<description>&lt;p&gt;Todd Jones has crashed into walls, been punched in the face, flown through the air,  tumbled down stairs, and fallen off high buildings, numerous times--willingly.  He is a professional stuntman for movies and television shows.  Todd also is a strongman: among other things, he holds a Guinness World Record for &amp;quot;hearting&amp;quot; horseshoes (bending steel with his hands).  Think all of this sounds almost impossible?  Todd says he&amp;apos;s not superhuman--he has simply worked hard and not given up: the secret to his success is perseverance.  &lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;In this episode:&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;01:56--How and why Todd transitioned from acting to stunt work&lt;br/&gt;02:39--What he learned at &amp;quot;stunt school&amp;quot;--including getting set on fire&lt;br/&gt;04:35--How to land correctly from a fall&lt;br/&gt;06:28--Todd&amp;apos;s first stunt gig&lt;br/&gt;08:10--His role on &amp;quot;The Newsroom&amp;quot; that kick-started his career&lt;br/&gt;10:53--A typical day on set&lt;br/&gt;12:30--The two biggest stunts Todd has ever done on screen&lt;br/&gt;17:29--The qualities needed to be a stunt person&lt;br/&gt;21:08--What his family thinks watching him on screen&lt;br/&gt;22:26--How Todd got started bending steel &lt;br/&gt;25:29--The process of setting a Guinness World Record for &amp;quot;hearting&amp;quot; horseshoes&lt;br/&gt;27:33--The power of perseverance: how and why Todd came to believe this so deeply&lt;br/&gt;32:46--As you reach your goals, keep setting the bar higher: what else can I do?&lt;br/&gt;33:24--How Todd stays in shape&lt;br/&gt;34:38--The work schedule of a professional stunt person: &amp;quot;consistently inconsistent&amp;quot;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;As promised in the episode, here is a link to the episode of &amp;quot;The Newsroom&amp;quot; in which Todd appeared with Jeff Daniels: &lt;a href='https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2052565/?ref_=nm_rvi_nm_i_1'&gt;https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2052565/?ref_=nm_rvi_nm_i_1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Want to know more about Todd?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Find him on TikTok: &lt;a href='https://www.tiktok.com/@toddryanjones'&gt;https://www.tiktok.com/@toddryanjones&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Watch him on YouTube: &lt;a href='https://www.youtube.com/user/ToddRJones'&gt;https://www.youtube.com/user/ToddRJones&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Follow him in Instagram: &lt;a href='https://www.instagram.com/toddryanjones/'&gt;https://www.instagram.com/toddryanjones/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Want to know more about &amp;quot;What It&amp;apos;s Like To...&amp;quot;?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Sign up to be on our Insiders&amp;apos; List to receive our newsletters and insiders&amp;apos; information! Go to whatitsliketo.net (sign-ups are at the bottom of the page)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Follow us on social media:&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.instagram.com/what.its.like.to.podcast/'&gt;Instagram&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.instagram.com/what.its.like.to.podcast/'&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href='https://twitter.com/theexpod'&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-pearson-garr-42686a91/'&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://patreon.com/whatitsliketo"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

What It's Like To...

Elizabeth Pearson Garr

What It's Like To Be a Stuntman and a Strongman

FEB 21, 202438 MIN
What It's Like To...

What It's Like To Be a Stuntman and a Strongman

FEB 21, 202438 MIN

Description

Todd Jones has crashed into walls, been punched in the face, flown through the air,  tumbled down stairs, and fallen off high buildings, numerous times--willingly.  He is a professional stuntman for movies and television shows.  Todd also is a strongman: among other things, he holds a Guinness World Record for "hearting" horseshoes (bending steel with his hands).  Think all of this sounds almost impossible?  Todd says he's not superhuman--he has simply worked hard and not given up: the secret to his success is perseverance. 

In this episode:

01:56--How and why Todd transitioned from acting to stunt work
02:39--What he learned at "stunt school"--including getting set on fire
04:35--How to land correctly from a fall
06:28--Todd's first stunt gig
08:10--His role on "The Newsroom" that kick-started his career
10:53--A typical day on set
12:30--The two biggest stunts Todd has ever done on screen
17:29--The qualities needed to be a stunt person
21:08--What his family thinks watching him on screen
22:26--How Todd got started bending steel
25:29--The process of setting a Guinness World Record for "hearting" horseshoes
27:33--The power of perseverance: how and why Todd came to believe this so deeply
32:46--As you reach your goals, keep setting the bar higher: what else can I do?
33:24--How Todd stays in shape
34:38--The work schedule of a professional stunt person: "consistently inconsistent"

As promised in the episode, here is a link to the episode of "The Newsroom" in which Todd appeared with Jeff Daniels: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2052565/?ref_=nm_rvi_nm_i_1

Want to know more about Todd?


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