As a stuntman, Tasmanian-born Kannegiesser has travelled Australia and the world working behind the scenes on big-budget films like Fast X, Uncharted, Hacksaw Ridge and Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge. He has rubbed shoulders with Hollywood heavyweights like Jackie Chan, Mark Wahlberg, Baz Luhrmann and Tom Holland and also worked as a body double for Tom Hanks in the movie Elvis.

An average day at work can involve flying through the air, being set on fire, causing car rollovers, orchestrating realistic fight scenes or carefully planning and testing elaborate stunts and then training actors to successfully execute those stunts.

It’s a job that comes with great responsibility – and risk – but it’s one that the 32-year-old has great passion for.

Kannegiesser admits it wasn’t an easy road to establish himself as a full-time stuntman. And his success is even sweeter when thinks back to his time growing up in Lauderdale, when many of his school mates and teachers frowned upon his unusual career aspirations.

But Kannegiesser was so certain that he wanted to become a stuntman that in his Grade 10 MacKillop College yearbook – when students were asked to write down, under their headshot, what they wanted to do as a career when they finished school – he confidently wrote “Script Writer/Stunt Performer”.

“I honestly can’t remember when I decided I wanted to be a stuntman, it has always been ingrained in my head,’’ he explains.

“I grew up loving movies and TV shows, I was just fascinated by that whole world, and just the epicness of action films. When everyone else was playing footy and sport, I was that kid who loved watching movies.’’

He and his two older siblings were enrolled in drama classes, and while his brother, Brad, went on to study at the prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and become an actor, and his sister, Amanda, went on to work as a model, Nathan didn’t stick with acting for long. But he says the exposure to it sparked the idea that he’d like to work as a stuntman on movies and TV shows.

“I think it was one of those things, I saw (my siblings) doing well – I don’t think there was ever a moment of doubt in my head, I didn’t allow myself to think of any other career path,’’ Kannegiesser says.

“Growing up, a handful of people said ‘that’s a cool idea’ and everyone else said ‘that’s a stupid idea’. I had the world against me with the idea of becoming a stuntman.’’

He remembers poring over James Bond movies – “that was a pretty big inspiration, Dad and I would always sit down and watch James Bond,’’ Kannegiesser says – and he loved the behind-the-scenes extras that came on many DVDs, which showed how stunts were carried out.

“When it came down to me learning how to do everything, I wasn’t so much of a daredevil,’’ Kannegiesser says.

“I was always kind of athletic, but in a different way to all my mates who played football. It was before parkour was really a thing – I was kind of doing that before I knew what it was.’’

He says his parents – who still live on Hobart’s Eastern Shore – were initially hesitant about his unusual career path, but were always supportive.

And once Kannegiesser did his research on professional stunt courses, and sat his parents down and explained how everything worked, and could show that there were significant skills and expertise involved, along with professional courses which could lead to a professional stunt career, they were happier to support his ambitions.

“They realised it wasn’t just a daredevil’s game,’’ Kannegiesser says.

“It had to be safe, and that made them comfortable with the idea of me being a stuntman.’’

He flew to Queensland’s Gold Coast for a month-long course, and got a taste of the stunting world, which made him even more certain it was what he wanted to do.

When he returned to Hobart he decided he needed to move to the Gold Coast, so he packed his bags and gave it a shot. But it was a struggle financially and he reluctantly returned to Hobart, where he continued working as a phone salesman, a job he initially began after leaving college. He didn’t particularly enjoy the work, but it allowed him to save money, while also perfecting stunts and attending training courses in his spare time.

A year and a half later, Kannegiesser moved back to the Gold Coast – where he still lives – and this time it was an easier transition.

He landed a job playing superhero The Flash at Warner Bros Movie World. He spent a lot of time posing for photos with fans, but also got to perform stunts as part of the roving fight team.

He was also training for 40 hours a week at a stunt gym, forming vital connections within the industry, including meeting Keir Beck, an industry leader who had worked on James Bond films and became Kannegiesser’s mentor.

“The first job I got to work with him on, full-time, was actually a Jackie Chan movie filmed in Sydney called Bleeding Steel,’’ Kannegiesser says.

“That was pretty much my introduction to being a full-time stuntman.’’

That was in 2016 and Kannegiesser says he’s “worked fairly solidly as a stuntman since that time’’, something he feels “very, very lucky” to be able to do.

He spent time in Thailand and Georgia working on Fast and the Furious 9, he worked in Berlin on Uncharted, and he saw plenty of Portugal, London, Rome and Turin while working on Fast X (Fast and the Furious 10).

He’s also worked on a number of films, TV shows and commercials within Australia, including Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge, In Like Flynn, Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis.

“I was lucky enough to double as Tom Hanks (who played Colonel Tom Parker in Elvis) for a couple of weeks in a couple of driving scenes,’’ Kannegiesser says.

