The Emmy-nominated stunt work that drops audiences’ jaws in Fallout‘s second season only represents a fraction of the energy and skill involved. Like a duck on water, under the surface is a coordinated frenzy of precision: The duck, in this case, is a 120-pound robot suit, and the paddling feet are stunt performers Jeremy Fitzgerald and Tim Soergel.
The pair are nominated for best stunt performance for their work on “The Profligate,” the third episode of the second season of Prime Video’s hit video game-inspired post- apocalyptic drama series. A fight between the Power Armor-clad Maximus and Xander and a Securitron security robot is the crown jewel of the nods.
“It’s hard to bring people into the suit and see what I’m going through,” muses Fitzgerald, who doubles as Maximus. “It’s about surviving and takes 300 percent extra [effort] to make it look good.”
Even wearing an unwieldy suit, accuracy is everything, not just for safety, but so that the shot is exactly right. The action-packed scene culminates with the Securitron being punched in a screen on its chest. “I’m moving at a decent speed with 12-inch blocks on my feet, so I’m effectively on stilts,” Fitzgerald explains. “I was running through all the office furniture blowing apart, and I had to make sure I didn’t fall,” he continues, adding that the suits are so heavy that it takes six people to get him up should he tumble. “Running in the suit is hard enough, but landing that punch perfectly in the screen when I couldn’t see anything less than 15 feet away from me was tough.” After another fight sequence in season two — a scrap with a reptilian Deathclaw — Fitzgerald was out for three days because “it was so taxing” on his body.
