STUNTMAN
A Man for All Reasons Alessandro Folchitto, military and tactical coordinator for film By Ca ro l Bada r acco Padge t t
A lessandro Folchitto sounds like a character in a film. He’s 6’4”, was born and raised in Rome, Italy, where he once played professional basketball, and is a retired captain of the Italian Special Forces (where only 2,000 people have completed training since 1942). But that’s his story in real life, before he ever stepped onto a film set. And long before he was waiting for production to resume, post-quarantine, on his two current projects, MGM’s Samaritan with Sylvester Stallone; and Netflix’s Red Notice with Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds, both filming in Atlanta. In these action thrillers, Folchitto serves as military and tactical coordinator, making sure the guns, munitions, explosions, stunts, and all things related are true to life, save for some “movie magic”. Add to that, he has personal stunt roles in both of these films. How did Folchitto go from leading a life that sounds like something from a movie to actually working in film in real life? With a little help from his mother, who had relocated from Rome, Italy to Atlanta. She met the owner of a special effects (FX) company, Bob Vazquez of East Coast Films, one evening in a restaurant in Peachtree City, GA, and when she heard him talking about his life she struck up a conversation. Vazquez just happened to be ex- U.S. Army Special Forces, Green Beret. “So I came to the United States in 2011, sponsored by Bobby Vazquez, local 479 in Georgia at the time,” Folchitto says. “And I worked in three movies for him.” A year after Folchitto’s arrival in the U.S., tragically, both his mother and Vazquez passed away within two months of one another. “I no longer had family here, no connections in the business, and I had to figure out what to do,” he says. So, he went to an audition for a stunt role in the sci-fi action film Insurgent , of the Divergent series starring Shailene Woodley. As he waited in a crowd of people, he was spotted by Duffy Gaver, a stunt man, actor, and trainer to Hollywood’s elite. As he and Gaver talked, they realized that
Since then, Folchitto’s momentum in the film industry hasn’t slowed. His work as a military and tactical coordinator led to the position of stunt coordinator as well. At times he’s been a stuntman and an actor with lines, which can be a difficult combination to achieve. “I’m lucky that I’m 6’4”, big, athletic, and with a bold Italian accent,” Folchitto says. “That helps me because most of the time the stunt coordinator is going to have me be the killer, the bodyguard, the henchman. I’m a good example for that.” Difficult stunts, too, will often go to the Italian Special Forces ex-captain and alum. “Sometimes these guys might need an assassin to show up in a room that’s totally dark, no light, with their face totally covered to where there’s no way to see correctly,” Folchitto says, “and you need to be able to pull the gun from your jacket, load the gun, put the munitions inside the gun, shoot in somebody’s direction, and pull back. That’s not easy to do when you’re blinded.” Examples of Folchitto’s jaw-dropping abilities are plentiful in his IMDb profile to date, which includes roles in Avengers: Infinity War, The Suicide Squad, Game Night, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Ant- Man and the Wasp , and Pitch Perfect 3 , where he served as a stunt double for John Lithgow. Today, Folchitto is even more immersed in the film industry. He is represented by Lauren Muller at RCM Talent. And he owns Action ATL, a company that provides stunt and tactical training for actors and stunt-actors, as well as government military consulting, research, and development. In addition, world-renowned Italian firearms manufacturer Beretta sought him out to represent their firearms and secure product placement in film productions. It’s also worth noting that the United States government awarded him for a military operation he performed in Afghanistan back in 2010, before he rose to prominence in movie work. Undoubtedly, Folchitto’s position in the film industry will only continue on its rapid-fire rise. And the list of reasons why is, clearly, mind-blowing.
Alessandro Folchitto
Folchitto and Will Smith
they shared a friend in the special forces in Israel. “That connection made it possible for him to check on my background right there,” Folchitto says. “And 10 minutes
later, Duffy brought me up to the film’s director and said to him, ‘When I leave in five days, Alessandro will be in charge of my work.’ And so I was the war and military coordinator for Insurgent and Allegiant , back to back.”
@alessandro_folchitto | @rcmlife | actionatl.com
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