00:00When I go to work, I light myself on fire,
00:04I jump through glass windows, hang from helicopters,
00:07and get blasted by cars.
00:10I'm Lucy Romberg, and I'm Alyssa McCarthy's stunt double.
00:19I describe my best day at work by going home in one piece.
00:24One of the biggest misconceptions is probably
00:27that stunt people are fearless.
00:28For me, at least, that's not true at all.
00:32I'm literally afraid before every single stunt I do.
00:36I still get the butterflies,
00:38but I think the butterflies keeps you honest.
00:46Everyone gets into stunt work differently.
00:48For me, I was a national champion gymnast in college.
00:50I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life,
00:52so one of my teammates was out in L.A. doing stunts and acting
00:55and just kind of basically convinced me to come out and try it.
00:59Working with Melissa McCarthy, I can't even say it's a dream come true
01:03because it's so much more than that.
01:04There's no way I could have ever have dreamt to get to be working with someone
01:09so talented, so loyal, so wonderful, so funny.
01:12I love to put on the wardrobe, put on all my stuff, and I become Melissa.
01:21Stump performers are absolutely actors.
01:23I mean, we have to embody that character.
01:25We have to become the character of the person that we're doubling or it doesn't work.
01:30I have conversations with Melissa all the time, like,
01:32is this funny, is that funny?
01:33Anyone can fall down the stairs, but it's up to the stunt performer
01:36to be able to do it over and over again consistently
01:38and make it look as gnarly and out of control as it can be.
01:48Some stunt performers make over a million dollars a year,
01:51and a lot of performers make six figures.
01:53Some performers make $10,000 a year.
01:55The biggest compliment as a stunt performer you can get
01:58is being put into an actor's contract.
02:01I mean, that's a huge deal because production has to come to you first.
02:04The fact that Melissa put me in her contract, she trusts me enough,
02:07it warms my heart more than I could ever portray.
02:11This helmet has actually literally saved my life.
02:14I got crashed into a brick wall headfirst,
02:17so had I not had this on, it could have been not so great.
02:20These look like chicken cutlets, huh?
02:22Pink.
02:23It doesn't look like much, but I mean, the impact that these can take,
02:27it's a difference between being bruised up on take one
02:30and being able to do 25 takes and walk away without any dings.
02:36Some of the most dangerous stunts I've gotten to do
02:38is getting hit by a car.
02:40I got to hang from a helicopter on spy
02:43where the pilot was like literally trying to like get me to fall off.
02:49Gravery is definitely important.
02:51You need to be tough.
02:52You need to know that there are going to be times where you get hurt.
02:56I have lost friends.
02:59My good, my buddy John Bernacker was killed on an accident on set.
03:04Yeah, he was way too young, way too vibrant, way too,
03:08way too good of a person to deserve that.
03:11Some delicious baby spinach.
03:16Shove that in.
03:18And some kale.
03:20As a stunt performer, your body is everything.
03:23Frozen blueberries.
03:24So you have to treat it with the utmost respect.
03:27And then I take a lot of hits to the heads, unfortunately,
03:31so my memory's not the best.
03:32I put in a little bit of lion's mane.
03:35I tried doing it just in water, but you can't even get it down.
03:39Like it's the worst thing you'll ever taste in your life.
03:42So the stronger you are, the less likely you are to get injured.
03:44Our bodies really are a temple.
03:45And if I can't work because I'm injured, then I have no income.
03:49So it's imperative to take care of yourself.
03:53The secret to life and the shake of champions right here.
03:59I love boxing.
04:00It's good for us for choreography, for fight choreography,
04:03because it helps you to remember the combos.
04:06And the more you train your mind, the easier it becomes.
04:08I do martial arts.
04:10I do boxing.
04:10I do yoga.
04:12I do sprints.
04:13I play soccer.
04:14I play tennis.
04:15Racquetball.
04:18Sorry.
04:19Boom.
04:19You okay?
04:22You know, the healthier your body is,
04:24the longer you'll get to work and the more money you'll make,
04:26and the less likely you are to not be in a wheelchair when you're 80.
04:33Wow.
04:35Good girl, baby.
04:37Yeah.
04:39Body image is an interesting thing.
04:42You know, growing up as an athlete, as a gymnast,
04:44being in a leotard in front of thousands of people,
04:46it's, you know, kind of makes you very self-aware.
04:50And so when I was in college, I developed an eating disorder,
04:53and it was a really big struggle to overcome that.
04:58And then from there, I came to Hollywood with the most beautiful,
05:03skinniest people in the world.
05:05And so, you know, that kind of led into issues of its own.
05:08Just, I'm not thin enough.
05:09I'm not pretty enough.
05:10I'm not good enough.
05:11I'm not talented enough.
05:12All these things start to creep in.
05:14But it's taken me a long time, but I finally reached a place
05:18to where I have the confidence to love myself
05:20and to allow myself to love myself.
05:22She's just a little badass.
05:24Just like her mom.
05:25Yeah?
05:26We're tough, huh?
05:32As hard as this industry is anyways,
05:35it's even more difficult as a woman.
05:37I've just had to work extra hard and stay dedicated
05:40and just honestly not give up
05:42and take rejection with a grain of salt
05:44and just keep my head forward and let's go.
05:58We'll see you next time.
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