Clayton J. Barber on boxing, TKD, actor training, and the importance of research (Action Talks #17)

Clayton J. Barber is a director who got his start as a stuntman and stunt coordinator and is known for films like Blade, Black Panther, and the Creed series. He also produced the Rope A Dope series ( directed Blindsided: The Game ( and he’s my mentor. We talk about American stunts, his work with Hong Kong directors, and boxing. His IMDB can be seen here: Edited by Milan Swagers Action Talks on YouTube: Action Talks on Spotify: Action Talks on iTunes: Telegram: My studio SuperAlloy: Blog: Timestamps: 0:00:56 Inspirations and Influences 0:05:46 Getting into Martial Arts 0:10:12 Taekwondo 0:15:50 Transitioning from martial arts into stunts 0:22:04 The Hong Kong Spillover into the US 0:31:14 Working with Sammo 0:34:21 Actors learning their action lines 0:41:03 Getting into indie action filmmaking 0:49:50 Creed 0:53:13 On long-takes and fight choreography 1:01:42 Research and history 1:11:00 The Princess (2022) 1:16:10 Physical method acting and actor training 1:27:19 Creed 3 1:32:04 Anime inspiration in Creed 3 1:39:16 Working with the Creed stars 1:44:16 How to have a long-term career 1:47:17 On making real contact in action scenes 1:54:56 The psychology of Creed 3’s action 2:01:07 The challenge of boxing choreography 2:03:20 Closing thoughts