which was really scary and awesome.”

The previous word record for cannon rolls was held by Adam Kirley for 2006’s Casino Royale.

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