“I’ve also worked with Jackie Chan and I worked on Uncharted with Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg … I got to hang out with those guys, and meet them and work closely with them. I’ve been able to be on a lot of high-budget films … and working overseas as well, quite a bit, which is pretty special.’’

Kannegiesser has also worked in Tasmania – on Rosehaven and The Kettering Incident – and says the latter, filmed in 2014, was particularly memorable. Because not only was it his first paid TV stunt role, but he also starred in a fight scene alongside his brother.

“He got paid to beat me up,’’ Kannegiesser laughs.

He says working as a stuntman in his home state was a long-held dream come true.

“For me, I loved the idea, especially for my first job, of coming back to Tassie,’’ Kannegiesser says.

“To get to come home to Tassie as a stuntman, it was kind of nice to know it could be achieved. There was no one really down there, especially when I was at school, that took it seriously, they all thought ‘nope, it’s not a real job’, so to come home and be a stuntman in my own state … that was amazing.’’

No two films are the same and no two days are the same – work hours are long and erratic, some films are shot at night, and some sets he only works on for a few days, while on other projects he’s required to work for several months.

And the stunt requirements for each film or TV show also vary greatly, and there’s obviously a lot of technical planning that goes into flying actors through the air or crashing cars or creating explosions. And while getting the perfect shot is the aim of the game, safety is always the top priority.

Sometimes Kannegiesser is a body double for actors, other times he’s more of a crash test dummy, executing stunts over and over again to ensure everything is just right, before training actors to attempt the same stunts.

“Being a test dummy is kind of fun,’’ Kannegiesser reveals.

“You get to do all the fun stuff but not be on screen, so it’s pretty incredible. Flying through the air is amazing, you can’t really explain the feeling, you’re defying gravity which is really cool. Even being on set prepping other people’s stunts is really exciting.’’

He worked as a performer and as one of the head stunt riggers on The Fall Guy – it’s a film about a stuntman (Ryan Gosling), which is also directed by an ex-stuntman (David Leitch) so of course it features plenty of impressive stunts.

One of the film’s stunts actually broke a world record – with stunt driver Logan Holladay rolling a car eight-and-a-half times, setting a new Guinness World Record. The previous record was seven rolls, achieved by a stunt driver during James Bond film Casino Royale in 2006.

Kannegiesser says it was “a thrill and a joy” to be part of the team that helped Holladay safely execute the record-breaking stunt.

Ryan Gosling and co-star Emily Blunt have heaped praise on the stunt performers that worked on the film, through various interviews and awards speeches they’ve made, with Gosling likening them to a bunch of superheroes, each with their own specific skill set, like The Avengers.

Gosling did some of his own stunts in the movie, aided by people like Kannegiesser who trained him to be able to do that.

Kannegiesser says a lot of people in the stunt world come from professional backgrounds, and are former gymnasts, martial artists, boxers or motorcyclists.

But then there’s “a rare breed of weirdos like myself” who come into stunting from none of those backgrounds.

“It’s pretty exciting to meet so many interesting people, who have helped me on this journey,’’ he explains.

“It’s one of those jobs … you struggle sometimes if there’s no work, it can kind of get to you. When work dries up, like (the actors’ strike) last year, you’ve got to be mentally strong to ride those times out. But when it’s on … I love it.’’

As much as he enjoys stunts, Kannegiesser is looking at expanding his repertoire and is keen to try his hand at producing and directing.

And despite his work on big-budget films overseas, he’s yet to actually work in America, so he’d love to visit his US connections in future and see what work opportunities might arise.

He’s currently working on a movie on the Gold Coast – although he can’t say what it is – and is excited about other projects in the pipeline.

Sometimes, when he’s working in an awe-inspiring location, as part of a stunt team on a Hollywood blockbuster, Kannegiesser still can’t believe how things have played out for him.

“When I kind of stop and really think about it, I’m pretty chuffed,’’ he says of his career success.

“It was a bit of a struggle when I was younger, with teachers and everyone telling me it was a no-go, and telling me why it couldn’t be done … it was kind of hard to find my path.

“So 100 per cent I appreciate it whenever I’m on a job. Like any job you have your ups and downs, but the majority of days I stand there and look at what I’m doing and I still pinch myself at times, it’s pretty special.

“I’ve had the opportunity where I’ve worked on two of Ron Howard’s films (Thirteen Lives and Eden) that were shot here (in Australia) – he’s standing right in front of me (on set), and I’m thinking ‘that’s Ron Howard’, not many people get to have this experience, it’s something else.

“I’ve had times where I’ve lived off baked beans and bread for months at a time. That struggling artist thing you hear about is definitely real. But it makes it so much sweeter when you actually succeed.’’ •