Westworld: Meet the man behind the intense gun stunts

Would you like to know more about the man behind the Westworld gun stunts?

Westworld has all sorts of people working hard to make the series come to life and look as authentic and genuine as it can given the premise of the story. And given the multiple facets, the series has to consider who will help create each of them in a believable way. One such important aspect for Westworld is its gun stunts and there is one man responsible for it in the series–Joey Rocketshoes Dillon.

Along with Westworld, Dillon is also known for his work on the Coen Brothers’The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and has worked with them before on Hail, Ceaser! But before we get into Dillon’s impressive accomplishments and his work on Westworld, we have to mention that Rocketshoes is actually part of his legal name. Yup, that’s right, he changed it to that after he did a stunt in which he put mini rockets on his legs so he could run faster, according to Vulture.

Dillon’s passion for the Wild West runs deep and he considers himself a “Western enthusiast” of sorts and has made it a huge part of his life participating in re-enactments, working as a prop master, and of course being a big part of television shows and movies as a gun trainer.

On Westworld, he worked closely with training Ed Harris and faced difficulties given the type of weapon that the Man in Black specifically used–a large revolver known as the LeMat. According to Vulture, the hammer is difficult to pull back because of the tension and distance from the thumb to the trigger.

Dillon had to figure out a solution for Harris, although Harris was no stranger to gun stunts considering he directed and starred in the Western movie, Appaloosa. In order to pull off Harris using the large revolver, Dillon suggested changing guns between shots that were close up and far away.

When the shot was far away, the weapon wasn’t obvious so the props department was able to tinker around with it by creating a non-operable LeMat from the front. And when the scenes were up close, a replica LeMat was used to make it look authentic.

Another actor Dillon worked with on Westworld is Rodrigo Santoro aka Hector Escaton. On the series, Hector has a pistol and a Winchester (what Steve McQueen used in Wanted Dead or Alive). In many scenes, Santoro would have to be prepared with both guns.

Some issues with the guns included the fact that the Winchester can fire one round at a time and if it’s spun around, the bullet will often fall out. So Dillon solved this issue by having them cut between each shot.

Isn’t it mindblowing to comprehend just how much work and tedious detail goes into every aspect of a scene? Kudos to Dillon for a job well done because if you’ve seen Westworld, you know the man is doing something right!