John Gilbert Started Doing Stunts at 11 — “Back When a Minor Could Do Stunts for a Minor”

• John Gilbert did his first stunt job at 11 years old, doubling two child actors.
• He says the law has changed since then, so adults now do those jobs instead of kids.
• He has written a book, "The Stuntman Diaries," about his years of stunt work.

Posted: October 29, 2026

Gilbert came into the business the way a lot of long-career performers did — through family. An uncle who worked as a stuntman and stunt coordinator put him on his first job at 11, doubling for two child actors. His line about it is the whole regulatory history of child stunt work in one sentence: back then a minor could do stunts for a minor, and now those are all adults. Anyone who has had to cast a child double since knows what that changed — the match goes to a small adult performer, the wardrobe and camera distance carry the rest, and the scheduling headaches of working a minor disappear along with the risk calculus that produced the rule.

The credits he names run through the Wilmington, North Carolina production base: eight seasons on "The Vampire Diaries," plus "One Tree Hill," "Tropic Thunder" and "A Walk to Remember." That is the shape of a working regional stunt career — a long-running series as the spine, features cycling through the same crew base around it.

The book, "The Stuntman Diaries," is out now and is where the specific gags live; the interview is the overview.

Source: WECT — WECT NEWS NOW: Stuntman John Gilbert shares stories from career in film and TV

Learn more on IMDb: John Gilbert