Chad Stahelski
Birthdate: Sep 20, 1968
Birthplace: Palmer, Massachusetts
Chad Stahelski (birthname: Charles E. Stahelski) is a stunt performer/stunt coordinator/second unit director-turned-director, having co-directed or directed all entries in the John Wick franchise. Stahelski began his career in 1993 as an in-demand stuntman on such features as The Crow (1994), Escape from L.A. (1996), Bean (1997), and The Hunted (1998), and then had his big break as a stunt double for Keanu Reeves on The Matrix (1999).
This led to gigs as Reeves’ double on The Replacements (2000), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003), and Constantine (2005), as well as a stunt performer and/or stunt coordinator on major movies like John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars (2001), Val Helsing (2004), xXx: State of the Union (2005), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), V for Vendetta (2005), 300 (2006), Live Free or Die Hard (2007), Rambo (2008), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), The Expendables (2010), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), The Hunger Games (2012), The Expendables 2 (2012), The Wolverine (2013), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), and Deadpool 2 (2018).
Chad Stahelski was elevated to the level of the second unit director under co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo on Captain America: Civil War (2016) and under director Cathy Yan on Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn) (2020), on which he was also stunt coordinator. Stahelski’s first credit as sole director was the hit action movie, John Wick (2014), starring Reeves, with Michael Nyqvist, Bridget Moynahan, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and Willem Dafoe, grossing $86 million worldwide; although Stahelski co-directed the movie with David Leitch, Leitch took producer credit after a Directors Guild of America crediting decision.
Stahelski proceeded to direct the next three editions of the saga: John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), with new cast members Common, Laurence Fishburne, Lance Reddick, and Peter Stormare, and earning a strong $171.5 million; John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum (2019), with new cast members Halle Berry, Asia Kate Dillon, and Anjelica Huston, and grossing a huge $327.3 million on a $75 million budget; and John Wick 4 (2023), with new cast members Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, and Hiroyuki Sanada, and delayed from its originally slated opening due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stahelski took his first credit as a lead producer on the supernatural action comedy released on Netflix, Day Shift (2022), starring Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, and Snoop Dogg. Stahelski was also a producer on John Wick: Chapter 4 and the John Wick spinoff action thriller, Ballerina (date to be announced), starring Ana de Armas, McShane, Reeves, Reddick, and Huston.
Personal Details
Chad Stahelski was born and raised in Palmer, Massachusetts by parents Gary and Kathleen Stahelski. Stahelski trained in martial arts at the Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts in the Los Angeles-area community of Marina del Rey. Stehelski was married to stuntwoman Heidi Moneymaker until their divorce in 2018; the couple had no children.
Filmography
producer
actor
Previous (18)
- 2023 | John Wick: Chapter 4asProducer
John Wick: Chapter 4
John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.
- 2022 | Black Samurai
- 2022 | Wicked Game
- 2021 | Albert Pyun King of Cult Movies
- 2021 | Lush
- 2021 | The Matrix ResurrectionsasChad
The Matrix Resurrections
Return to a world of two realities: one, everyday life; the other, what lies behind it. To find out if his reality is a construct, to truly know himself, Mr. Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more.
- 2020 | Arcana
- 2020 | Bella
- 2020 | Shibumi
- 2018 | Analog
- 2017 | Rainbow Six
- 2015 | Sandman Slim
- 2014 | Kill or Be Killed
- 2012 | All Risk No Award: The Story of Stunts
- 2004 | Ghost of Tsushima
- 2003 | The Matrix ReloadedasStunts
The Matrix Reloaded
Freedom fighters Neo, Trinity and Morpheus continue to lead the revolt against the Machine Army, unleashing their arsenal of extraordinary skills and weaponry against the systematic forces of repression and exploitation.
- 2002 | Highlander
- 1992 | Classified
director
Previous (4)
- 2022 |
- 2019 | John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
John Wick is on the run after killing a member of the international assassins' guild, and with a $14 million price tag on his head, he is the target of hit men and women everywhere.
- 2017 | John Wick: Chapter 2
John Wick: Chapter 2
After returning to the criminal underworld to repay a debt, John Wick discovers that a large bounty has been put on his life.
- 2014 |
Some Facts About Chad Stahelski
Quote: Chad Stahelski has quipped in an interview, “If I’m the smartest guy in the room, I’m in the wrong room.”
The Double: Stahelski served as Keanu Reeves’ stunt double in the early phase of his career, only to begin to direct Reeves in feature films starting in 2014 with the first John Wick movie.
Tragedy and Innovation: Chad Stahelski was the stunt double for Brandon Lee in The Crow (1994) when Lee died from defective blank ammunition; Stahelski’s body was used in the final film with Lee’s face superimposed in an unprecedented CGI technique.
Lawsuit: Stahelski was sued by the family survivors of stuntman Kun Liu after Liu died in a set explosion during the filming of The Expendables 2 (2012), on which Stahelski was stunt coordinator.
