Interview with Nate Hitpas
Lights! Camera! Action!
Today’s interview is done with stuntman superstar Nate Hitpas!
With credits spanning many video games (Saints Row IV, the Injustice franchise, and the Mortal Kombat franchise) and many movies/shows (Divergent, Captain America: Civil War, The Fate of the Furious, and more), he was a fascinating person to talk to.
What was an especially refreshing part of getting to know him was finding out how humble and respectful he is.
Read on to be a part of our conversation regarding how to get in to the stuntman/motion capture business, action movie recommendations, upcoming projects (such as the upcoming Mortal Kombat 11), and more!
ME: How are you doing, man?
Nate: Doing good, man. Yourself?
I’m doing well, I’m doing well. Just got back from the gym and I’m ready to talk.
Right on. I’m ready to go.
Well, let’s get right into it. Again, thank you so much for doing this. It’s awesome to have you on here.
Of course! Thank you for calling me. Thank you for taking the time. I appreciate it. It goes both ways.
For sure! Let’s start off with the “get to know you” questions, how did you get started in the martial arts?
I was…let’s see, let me think about it really quick.I always forget everything. *laughs*
I was 16 years old I think and i had a friend in high school who taught me some basic Taekwondo stuff, just y’know, real bare bone basics and then that spurred my love for what I now consider tricking.
I would go to open gyms in the area and just do what I can with the knowledge of the internet at the time and what I remembered from tumbling and gymnastics as a kid. I kind of just groomed the area, going to different gyms and eventually I met some guys from a studio called Sharkey’s Karate Studio in Naperville, Illinois. And I guess the rest is history from there.
I trained at Sharkey’s for a long time. [I] Started in Chicago and eventually moved out to Georgia. I made it to here, learned different things, and [started] meeting new people. So on and so forth.
That seems to have done you pretty well I’d say then.
That’s for sure. It’s a wonderful school filled with great people and a lot of great teachers. Definitely worth mentioning. [There are] Wonderful people over there.B
*FUN FACT: Mike Chat, founder of XMA (Extreme Martial Arts), trained at Sharkey’s Karate Studio as well!
Click here to check out Sharkey’s Karate Studio!
Ok. And so, eventually that led to stunt work and mo-cap work. How did that come about?
Yeah. I guess it was kind of a natural progression.
Through Sharkey’s, I met my good friend, Manny Manzanares. He is a fight coordinator out in Los Angeles. He was living out in Chicago, he grew up there too. I met a lot of guys through him and I eventually became a part of that team out in Chicago.
It’s an independent stunt team called Lazy Brown Production, LBP for short. And yeah man, that’s basically how that started.
I wasn’t even really thinking about doing that for a job. I was going to school in Chicago at the time and I was just interested in fighting for film and learning what screen fighting was.
Growing up I had obviously been a fan of Hong Kong action…and action and all is fun really. I was interested in learning the tools of the trade just because martial arts is kind of a natural progression, especially if you are going learn about fighting for the camera.
And then eventually I thought, “y’know, maybe I can do this. Maybe I can do this for a career.”
That’s the dream right there. Doing what you love.
Absolutely! 100%
Kind of running off of that, is there any major difference between doing stunt man work, mo-cap work, and the martial arts training that you have done?
…Yes and no. You’ll find that [it can], especially if you grew to come up with a fighting background or practice fighting martial arts.
‘Cause y’know me [and where] I came from. My Karate was very Forms heavy. We practiced a lot of Forms. We had a lot of people who competed on the NASKA circuit for sport karate but at the same time we did have a lot of people who were very knowledgable about fighting.
When you look at it that way, it is a little easier to transition into screen fighting from martial arts. There are a lot of things you need to unlearn or certain things you have to adapt if you want to make the transition more easy. It’s interesting because it’s kind of a gray area. You have tools definitely that you pick up from….well, it can be any athletic discipline. It doesn’t have to be martial arts. [It can be] Gymnastics, dance, or people who are more of a specialist, who specialize in football, or basketball, or hockey. Whatever the stunt needs to be. Does that make sense?
Absolutely.
Whatever the stunt needs to be, you can pull from your discipline to help you make it a little easier. I will say that at the end of the day, I guess there is a pretty distinct difference between practicing martial arts and fighting for the camera or doing stunts. You definitely have to learn some new things.
Going beyond that, do you ever go back and watch your own stunts or play the video game character you did mo-cap work for?
Yeah, actually. I guess I get more hyped on the indie stuff that I have done [though]. Don’t get me wrong, I love video games and motion capture is absolutely one of my favorite mediums for performing, especially with actions and stunts. And I guess as far as TV goes, I’m like “ehh, alright”. It’s cool that it happens but I’m not really interested in that.
I’m more excited about the projects that my friends have created and that I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of and people who are affiliated with indie action. I’m really big on indie action, y’know independent action. And there is no shortage [of that] now in this age.
In this day and age, with YouTube and everything, there is no shortage of people making their own content and putting up their own stuff. And that is what I love! That is my passion.
