Leif Havdale

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

Leif Havdale is a stuntman and stunt coordinator who worked along with Antal Kalik and Reagan Sieg as the PX70 motorcycle stunt doubles for James T. Kirk actor Chris Pine on Star Trek Beyond under Stunt Coordinator Mike Gunther.

Havdale has started his career in the stunt industry in the early 2000s. He has been a member of Asphalt Junkiez, a Canadian motorcycle stunt team. With this team, Havdale worked as stunt performer and stunt coordinator on over thirty live shows such as Monster Jam 2007-09 and the Vancouver Motorcycle Show 2005-09. He also worked with this team on the three direct-to-video documentaries Throttle Trauma (2006), Throttle Trauma 2: Street Kings (2008), and Throttle Trauma 3: Once More We Survive (2011).

Among his earlier work are stunt performances in the television series The Unprofessionals (2001) and 10.5 (2004, with Brian Markinson, Emy Aneke and Marc Worden). He doubled actor Curtis Bechthold in the sport drama The Rhino Brothers (2001) and also performed stunts in the television fantasy film Marker (2005), Severed (2005, with Julian Christopher and Kimberly Chiang), the drama Seeking Fear (2005, with Fraser Aitcheson), and Final Days of Planet Earth (2006, with Monique Ganderton and Lani Gelera).

Between 2004 and 2007, Havdale worked on all four seasons of The 4400, created by Scott Peters and René Echevarria. He was the main stunt double for lead actor Joel Gretsch and also worked as assistant stunt coordinator to stunt coordinator Gaston Morrison. The series co-starred and featured Billy Campbell, Kaj-Erik Eriksen, Jeffrey Combs, Penny Johnson, Rob LaBelle, Alice Krige, Kevin Tighe, Julian Christopher, Roger Cross, Robert Picardo, Glenn Morshower, Constance Towers, Stephen McHattie, Charles Napier, Brian George, Bill Mondy and stunts by Monique Ganderton, Fraser Aitcheson, Trevor Jones, Kimberly Chiang, Ali Dunn and Chad Sayn.

Havdale also doubled actor Joel Gretsch in both seasons of V between 2009 and 2011. In addition, he doubled another lead actor, Logan Huffman, and worked as stunt actor, one of Eli Cohen's guys in a second season episode. He also worked as cover stunt coordinator for Gaston Morrison on the fifth episode of the first season, titled "Welcome to the War" in 2009. V also featured recurring guest stars Rekha Sharma and Jay Karnes.

In 2005, Havdale started his work with actor Jensen Ackles. He first doubled him in the horror film Devour (2005, with William Sadler, Emy Aneke, and Christopher Gordon). He continued to work as Ackles stunt double during the first five seasons of the fantasy series Supernatural between 2005 and 2010 and also in the eighth and ninth season between 2013 and 2014. In addition, he doubled actor Jake Abel in the fourth season episode "Jump the Shark" (2009) and actor Misha Collins in the tenth season between 2014 and 2015.

In 2006, Havdale became associated with another television series. He doubled lead actor Michael Rosenbaum on Smallville during its fifth through seventh seasons (2006-08). When Rosenbaum departed from the series, Havdale continued to work as stunt double during the shows eighth and ninth season. Actors he doubled for include Adrian Hough (2007), Ari Cohen (2008-09), Tom Welling (2008-09), Craig Stanghetta (2009), Justin Hartley (2009-10), and Callum Blue (2009-10). In addition, he appeared in several ND stunt roles such as a commando, a prison guard, a black op, and a junkie between 2006 and 2010. Smallville also co-starred/guest starred John Glover, Sam Witwer, James Marsters, Phil Morris, Rekha Sharma, Julian Christopher, Bill Mondy and Alisen Down and stuntwork by Chris Sayour, Lauro Chartrand, Hugo Steele, Krista Bell, Fraser Aitcheson, Monique Ganderton, Kimberly Chiang, Shauna Duggins, Ali Dunn, Lani Gerlera, Rochelle Okoye and Rhys Williams.

