Film Career · Stunts
Stunt Double
Stunts · SAG-AFTRA
- Union
- SAG-AFTRA
- Day rate
- ~$1,100/day
- Experience
- 3–7 yrs
What does a Stunt Double do?
A stunt double carries a hands-on craft within the stunts department, delivering their specialty daily as part of the department's crew.
On union productions the position falls under SAG-AFTRA, which sets the rates, hours, and conditions the role works within. Like every stunts role, the job is hired production by production, and repeat work comes from department heads who trust the name on the call sheet.
What does a Stunt Double make?
- Stunt work pays SAG-AFTRA performer scale (about $1,100 a day) plus per-gag adjustments, with coordinators negotiating well above.
- Roughly $60K-$300K+ a year depending on how steadily the work comes and the risk of the gags.
Film work is gig based, so crew are paid a day or weekly rate rather than a salary. These are realistic 2024-2025 ranges grounded in union rate cards and industry data; actual pay swings with budget tier, market, overtime, and reputation.
Sources & how we estimate pay
Union scale is the floor; the ranges above also reflect market day rates above scale. They are grounded in the following 2024–2025 sources:
Union rate cards & wage schedules
Official guild scale — the floor each craft is paid from.
- IATSE — 2024 Basic Agreement wage scales (PDF) ↗
- IATSE Local 600 (International Cinematographers Guild) — camera rate cards ↗
- DGA — minimum salary rate cards (director, unit production manager, assistant directors) ↗
- WGA — schedule of minimums (writers) ↗
- SAG-AFTRA — theatrical & background rate sheets (cast, stunts, background) ↗
- Teamsters Local 399 — basic feature wage rates, 2024–27 (transportation, locations, wranglers) (PDF) ↗
You’ll like and be good at this job if:
Hard skills
- You are physically trained and know stunt safety
Soft skills
- You are a dependable team player who makes the department run
- You like hands-on work and getting the details right
The ladder
Related chairs in this craft family, ordered from entry toward leadership:
- 1Stunt Double (this role)
- 2Lead Stunt Double
Career progression
Within this craft family the recognized progression runs from stunt double toward lead stunt double, with each step earned through set time and the trust of the chairs above. Where this role sits on that ladder is less important than how the stunts department works: people move up when the department already believes they can do the next job.
A typical path, from entry to the top of the craft. Times are rough and vary by market, luck, and how steadily the work comes.
- Stunt Doubleyou are here
~$60K–$300K+/yr
~$60K–$300K+/yr
How do you become a Stunt Double?
Careers reach this chair through the stunts department ladder: entry work first, then increasing responsibility as the crew learns your name. Smaller productions hand out the title earlier, and the credits transfer.
On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by SAG-AFTRA contracts.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.