‘The Walking Dead’ Pays Tribute to Late Stuntman
‘The Walking Dead’ panel at San Diego’s Comic-Con paid tribute to the stuntman who died on set this month.
John Bernecker plunged to his death from a balcony while filming a stunt on the Georgia set of ‘The Walking Dead’ on 12 July. He landed a few inches from his stunt mat, head first.
It’s unclear how a seemingly simple maneuver, described by a veteran stunt coordinator as “the ABC of stunts”, could go so fatally wrong.
Production was halted on the post apocalyptic show for several days following the accident.
Showrunner Scott M. Gimple told the crowd, “John passed away after he was injured doing something he loved, helping tell stories that excite, entertain and help give people escape.”
Gimple added that, “John was someone beloved in the stunt community, someone who trained other people and helped them break into the business.”
This was followed by a trailer for season eight of the smash hit zombie show, in tribute to Bernecker.
At the start of the ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ panel, a prequel series to the original show, moderator Chris Hardwick held a moment of silence for the late 33-year-old.
Bernecker was an experienced stuntman with 93 stunt credits in less than a decade. Notable credits include ‘Scream Queens’, ‘Into the Badlands’ and ‘Black Panther’.
An investigation into his death is underway.
Image: John Bernecker [online image] (2017) sourced on 25 July 2017 from https://www.bleedingcool.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/JohnBernecker-600×439.jpg