Havdale later worked on several other DC Comics television series. He was the motorcycle stunt double for lead actor Stephen Amell during the first season of Arrow between 2012 and 2013, the stunt double for Paul Blackthorne in the shows second season (2013-14), and performed stunts in the second throu6h sixth season (2013-17). This work earned him several awards. He won the UBCP Award in the category Best Stunt in two consecutive years – 2014 and 2015. In 2016 he received two more UBCP Award nominations in the category Best Stunt for his work on the Arrow episodes "Code of Silence" and "The Candidate", the latter one shared with stuntman Rhys Williams. On five episodes of the shows fourth season he also worked as additional stunt coordinator along with stunt coordinator J.J. Makaro and fight coordinator James Bamford. Other DC shows he worked on include The Flash (2014-15 and 2017, stunt actor and stunt double for Liam McIntyre) and Supergirl (2016-17, stunt actor). For The Flash episode "Legends of Today", Havdale earned another UBCP Award nomination in the category Best Stunt in 2016. For the Supergirl episode "Homecoming", he won this award in 2017, shared with Corry Glass, Jon Kralt, and Simon Burnett.

Among the many actors he doubled for are Niall Matter, David Duchovny in The X-Files, John Reardon in Merlin's Apprentice (2006), Paul Wesley in the unsold television pilot Fallen (2006, with Rick Worthy, J.J. Perry, Hugo Steele and Rhys Williams), Joey Kern in the television comedy Totally Awesome (2006), John Tench in the pilot episode of Blade: The Series (2006, with Bill Mondy, Fraser Aitcheson, Krista Bell, Kimani Ray Smith and Rorelee Tio), Pete Antico in the action drama Afghan Knights (2007, stunt coordination by Monty Cox), Dylan Baker in When a Man Falls in the Forrest (2007), John Mann in the pilot episode of Bionic Woman (2007, with Miguel Ferrer, Mark A. Sheppard, Conrad Coates and Trevor Addie), Michael Hogan in Battlestar Galactica episode "He That Believeth in Me" (2007, with Edward James Olmos and Rekha Sharma), Angus Sutherland in Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008, with Autumn Reeser), Matt Bellefleur in the drama Free Style (2008), Jeff Fahey in the Psych episode "Daredevils!" (2008, with Corbin Bernsen, Bill Mondy and Krista Bell), Brendan Fehr in the television mini-series Samurai Girl (2008, coordinated by Kimani Ray Smith), Tom McCarthy in 2012 (2009), and Robin Nielsen in the action thriller A Dangerous Man (2009, stunt coordination by Lauro Chartrand).

Havdale became Robert Pattinson's stunt double in The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011), and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012). Here, he worked with Billy Burke, Michael Welch, Hugo Steele, Trevor Addie, Kimberly Chiang, Monique Ganderton, Krista Bell, Lauro Chartrand, Lani Gelera, John Stoneham, Jr., Todd Scott, Christian Sloan, Ed Anders, Jeff Imada, Hugh Aodh O'Brien, Rochelle Okoye, Bridgett Riley, Aaron Toney, Kofi Yiadom, Chris Brewster, Stacey Carino, Rich Cetrone, Anis Cheurfa, Jayson Dumenigo, Christian Fletcher and Brian Hite.

Other projects he worked as stuntman on include Scary Movie 4 (2006), Eight Days to Live (2006), Little Man (2006, with LaFaye Baker, Krista Bell, Lauro Chartrand, Trevor Jones, Michael Owen, Chris Palermo, Rex J. Reddick, Brian Simpson, Kimani Ray Smith and Hugo Steele), the drama Almost Heaven (2006), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007, with Doug Jones, Zach Grenier, Stan Lee, Trevor Addie, Byron Brisco, Kimberly Chiang, Monique Ganderton, Lani Gelera, Dorian Kingi, Brian Lydiatt, John Stoneham, Jr. and Rorelee Tio), episodes of Flash Gordon (2008), Reaper (2008), Stargate Atlantis (2008, starring Jewel Staite and Paul McGillion, with Connor Trinneer), and Sanctuary (2009-11), Far Cry (2008), Watchmen (2009, with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Matt Frewer, Stephen McHattie, Rob LaBelle, Frank Novak, Ron Fassler and Ali Dunn), and Tooth Fairy (2010, with Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Judd, Seth MacFarlane and Lia Lam).

