HE’S the man you don’t recognise — but he’s been on our screens for over 30 years.

And that’s just the way stuntman Paul Flanagan wants to keep it.

He’s worked on and featured in a number of household titles, such as Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Wrath of the Titans and Moulin Rouge — but he says rather than going to A-List parties, he’d much rather have a cuppa and a biscuit at his mum’s in his hometown of Farnworth.

As well as stunts, the 59-year old also specialises in special effects and prop building, as well as production managing and directing.

He admits he has tried to retire on numerous occasions, but the thrill of the set keeps enticing him back — but he says despite his extensive CV spanning over three decades, he has no interest in fame.

He said: “People ask me whether I would like to be famous. Every time I say no. I love nothing better than being able to go to car boot sales, for example, and do other normal things without being noticed.

“If you’re famous your life is taken away from you. I’d rather be the person who at most makes you think, ‘have I seen him before?’.”

His acting career started at the tender age of six when he played a star role of Prince Charming — but he admits his roles after then have always been more typecast due to his modest stature, leading him to fall into stunt work.

He said: “I became a stunt actor without realising it. In the early days I was cast in roles such as a rugby player that wrecked a bar in Corrie but even before then from being a teenager I would go to the gym and throw myself off onto crash mats to see how to land.

“In my 20s I started learning fencing, horse riding and jousting, and I’d always had motorbikes, and I started learning to handle cars on different surfaces, to help me get more specialist roles.

“So into my 30s I became an action actor, but I also made props for theatres if they struggled to find them, such as swords.

“I was once asked to jump a couple of cars on my trails bike for a scene, and it went from there.

“I’d watch films with Basil Rathbone and Errol Flynn and try to draw out the action scenes so I could learn the techniques.

“I’m from an engineering background because my father was one, meaning that I break down problems. So if I have to set myself on fire I have to find out about fire retardant clothing such as the Nomex suit.

“You usually allow around 10 seconds per suit, so you need six suits for a minute of being on fire. But you can’t breathe in the smoke because it will burn your lungs.”

Aside from the technical aspects that can be planned for, Paul says the conditions and potential hazards are very important to keep a check on — it can be a matter of life or death.

He said: “What’s scary is when you’re open to the elements. If I’m falling from 120 feet, I must ring the Met office to check the weather conditions because if it’s windy you could miss the air bag, or it could move.

“You have to eliminate as many hazards as possible. If you’re doing a car chase you must prepare for a blow out, for example.

“It’s always sad when you hear about a tragedy, such as Mark Sutton who died after a wingsuit jump went wrong. But it doesn’t happen too often, thank goodness. I’ve been very lucky I haven’t had any major accidents.”

In his 30 year career Paul has travelled the world and worked alongside many top actors on film sets such as Harry Potter, Raise the Titanic and Wrath of the Titans, but he often shuns working on blockbusters for smaller productions if they offer him a bigger part.

He said: “In Harry Potter I was in the scene where Hagrid was racing his motorbike — that took four nights for a minute of film.

“But sometimes I pick to work on smaller films rather than blockbusters because they want me for more scenes – I’ve still got to pay my bills after all.”

More recently Paul has been involved in a project called Wreck My Dress, which allows anyone to become a film star for the day. The experience was launched in London in front of various TV stars who didn’t realise they were actually being filmed for a viral promotion video.

He said: What the celebrities didn’t know was that we’d planned a stunt scene where gangsters steal Pippa Middleton’s “dress” which was in a glass stand.

“It was great fun but it’s always hard planning a live shoot. I was part of the stunt team with my good friend Ray Nicholas and I had to set myself on fire for it.

“Ironically I was also in charge of health and safety for that shoot.”
To see the video, visit wreckmydress.co.uk.