I have known Costin for over 15 years, we are old friends and former colleagues at Rotaract Atheneum (part of the Rotary Club network). Every encounter with him is a surprising mix of depth and humour: he is intelligent, cultured, well-mannered, and — to top it all off — incredibly good-looking.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a 39-year-old man (no pronouns), born in Bacău, Romania, and moved to Bucharest for university. I’ve always been active, passionate about the mountains, underwater activities (excluding typical seaside holidays), and other sports that either pose a risk or keep your heart rate up. I’ve been involved in sports since I was 5 or 6 years old. I graduated in Law and Acting (including a Master’s degree), but I ultimately pursued a career in stunt work.
I firmly believe that the greatest gift given to humans by the Creator is the dog.
What does it mean to be a stunt performer?
It involves creating and rehearsing movements or choreographies that appear dangerous on screen but are executed in front of the camera in a controlled and safe manner. That’s the visible part, the tip of the iceberg. The journey to this point is filled with various physical, motor, and special skills training. Typically, it requires about four physical preparation sessions per week (the number varies depending on your chosen discipline – CrossFit, HIIT, weight training, TRX, etc.), 2–3 specific stunt training sessions (ideally with a team), and another 2–3 cardio or special training sessions (such as climbing, motocross, precision driving, horseback riding, etc.). Without building this foundation over the first 3–5 years and then establishing a consistent training routine, you’ll always feel unprepared or like an impostor when reaching more demanding levels, especially internationally. Therefore, being a stunt performer means constant training and development.
How did you discover the world of stunts, and what attracted you to this profession? Was it always your dream, or did you stumble upon it?
As a teenager in Bacău, I wasn’t aware that this profession existed. We didn’t even have cable TV until high school. Van Damme occasionally made us feel like karate experts, but that was rare and seemed out of reach. I started martial arts thanks to my uncles and some movies. I moved to Bucharest after spending a year in Iași, where I initially went for Journalism but ended up studying Law. I felt stifled there. Iași was beautiful, with large parks, wide boulevards, and trams, but besides basketball, martial arts, and university, there wasn’t much to do. Life was pleasant and bohemian for a student, but I wanted to earn money and feel like I was progressing. Moreover, my girlfriend at the time was already in Bucharest.
Upon arriving in Bucharest, I switched from martial arts training to stunt training, suggested by an uncle who worked in the film industry in the costume department, specifically in aging costumes to make them look worn.
The reason was simple: it was something new, athletic, and potentially paid. When I analysed what stunt work entailed, I realised it was a jackpot for me.
What is a stunt performer’s schedule like? How do you maintain your physical and mental condition for this job?
When filming, the schedule is straightforward: 12–14 hours of work per day, plus physical preparation training (without which you would break down under this kind of effort and schedule). The good part is that projects can last from a few days to several months. When you are not on a project, you return to the aforementioned training, adding more depending on your level. You might learn some filming and editing to create your own action clips, attend special training sessions, intensify training for a specific discipline (like horseback riding, motorcycling, various driving courses), or pursue new certifications (driving categories, boating licenses, industrial climbing, scuba certifications, etc.). Beyond all this, when not working, you intensify your “homework”: watching representative films in the field.
The mental aspect is a real challenge, at least it was for me. The industry’s instability and the illusion of the “big project” that keeps appearing but actually comes every 2–3 years can make you want to quit and move on. From the same perspective, it is very difficult to find other work, to give up when stunt work intensifies, and then resume the job search after the project ends. Often, a project covers debts rather than creating resources you should try to manage until the next project.
This leads to another mental battle: not to over-reward yourself after a project but to try to manage resources for as long as possible. A helpful tool in these “battles” is discipline and resilience, which are built and strengthened through training.
What type of stunts do you enjoy the most, and why?
Currently, I enjoy working with rope systems and devices used for aerial sequences, whether on a green screen or not. This is called rigging and involves all aerial aspects and violent ground reactions. Essentially, everything seen in action films that wouldn’t be possible in real life is achieved with wires and green screens. This is where CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) comes into play. I find it an unlimited creative field that brings magic to the camera.
