Ep. 35 • Jim Wilkey • From Bulldozers in Vietnam to Big Rigs Hollywood: The Wild Life of a Stuntman Legend

In this episode of Liberty Risk, we sit down with a man who’s lived multiple lives in one - Vietnam Veteran, Navy Seabee, cowboy, and one of Hollywood’s original stunt legends: Jim Wilkey. If you’ve ever watched a truck flip end-over-end in The Dark Knight, seen Stallone crash through cars in Cobra, or watched Clint Eastwood & Charlie Sheen race through The Rookie, there’s a good chance Jim Wilke was behind the wheel - or flying through the windshield.

We kick off with the whole Liberty Risk crew finally back together in the studio, and the energy is full send from the start. Jim takes us back to the beginning - growing up as a cowboy kid in Northern California, hauling hay, riding rodeo, and unknowingly training for a future he didn’t even know existed. When Vietnam ramped up, he joined the Navy Seabees and found himself operating bulldozers in the jungle, building runways while taking fire, and navigating a war where half the people hated you and the other half pretended not to notice.

Jim shares raw stories from the Vietnam years - what it was like to return home from a war nobody wanted to talk about, go from hauling ammo to hauling stunt pads, and slowly carve out a name in a Hollywood world that didn’t hand out second chances. He landed his first stunt jobs simply because he could ride, fall, crash, and get back up without complaining - and from there, his career became a highlight reel of chaos where he became known for daring stunts in movies like "Cobra" with Sylvester Stallone, “The Rookie,” and “Transformers", especially one incredible scene where he flipped a semi-truck end over end across a Chicago street for "The Dark Knight".

He explains the stunt world’s golden rule: if you did it right, nobody thought it was real - and if you did it wrong, everyone thought you died.

But the best stories aren’t just about carnage - they’re about the people. Jim talks about the old-school stunt crews who treated each other like family, the quiet pride of knowing your work helped define Hollywood’s biggest films, and the moments that made it all worth it.

Between the chaos, we hit real conversations - aging, fatherhood, injuries, legacy, and knowing when to pass the torch. Jim talks about transitioning from full-throttle risk to teaching, mentoring, and preserving the old-school stunt craft before CGI makes it vanish completely. He and Kevin reflect on the weird emotional whiplash that comes from being fearless on set - but tearing up during Pixar movies with your kids.

This episode is pure Liberty Risk - equal parts history, humor, grit, gasoline, and real human insight. Whether you’re into filmmaking, military life, story craft, or just good old-fashioned “how the hell did you survive that?” - this one’s got it.

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Liberty Risk Hosts:

✖️ Ryan Williams - https://www.instagram.com/invictus5326

✖️ Kevin Kent - https://www.instagram.com/therealkevinkent

✖️ Nick Betts - https://www.instagram.com/n_betts

 

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