In the penultimate week of ‘The Colbert Report’, you may recall Congresswomen Nancy Pelosi threw down some pretty neat moves on a BMX during the last installment of ‘Better Know a District’. Turns out it wasn’t actually Nancy Pelosi, but stuntman Alex Schuler. A rider from North Carolina, Alex recently joined the film industry as a stuntman, and has already had the opportunity to work on some big projects. In an interview with Vital BMX he speaks about his experiences working on ‘The Colbert Report’ and his upcoming projects.
Well, this sure was a strange gig. How exactly did Alex Schuler end up on The Colbert Report?
I was actually down in Atlanta working with my buddy Jason Gupton when he got the call. They were looking for someone close to Nancy’s height that could “do a few bicycle tricks on flat ground.” I sent them quick parking lot video and, the next thing I knew, it was 4pm in Atlanta and we had a 6am call time in Washington DC the next morning, so we hit the road.
What was it like being on set? Was there a huge crew?
It was actually really small. There was a three-person camera crew, the director and assistant director, some of Colbert’s staff, and two other stunt guys. The set was pretty standard, but since we were filming in such a public spot, they wanted to keep everything as low-key as possible. Also, we were fortunate enough to have the Capitol Police helping us out with foot traffic.
Did you get to spend any time with Stephen Colbert or Nancy Pelosi? Were they cool?
Time constraints were pretty tight. The congresswoman and I discussed fashion and scarf options for a bit, but after her scene was over, she left pretty quickly. I did get a few minutes to talk with Stephen and he was very nice – really happy to have all of us there. I can’t thank him enough for having me. I’ve always been a fan of the show, but I’ve only ever seen him as his on-camera character. It was interesting to talk to him outside of that. I very much look forward to seeing him play “himself” as the new host of The Late Show.
It looks like you eventually averted back to normal shoes, but you literally did a hop 360 in high heels. How hard was that?
I was able to do everything aside from the jump into the water in the heels. It wasn’t as bad as I initially expected, but doing it clean was out of the question. I actually over-rotated on the second take, hit a camera woman, and slid out on the back of the heel when I tried to stop. I decided to tone it down after that and, fortunately, they didn’t want it to look too dialed, so it all worked out.
Do you think this is the first hop 360 in high heels in the history of BMX?
Hahaha. That’s a great question. I want to say yes, but I feel like someone, somewhere is reading this with a smile on their face thinking “I did it first!”
Was this whole thing shot in one day?
Yes, sir. Sure was.
Did you make a whole bunch of money? Seems like they needed a pretty specific person for the gig …
Fortunately, I’m close to Nancy’s height and already being in the stunt industry certainly helped. The entire crew was happy with how it turned out, so I got to ride my bike on some of the most policed spot in the country without consequence, so I can’t complain. I got paid, too – that was just icing on the cake.
Full Interview and Video: Vital BMX.
Alex Schuler Talks Stunt Work on ‘The Colbert Report’
In the penultimate week of ‘The Colbert Report’, you may recall Congresswomen Nancy Pelosi threw down some pretty neat moves on a BMX during the last installment of ‘Better Know a District’. Turns out it wasn’t actually Nancy Pelosi, but stuntman Alex Schuler. A rider from North Carolina, Alex recently joined the film industry as a stuntman, and has already had the opportunity to work on some big projects. In an interview with Vital BMX he speaks about his experiences working on ‘The Colbert Report’ and his upcoming projects.