Previously, I loved being an actor’s double because it offered various types of action. I still enjoy this, especially in foreign productions.
Water is another area I particularly love. Here, we handle safety for the team and actors, assist the technical team, and participate in action scenes on and under water as performers or doubles. My fondness for water stems from the fact that swimming was the first performance sport I practiced. Often, I feel more agile and fluid in water than on land.
In which films have you appeared? Which famous actors have you worked with?
As I am approaching 100 films, the easiest way to access my work is through my IMDb profile.
However, I would like to mention a few names and projects that are dear to me:
Hatfields & McCoys: Kevin Costner tops my list of people—actors—producers. From his constant involvement in the project, calmness, modesty, and strength, to the fact that from the moment he steps out of the car on set, he greets everyone he meets. It’s phenomenal how much inner strength and dimension this man has.
Wednesday: Tim Burton was an appearance that made your palms sweat. The man is precise! He knows the craft immensely and sets the bar very high for everyone, understanding the work of all departments. He was the badge on the belt, and Jenna Ortega was the magic of the set. You could feel the shift from white to black when she entered the set. She brought the entire aura of her character, somber yet playful, and warmed up the set. Our hair stood on end when she acted. In the few personal interactions, you discovered a lot of presence, intelligence, and humor.
The Nun: Here, I had a significant challenge. I coordinated the entire project with extensive rigging (wires and CGI), demonic scenes, fight scenes, fire, and water (including underwater rigging). Bonnie Aarons was very brave and agreed to be pulled, thrown, lifted, and spun through water without any protest. I had special emotions here and consider it a personal achievement, even if the film’s impact wasn’t that great.
The Gray Man: A film to be put in the CV. €200 million invested in continuous action. Ryan Gosling (present with his two daughters and Eva Mendes), Chris Evans, and Ana de Armas!!! And a superb castle in Chantilly, rented for two months just for filming. I still have paradisiacal flashbacks from this project. It is every stunt performer’s dream, from accommodation to every work detail.
Jack Ryan: A series that took us to Colombia as mercenaries. The heat there (literally and figuratively), the jungle, landscapes, culture, film crew, and adventures through the jungle were things to write about and share with grandchildren. John Krasinski—a hardworking, creative, cheerful, serious actor with whom I collaborated very easily and nicely.
The list is long with beautiful and important projects for me, but I will end with one of the most special:
Aferim!: It happened in 2014 and was the first film entirely entrusted to me by my then-boss. I thank him for that. It was the kind of project where I was present daily, alongside two horses and their caretaker, Roșu, who were always with me across the country. It was the kind of project where you become family with the film crew and feel from the second week that it will end with teary eyes, so you enjoy each day fully aware. We had a plethora of actors: Rebengiuc, Luminița Gheorghiu, Toma Cuzin, Pavlu, Spahiu, Alexandru Dabija, and especially Teodor Corban. He (Teodor Corban—I hope he is smiling from above now) holds the top spot in my personal list of actors I’ve worked with. From his human nature to his acting quality, he was absolutely incredible, monumental, and it breaks my heart that he left before leaving more pieces of himself on screens. There was a scene in the forest, by the fire, where he lamented his fate. We filmed that scene for about half the night. We all cried on set like children, take after take, the same take! That’s how Mr. Corban acted.
Other well-known foreign names I have had the opportunity to be on set with include Colin Farrell, Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rutger Hauer, Noomi Rapace, Willem Dafoe, Glenn Close, Nicolas Cage, Idris Elba, Ciarán Hinds, Bill Paxton, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Scott Adkins, Steven Seagal, Michael Jai White, Randy Couture, Georges St-Pierre, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ben Barnes, Armand Assante, Kate del Castillo, Michael Fassbender, and Henry Cavill.
On the Romanian side, I have met most of the greats; the list would be very long. My favorites, however, are Corban, Mălăele, George Mihăiță, Visu, Luminița Gheorghiu, Piersic Jr., and Ștefan Iancu.
How do you collaborate with actors in action scenes? Are some more involved than others?
