(written from a Production point of view)
...as stunt double for Chris Pine in Star Trek
...as stunt double for Chris Pine in Star Trek
...as stunt double for Chris Pine in Star Trek Into Darkness
Mike Massa (born 8 February 1968; age 56) is a stuntman, stunt actor, stunt coordinator, and director who served as Chris Pine's main stunt double in 2009's Star Trek. In 2010 Massa earned a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture as part of the Star Trek stunt crew. The same year he received two Taurus World Stunt Award nominations in the categories Best High Work and Best Specialty Stunt. He shared the first nomination with Daniel Arrias, Ilram Choi, Anthony R. Molinari, and Paul Lacovara and the second one with Paul Lacovara. Massa also doubled Chris Pine in J.J. Abrams' 2013 sequel Star Trek Into Darkness, under stunt coordination by John Robotham.
Born as Michael John Massa in Frankfurt, Germany, he is probably best known as stunt coordinator and main stunt double for lead actor David Boreanaz in the fantasy series Angel (1999-2004) on which he worked with Trek stunt performers Mike Gunther, Scott Workman, Spiro Razatos, Mike Mukatis, and Christopher Leps.
Massa has worked in the stunt business since the early '90s, with performances in the television series America's Most Wanted, Superboy, Super Force, SeaQuest DSV, Thunder in Paradise, Pointman, V.I.P., Seven Days (1998, with Norman Lloyd, Alan Scarfe, and stunts by Pat Romano, Scott Workman, and Michael Owen), and Roswell (starring William Sadler). His film credits in the '90s include the television adventure Tarzan: The Epic Adventures (1996, stunt coordinated by Glenn R. Wilder), the thriller The Substitute (1996), Jan de Bont's action sequel Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997, with stunts by Don Pulford, Janet Brady, Mark Chadwick, Marjean Holden, and Michelle Sebek), the science fiction adventure Starship Troopers (1997, with Dina Meyer, Clancy Brown, and Brenda Strong), and the drama Magnolia (1999).
The following years Massa doubled for Edward Burns in the thriller 15 Minutes (2001) and Confidence (2003), Ben Affleck in Michael Bay's drama Pearl Harbor (2001), Hugo Weaving in the science fiction sequel The Matrix Reloaded (2003), Josh Hartnett in the action comedy Hollywood Homicide (2003), Brandon Routh in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns (2006), and Harrison Ford in Steven Spielberg's action sequel Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008).
Television work includes Crossing Jordan, Firefly, Miracles, General Hospital, Bones (2005, with Alicia Coppola, Kate McNeil, and Patti Yasutake), 24 (2006, with Glenn Morshower, Peter Weller, and stunts by Jeff Cadiente and Erik Stabenau), ER (2006, with Scott Grimes, Leland Orser, and Maury Sterling), Alias (2006, with Rachel Nichols, Amanda Foreman, and stunts by Shauna Duggins), and Monk (2006, stunt coordinated by Charlie Brewer), and film credits are the comedy Miss Congeniality (2000) and its sequel Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005), both with William Shatner, the thriller The Italian Job (2003), the science fiction sequel Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004, with stunts by Oliver Keller), the fantasy adventure Van Helsing (2004), the action film The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Sam Raimi's superhero films Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007), the comedy Herbie Fully Loaded (2005), the thriller Deja Vu (2006), the action sequel Live Free or Die Hard (2007), and the action comedy Rush Hour 3 (2007).
In 2002 he was nominated for an American Choreography Award for Outstanding Achievement in Fight Choreography for the Angel episode A New World. Two years later he was part of the stunt crew which won a Taurus World Stunt Award for Best Specialty Stunt in The Italian Job. In 2009 he was among those stunt performers who were nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Massa also worked as stunt coordinator on several projects such as the action thriller The Punisher (2004), the television series Weeds (2005) and Pepper Dennis (2006, along with Mike Gunther and Monica Staggs), the comedy This Is Not a Test (2008), the television series K-Ville (2008), Dollhouse (2009-2010), Zeke and Luther (2009), and True Blood (2010-2011), the television comedy Princess Protection Program (2009, with Molly Hagan) and the comedy The Proposal (2009, with Michael Nouri and Mary-Linda Rapelye).
Further stunt work includes the science fiction comedy Meet Dave (2008, with Gabrielle Union and stunts by Alex Madison, Kimberly Murphy, and Darlene Ava Williams), the action film Fast & Furious (2009), the comedy Miss March (2009, with Geoff Meed, Chris Durand, and Gary J. Wayton), the science fiction thriller Surrogates (2009, with Ned Vaughn and stunts by Eddie Braun, Ken Clark, Kevin Derr, and Kurt D. Lott), episodes of Mad Men (2009, with Ned Vaughn, Deborah Lacey, and Arne Starr), Sons of Anarchy (2009, with William Lucking, Ron Perlman, Jeff Kober, Douglas Tait, Mickey Cassidy, and Tim Sitarz), and Grimm (2012), the action thriller The Expendables (2010), the drama Water for Elephants (2011), and the action sequel Fast Five (2011).
More recenty, Massa worked as stunt coordinator on the action thriller Parker (2013, with Randy Hall and Mike Mukatis), doubled actor James Badge Dale in the comic sequel Iron Man 3 (2013, with Sala Baker, Mark Chadwick, Ilram Choi, Shauna Duggins, Dane Farwell, Lisa Hoyle, Brian Simpson, and Salomon Passariello), actor David Boreanaz in the Bones episode "The Cheat in the Retreat" (2013, with Mark Aaron Wagner, Erica Grace, Mike Gunther, Angela Meryl, Simon Rhee, Chrissy Weathersby, and April Weeden), and performed stunts in the science fiction drama After Earth (2013), the comedy sequel The Hangover Part III (2013), the comedy Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), the action film Need for Speed (2014, with Glenn R. Wilder and Oliver Keller), and an episode of Agent Carter (2015, with Marcus Young, Denney Pierce, and Kimberly Murphy).
External links
- Template:IMDb-link
- Mike Massa at iStunt.com
- Mike Massa at StuntsUnlimited.com
- Mike Massa at LinkedIn.com