Havdale worked as stunt double for Robert Lawrenson on the second season of Sanctuary (2009-10), for James Roday on the fourth season of Psych (2009-10), for Alden Adair, Adrien Dorval and Ryan Kennedy on Super Hybrid (2010), for Richard Faraci and Teach Grant on the horror film Hard Ride to Hell (2010, with Miguel Ferrer, Monique Ganderton and Lauro Chartrand), for Patrick Wilson on The A-Team (2010, with Maury Sterling, Anita Brown, Alex Madison, Ben Bray, Jimmy Ortega, Dwight Schultz, Fraser Aitcheson and Jennifer Cheon), as motorcycle stunt double for Garrett Hedlund and Jeff Bridges on Tron: Legacy (2010), and for Jerry Trainor on Best Player (2011, with Kye Walstrom and Thom Williams).

On Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), Havdale doubled Poseidon actor Kevin McKidd and played one of the Lotus security guards. He worked on stunt safety on The Stranger (2010) and performed stunts in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010), 30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010, with Diora Baird, Mia Kirshner, Monique Ganderton, Ed Anders, Kimani Ray Smith, Krista Bell and Trevor Jones), and in episodes of Psych (2010, with Corbin Bernsen), Human Target (2010 & 2011), Eureka (2010-11), True Justice (2010-11), Fringe (2010-11, starring Joshua Jackson and John Noble), and Chaos (2011).

Havdale performed stunts in commercials for Miller Lite and Capital One – both coordinated by Dan Radford. As stunt coordinator, he worked on a Work Safe Industrial series and on a Felony Test Drive. Other credits as stunt coordinator include the short projects Identity Crisis, 2 Sails and a Return, Chicago Pianos, Undying Truth, Kniving Town, Heavy Hitters, On the Run, Colouring on the Walls (2011), and Her Story (2011, with Rorelee Tio), the television pilot Jesus Christ, the video game Slapshot, the trailer for Wounded, Project 272, the television thriller Past Obsessions (2011, with Alisen Down), and Monster Brawl (2011, with Jason Deline). On BloodRayne: The Third Reich (2011), he performed stunts and worked as assistant stunt coordinator. The film featured Clint Howard and stunts by Kimberly Chiang. Credited as "Falling Leif Stunts", Havdale received special thanks in the end credits of the short film Jake and Jasper: A Ferret Tale in 2011.

Among his stunt work are Auschwitz (2011), episodes of The Outer Limits, Tru Calling, The Collector, Killer Instinct, Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate Universe, Psych, and Beauty & the Beast, Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Blubberella (2011), the television drama Bringing Ashley Home (2011, with Jennifer Morrison), Final Destination 5 (2011, with Tony Todd), The Big Year (2011, with Joey Aresco, Steven Weber, Corbin Bernsen, Byron Brisco, Todd Scott and stunt coordination by Ed Anders), episodes of True Justice (2011-12), Nikita (2011), Fairly Legal (2012), and Hell on Wheels (2012, with Anson Mount and Colm Meaney).

His stunt work as a Russian Undead in Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) earned him a Taurus World Stunt Award nomination in the category Hardest Hit in 2013. Between 2011 and 2013, Havdale stunt coordinated the short science fiction series The True Heroines, starring Fiona Vroom. Other projects he worked as stunt coordinator on include the pilot episode of Citizen (2012), the short horror film To Save One's Self (2012, with Kimberly Chiang and Jason Bell), the short action film Calling Out Fire (2013), Heaven Is for Real (2014), the pilot episode of Silk (2015), the television movie The Legend of Davy Crockett (2015, with assistant stunt coordination by Trevor Addie and fight choreography by Kimberly Chiang), The Edge of Seventeen (2016), The Switch (2016), as day cover stunt coordinator on an episode of Shut Eye (2016), the last two episodes of When We Rise (2017), and Wonder (2017).