Man, you’ve got this thing that is so vital for…a martial artist, yes, but also just a human being who is decent; humility, humbleness. I can hear that. I love that so much.
Why, thank you, man. I appreciate that. That does mean a lot.
On the subject of different roles and whatnot, do you have a dream role, a dream character, you would love to do stunts or mo-cap for?
Actually, yes. I’m a big fan of Devil May Cry. I’ve loved the Devil May Cry series since I was a kid. Virgil. Virgil and Dante would be—or anybody in that line of character would be kind of a dream for me to either do motion capture as them or perform with the team who does motion capture with them. Either one. That would be the dream!
I remember playing the games and that would definitely be so cool to do!
Oh, yeah man. Absolutely! Especially if you are a fan of the hack ‘n slash platformers out there. 100%! 150%! *laughs*
Any favorite action movies? Any favorite action movie or fight scenes that you have come across?
Ooooh, that is a tough one! Just ’cause the universe is so expansive with so many different things. If I had to pull from the top of my head, I’d give you a top five. As far as movies go, “Dragon Tiger Gate” by Donnie Yen is the big one. I love a lot of Korean action cinema. “The Man from Nowhere” is very good. Ooh, what else…?
A little darker and a little less martial artsy but in that same genre is a movie called “I Saw the Devil”. It’s a Korean film starring Byung-Hun Lee. [It’s] very, very dark but it’s a very pretty thriller. It does fall into that passion genre a little bit.
I love Japanese cinema as well. I love all of the Rurouni Kenshin live action adaptations. Action was done by a man named Kenji Tanigaki who was, I think, a part of Donnie Yen’s team for a while. He learned from Donnie Yen and has gone on to do some amazing things in Japan. I like a lot of his work.
And then in that same area, in Japan, Re:Born is another movie that came out not too long ago and that was directed by a guy named Yuji Shimomura. He is also a very reputable stunt coordinator [and] fight coordinator in Japan. A lot of their work I find to be an inspiration.
Sounds like some good stuff I’ll have to check out for sure!
That’s about all I could think about off the top of my head. Like I said, it’s so expansive! There is so much content! So much stuff to to choose from.
Heck yeah! You’re talking to a martial art nerd. I can understand. I’ll “nerd out” right there with you! *laughs*
*laughs* You know! Especially when you are put on the spot and are trying to think of something. It’s hard.
Do you have any upcoming projects? Anything that’s in the works?
I guess I can say this now since they’ve revealed it. I guess the biggest thing would be Mortal Kombat 11. I was fortunate enough to do some work on that. And the trailer is actually dropping…today.
Yeah, just a few minutes ago!
Yeah! Interestingly enough. So that and there are a couple of smaller shows out here in Georgia that I’m doing but…I’m in an NDA [Non-Disclosure Agreement] so I don’t have permission to talk about those yet. But [Mortal Kombat 11], that’s the biggest one. That’s the one that I’m most hyped about. For sure.
Alright. Any other interests or leisurely hobbies that you have?
Hmm, let’s see…I love hiking. Me and my girlfriend and my dogs love to explore different nature preserves and trails around Georgia. That’s a big one.
…What else do I like? *laughs* I’m trying to think about things that aren’t affiliated with martial arts or action. That’s very hard to do.
Oh! I like birds. I like birds now. I’ve recently become a bird person. I’m very fascinated with birds. *laughs*
That’s actually pretty cool.
That’s also the work, in part, of my girlfriend. Birds are pretty sweet, man, We adopted a bird not too long ago. We’re pretty happy to be taking care of a bird, a cockatoo.
It’s amazing the influence a girlfriend can have. *laughs* I know it well.
Oh yeah. [She’s a] Wonderful human being. I love her very much.
Last question. Any advice you have for somebody interested in doing stunts or mo-cap work?
Yes! Absolutely. My advice to you, or to anybody interested, is to…Don’t wait if you have an idea.
Or I shouldn’t say “don’t wait”. That is the point but—my point is, go out and do it! Whatever you want to do, go out and do it. Meaning if you have friends, or a camera, or an editing software, or any of the three, go out and make your own content. That is the best advice I could give to anyone interested in coming up in the business. Especially now.
Like I said before, with Youtube and everything, it’s so much easier to generate your own stuff and put it out there for everybody to see. Especially if you want to get promoted or recognition of that kind, that’s the best advice.
That was some good advice given to me and generally what I tell people. If you have a idea and you’re passionate about it, go out and make it.
Take a Saturday and play with editing software, play with cameras. Shoot anything and everything. Shoot videos of dogs and then edit that. Just do anything that you can to familiarize yourself with all [of] the implements of making action, be that performing the fight, be that shooting the fight, be that editing the fight, or all three.
And as far as stunts are concerned, you basically want to make yourself a valuable diamond. You want to put more facets on your diamond, meaning learn skills. Learn as many skills as you can. Learn things about tires, learn things about wires, learn things about cars, about high falls, about water safety…tons of stuff! The section is so wide. The more things you make yourself knowledgable to, the more valuable you become as a stunt performer.
Thank you so much!
Of course, brother. No problem! I hope that was good information.
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