Some, like Scott Adkins or Kevin Costner, will do everything they are allowed to do and will give their utmost effort, while others, like Nicolas Cage, will do only what is required. There are actors who only exchange lines with the director, producer, or fellow actors with whom they have lines and won’t move a millimetre more towards the film or the crew.
Which director or actor impressed you the most with their working style?
As a foreign actor, Kevin Costner – beyond everything I mentioned earlier -was calm, collected, incredibly respectful toward the crew, and showed remarkable patience and professionalism.
As a Romanian actor, Teodor Corban remains unmatched in my eyes. His authenticity and emotional depth were truly rare. The way he carried himself on set and the intensity with which he performed made a lasting impression. He was, in every sense, monumental.
What was your first experience as a stunt performer, and how did it feel?
It was early 2006. I had been training for about 4–5 months when I was cast in a role. That’s when I began to understand how life hands you unexpected gifts. I had barely formed the wish to be on a film set when suddenly, there I was – actor and stuntman (at least, as much of either as I could be at the time ☺️).
Except… the film turned out to be a 40–45 minute “Indian-style” manele (n.a. a Balkan urban ethno-pop genre originating in Romania) movie, and I was on the manele team (there was also a rappers’ team). The film isn’t listed on my IMDb profile. It was called Neighbourhood Story. I spent the whole shoot sharing a trailer with Sorinel Copilul de Aur. Who sang. A lot.
So yes – it was a professional achievement because it was my debut, but also a serious test of personal patience 😅
That said, I knew I had found my calling. The sheer joy I felt walking onto set each day and the ease with which I could wake up at 4:30–5:00 a.m. every morning — that said it all. And keep in mind, I hate mornings with every fibre of my being, with a passion and no room for compromise.
What is the most dangerous stunt you’ve ever performed? How did you prepare for it?
Going by popular standards, I should probably say the 17-meter fall, or the time I was set on fire – cloak and all – and extinguished in a livestock well, or the time I was hit by a truck, or thrown onto a car hood and windshield, or when I fell off a horse in the middle of 30 galloping riders.
All of these were dangerous, but the preparation made them safer and easier than they might seem.
Thousands of jumps and landings on a trampoline trained me for the high fall; hundreds – maybe thousands – of falls and rolls in training prepared me for most impacts, and hours of horseback riding taught me how to fall and stay aware of where the horse is, where others are, and how to avoid injury.
I didn’t even mention car crash stunts – those are so well rehearsed and choreographed that ideally, nothing should ever go wrong. Still, if something does go wrong, those are the stunts where injuries can be the most serious.
If I had to choose, the stunts that gave me the most nerves were probably fire scenes, especially early in my career, when I had only about three years of experience. Technically speaking, collisions with vehicles — large or small – require the highest level of expertise to avoid injury on landing, not at the moment of impact.
These days, though, the most dangerous stunts for me aren’t the ones I do myself – they are the ones I coordinate for actors or fellow stunt performers. Like the time we pulled someone underwater or used a rigging system to launch eight girls into the walls and benches of a church, or sent a stuntwoman “flying” into a library shelf.
In these cases, all you can do is rehearse carefully, in a calm and highly controlled environment, before the actual shoot.
Have you ever come close to a serious accident? How did you handle it?
I once missed the safety mats from a height of about 5-6 meters. I was on wires (from a rigging system, as mentioned earlier), simulating a pole vault jump. I had very little control over my body in the second half of the flight, and the crane’s arm swayed under the force of the wire pull, which caused me to overshoot the mats entirely – about 8 meters of padding.
I ended up with a badly swollen calf and a muscle knot in my right glute the size of a grapefruit. I could sleep again after two weeks and walk – very carefully – after about a month.
There have been plenty of potentially dangerous moments, especially in car and motorcycle chase scenes or in complex, high-impact rigging setups. But thanks to solid preparation, those moments stayed in the safe, controlled zone.
Honestly, I think I have had more dangerous moments in my personal life than in my professional one – and I am thankful for that.
With Constantin, every answer opens a new door – and his stories are too good to rush. So the interview continues in a second part, coming soon. When reality outshines fiction, it is worth hearing every bit of it.