He continued to work as stunt double such as for Joe Anderson in The Grey (2011, stunt coordination by Ben Bray), for Woody Jeffreys in True Justice (2011, coordinated by Lauro Chartrand), David Hoflin and Chad Rook in the pilot episode of Alcatraz (2012, with Santiago Cabrera, Leon Rippy, Bumper Robinson, Paul McGillion, Rhys Williams, Steve Wharton and James D. Weston II), Scott Speedman in Underworld: Awakening (2012), Chris Pine in This Means War (2012, with Tom Hardy), Michael Graziadei in The Secret Circle episode "Crystal" (2012, with Thomas Dekker and John de Lancie), unknown actors in the movies Chestnut, Kiss at Pine Lake (2012), Big Sky, and Total Recall (2012), Eion Bailey Once Upon a Time (2012, with Jennifer Morrison, Raphael Sbarge and Tony Amendola), Luke Pasqualino in Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome (2012, with John Pyper-Ferguson and Brian Markinson), Danny Rahim in four episodes of Primeval: New World (2012, created by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens), Roark Critchlow in The 12 Disasters of Christmas (2012), Colin O'Donoghue in the second and fourth season of Once Upon a Time (2012-13 and 2014-15), Noah Dalton Danby in the first season of Defiance (2013), Barry Sloan in Penthouse North (2013), Matthew Davis in the short horror series Cult (2013, co-starring Robert Knepper and Aisha Hinds), Ryan Kwanten in The Right Kind of Wrong (2013), Max Thieriot in the first season of Bates Motel (2013-14), Robert Gant in The Tomorrow People (2014), Daniel di Tomasso in the second season of Witches of East End (2013-14), James Frain in the first season of Intruders (2014), Glenn Howerton and Andy King in the first season of Fargo (2014), Henry Ian Cusick in The 100 (2014-19), Jason Lewis in If There Be Thorns (2015, with stunt coordination by Byron Brisco and Hugo Steele), and Armando Canales in the Beyond episode "No Es Bueno" (2017, with Michael McGrady).

Further stunt work include The Marine 3: Homefront (2013, with Neal McDonough, Richard Ortega-Miro and Marcelo Tubert), episodes of Once Upon a Time (2013 and 2015) and The Tomorrow People (2013-14), the thriller Bailout: The Age of Greed (2013, with Clint Howard, Byron Brisco and Hugo Steele), Horns (2013, with Krista Bell, Byron Brisco, Brian Lydiatt and Kimani Ray Smith), White House Down (2013, with Barbara Williams, Rhys Williams and Simon Northwood), The Interview (2014, with Charles S. Chun, Lia Lam and Thomas Cadrot), Godzilla (2014, with Brian Markinson, Todd Scott, Bill Blair and T.J. Storm), Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014, with Bill Cobbs, Andrea Martin, Matt Frewer, Rachael Harris and Alice Eve), the horror film Dead Rising (2015, with Virginia Madsen), episodes of iZombie (2015, with Molly Hagan, Rorelee Tio and Lucius Fairburn) and Wayward Pines (2015-16), Hidden (2015), Poltergeist (2015, stunt coordination by John Stoneham, Jr.), the television comedy Mark & Russell's Wild Ride (2015), Deadpool (2016), The BFG (2016, with Bill Hader and Matt Frewer), Monster Trucks (2016), episodes of Aftermath (2016), Shooter (2016), and Travelers (2016), Fifty Shades Darker (2017), Power Rangers (2017, with Bill Hader, Fiona Vroom and Fred Tatasciore), Death Note (2017, with Shea Whigham, Paul Nakauchi, Christian Sloan, Paul McGillion and Natalie Moon), and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination in 2018 in the category Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.

Havdale also worked as motorcycle stunt double for Ryan Reynolds on Deadpool 2 (2018), doubled on Welcome to Marwen (2018, with Conrad Coates, Fraser Aitcheson, Trevor Jones, Marshall A. Bingham and Nilo Ghajar), as stunt double for John Cena in Playing with Fire (2019), for Henry Golding on Snake Eyes (2020, with Peter Mensah and stunt coordination by Kimani Ray Smith), and for Finn Wolfhard on Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021). He worked as stunt coordinator on The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019, with Brian Markinson, Clay Cullen and Bret Kiene), and performed stunts in Skyscraper (2018), The Predator (2018), Bad Times at the El Royale (2018, with Marcus Young, Mike Washlake, Rorelee Tio, Todd Scott, Rex J. Reddick, Chris O'Hara, Trevor Jones, Lani Gelera, Krista Bell, Ed Anders, Robert Alonzo and Lucius Fairburn), The Twilight Zone episode "Not All Men" (2019, with Fraser Aitcheson, Lauro Chartrand and Cameron Hilts), and Sonic the Hedgehog (2020, along with Krista Bell, Byron Brisco, Nilo Ghajar, Cameron Hilts, Trevor Jones, Todd Scott, Kye Walstrom, Brennan Walstrom, Breanna Watkins, Rhys Williams and Tom McComas).

Leif Havdale

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