May 29, 2014
Risk and Reward: Clay Donahue Fontenot, One of the Most ‘Sought-After’ Stuntmen in the Business
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“Anytime you work with fire, that’s a pretty dangerous deal. If something were to go wrong or you got burned, it’s one of the only things that you cannot recover from 100%,” he says. “One of my more challenging gags was the rope swing in “US Marshals.” I had to swing 18 stories high and land on a moving train. If I landed short I could have fallen to my death. If I had bounced, I would have rolled off the train and landed on the tracks and gotten electrocuted.”
Fontenot says he calls his wife and two little daughters before starting a dangerous stunt. He tells them he loves them before he goes into stuntman mode.
“I guess you could say I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie though not the way you think. Being a stunt man makes me one of the safest individuals on the planet,” he adds. “I don’t drive fast because I have a race car. I can get all of that out at the racetrack or I get those thrills at work. But I think what motivates me is to be the absolute best that I can be.”
Fontenot is currently working on the latest installment of the “Fantastic Four“ franchise. He’s the stunt double for Michael B. Jordan’s character Johnny Storm. Storm, aka the Human Torch, is Caucasian in the Marvel Comics universe. The new twist to this reboot, casting Jordan as a black Human Torch, is an intriguing plot point.
Fontenot says he “can’t divulge much about the project until it comes out, except that it’s going well.”
But he does take a couple of moments to comment about renowned poet and author, Maya Angelou, who died Wednesday.
“She was an inspiration to everyone I know and God rest her soul. She was a beautiful, beautiful person, and I thank her for all that she’s given us. She gave us a huge gift,” Fontenot says.