Vin Diesel double Joe Watts in leap video four years before accident
Vin Diesel stunt double Joe Watts shows off his skills with death-defying Legoland leap in footage that has emerged as he fights for life after Fast & Furious 9 filming accident
- Stuntman Joe Watts was injured during filming of Fast & Furious 9 on Monday
- In footage from August 2015 Mr Watts leaps into water from a lighthouse at Legoland, Windsor
- Mr Watts suffered serious head injuries at Warner Bros Studios in Hertfordshire
- He plunged 30ft to the ground as Hollywood star Diesel, 52, watched on
This is the moment Fast and Furious stuntman Joe Watts takes part in a death-defying leap in front of children at Legoland.
The Vin Diesel stunt double plunges from a lighthouse into the water below at the theme park during a pirate show.
The footage – filmed four years ago – has emerged after the 31-year-old was rushed to hospital on Monday.
This is the moment Fast and Furious stuntman Joe Watts takes part in a death-defying leap in front of children at Legoland. The Vin Diesel stunt double plunges from a lighthouse into the water below at the theme park during a pirate show.
He suffered a serious head injury on the set of Fast & Furious 9 at Warner Bros Studios in Hertfordshire.
He plunged 30ft to the ground as Hollywood star Diesel, 52, watched on.
Mr Watts also worked as a gymnastics teacher at the Creative Academy, in Slough, Berkshire, for five years.
The school shared the footage of Joe on Twitter with the comment ‘Joe Watts showing Captain Jack Sparrow how a real pirate tricks.’
Mr Watts’s performance at Legoland, in Windsor was in August 2015.
In the video, he stands at the top of the lighthouse with another performer before the pair pretend to headbutt each other and then leap backwards into the water.
Actors and acrobats dress up for the ‘Pirates of Skeleton Bay Stunt Show’ for the live daily performance.
The footage – filmed four years ago – has emerged after the 31-year-old was rushed to hospital on Monday. In the video, he stands at the top of the lighthouse with another performer before the pair pretend to headbutt each other and then leap backwards into the water
Another performer was injured in a freak accident during the same show two years ago.
He was with another actor on a swing boat, jumped in the air and appeared to try and grab a pole before landing on the ground.
That unnamed performer, 20s, was taken to hospital with a chest injury.
Joe Watts was standing in for Vin Diesel when he was injured in the horror fall in Hertfordshire
Mr Watts is understood to still be intensive care at the Royal London Hospital after the Fast & Furious accident.
His fiancée Tilly Powell, of Epsom, Surrey, who is also a stunt performer, wrote on Facebook: ‘Joe has suffered a serious head injury and is in an induced coma.
‘He is stable and is being monitored closely throughout the night.
Fast & Furious 9 is set to feature stars such as Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez (both pictured) and Helen Mirren. Diesel was said to be ‘choking back tears’ after witnessing Mr Watts fall on his head during Monday’s accident, as he performed a stunt in the movie star’s place
‘I love him so much and my heart is shattered.
‘He has all his family and friends by his side to get him through this.’
Joe has also starred in blockbusters such as Mission: Impossible Fallout and Jurassic World.’
Vin Diesel was said to be ‘choking back tears’ after witnessing Mr Watts fall on his head during Monday’s accident, as he performed a stunt in the movie star’s place.
Ms Powell was working on ‘The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard’ on another location in London when she learned about her partner’s accident – and friends say she ‘knew the risks he faced’ in the job.
The couple, who have been dating for four years, are understood to be set to get married next year
Filming on the ninth installment of the franchise was halted after a safety cable reportedly snapped as Mr Watts jumped off a balcony on set and hit the ground.
Mr Watts is a British stuntman who has worked on a series of Hollywood blockbusters, including Kingsman Golden Circle, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Spider Man Far From Home.
He has also performed stunts in Game of Thrones, Johnny English Strikes Again, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Jurassic World and The Hitman’s Bodyguard.
A family member told Mail Online on Tuesday: ‘Tilly is absolutely devastated but she has known the risks that were always involved.
‘She grew up with a father who was a stuntman and has followed the same career.
‘She knew that they always faced risks on any dangerous stunt.
‘Tilly is at the hospital with Joe and like everyone else just praying that Joe will pull through.’
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