Top award for Shropshire stuntman Justin
From Pirates of the Caribbean to James Bond films Spectre and Skyfall – Shropshire stuntman Justin Pearson has featured on some of the world's biggest films.
And now the stunt team he was part of has won a Screen Actors Guild Award for its part in Hollywood blockbuster Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman won the first SAG Award of 2018, taking home Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.
Born and bred in Shropshire, the 46-year-old, who lives near Shrewsbury, played a part of a German soldier being taken out by an oak table kicked by Wonder Woman herself.
Despite the incredible achievement, it's his third SAG Award after getting shot in Skyfall and blown up in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.
He has also been nominated for his part in a fight scene in Fast and Furious Six at a train station and eating doughnuts in Doctor Strange.
Justin said: "The Screen Actors Guild Award was for the stunt team ensemble on the movie Wonder Woman, so its a big team effort really of which I was part of.
"This is my third SAG Award along with one for Skyfall and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two plus I've been nominated for two more.
"It was a multi-national team, there was Americans and a big British core too – we filmed at the Warner Studios in London.
"It's great to get that award and has beaten some other good films – it was up against Logan, Baby Driver, Dunkirk and so on. The ward is just another thumbs up to the pool of British talent out there.
"I've been a professional now for 19 years and have performed as a stun coordinator and stunt double on over 150 films – including 10 of the top 50 grossing films of all time.
"They're big set-ups – thousands of people work on these movies. In Wonder Woman in my bit there's a couple of German soldiers and Wonder Woman kicks us over an old table. It wasn't a real table amd a green screen was used so we had to perform off that and imagine it was a table."
The award recognises the work of stunt performers and coordinators and was first presented at the 14th Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2007.
It was up against the likes of Baby Driver, Logan, Dunkirk, and War For The Planet Of The Apes, while Game Of Thrones beat the likes of Stranger Things, GLOW and The Walking Dead.
Justin's stunt company Pearson Stunts have opened offices at the Sharp Project Studios in Manchester to supply stunts to the cities in the north including Manchester Leeds and Liverpool.
Some of the work he's been involved with recently includes movie "In the Cloud" – shot in Manchester where he had the role as Stunt Coordinator.
Justin added: "I’ve been very fortunate in my career to get the chance to work on some of the biggest movie franchises in the world.
"I’ve been lucky enough to travel all over the world with my work, experience many different cultures and meet some incredible people.
You build up a reputation over the years and I've stunt doubled actors like Kevin Costner and Christopher Eccleston.
"I've worked in Africa, the Middle East, across Europe and I'm possibly going out to South Africa and Hawaii this year."
In addition to his film at TV stunt work, he runs a medieval jousting display troupe called The Knights of the Damned.
Married to Lisa, the couple have a son and are expecting another child.
This year he will feature in a string of movies including Mary Poppins Returns, The Jungle Book, Christopher Robin, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Robin Hood The Rebellion
His first big movie job was on Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, in 2002 and has been a stunt double for top stars including Kevin Costner, Sam Worthington, Jeremy Irvine, Sean Bean, Rory Kinnear, and Rafe Spall.·
He now combines his work as a stunt performer with work at a stunt co-ordinator.
