Peter Pedrero / About

Experience.
Craft. Judgement.

More than four decades of practical filmmaking experience, shaped by a lifelong appreciation of physical storytelling.

01 / About Peter

More than four decades of practical filmmaking experience.

Peter Pedrero is a Stunt Coordinator, Second Unit Action Director and Stunt Performer with more than four decades of experience across film, television and commercials. His approach combines practical filmmaking, professional judgement and a belief that action should always serve the story.

Peter Pedrero as a child holding a Super 8 camera — Early beginningsPeter Pedrero, circa age 10–12 — already fascinated by filmmaking.

Peter’s fascination with filmmaking began in childhood. Inspired by the British children’s television shows and , he began making Super 8 films at 12 with his father’s camera. He edited them by hand on a tabletop film editor, learning early how camera placement, timing and editing could turn a simple idea into screen action.

Where it all began — aged 12

This is the only surviving fragment of a six-minute film I made when I was twelve—one of my earliest attempts at filmmaking. I made around twenty films growing up, but sadly the rest deteriorated while stored in the attic. It’s heartbreaking to have lost them, but I’m glad this little piece remains.

Performance, costume & imagination

The instinct to create started early.

Long before working professionally in film, Peter was already drawn to performance, costume and visual storytelling. Childhood dressing-up, magic shows and homemade films were early expressions of the same imagination that would later shape his work in action filmmaking.

A young Peter Pedrero performing a magic show at school — Early performanceCharity magic show — St George’s School

Peter Pedrero as a child dressed as a Spanish Armada soldier — Costume & characterSpanish Armada soldier — home in time for Christmas

A young Peter Pedrero striking an early martial arts pose at home — The pose came firstBefore formal training — the living room was already a dojo

Peter Pedrero as a child dressed as a cowboy beside a red pedal car — Action starts earlyCowboy and pedal car — already planning the first car chase

Action & practical effects

His early films were inevitably filled with action and effects. Friends became performers for fight scenes in the garden, Action Man was sent from the roof beneath a homemade parachute, and Peter’s Hornby railway became the setting for miniature action sequences. Model aircraft were rigged on fishing line, with cotton wool attached to the wings and carefully set alight, allowing him to film his own miniature plane crashes and collisions with trains.

Monsters & make-up

Peter also developed an early fascination with monsters and make-up effects. His parents bought him a Dick Smith Movie/TV Horror Make-Up Kit, created by the legendary make-up artist whose work included The Exorcist and The Godfather. Armed with little more than the instructions that came in the box, Peter experimented with moulds, prosthetic wounds, make-up and artificial blood, with his friends once again becoming willing test subjects and performers. More than four decades later, Peter still has that original Dick Smith make-up kit.

He experimented directly with the film itself too. Having seen amateur filmmakers create muzzle flashes by applying tiny spots of bleach directly to the film emulsion, Peter tried the technique himself. Other experiments involved working under a large magnifying glass, scratching individual frames and attempting to hand-paint them to create laser effects—with varying degrees of success on a piece of film only 8mm wide.

Looking back, those childhood experiments contained many of the elements that would later become part of Peter’s professional life: performers, action, practical effects, simple rigs, make-up, camera placement and editing—all driven by the same fascination with how filmmakers create an illusion and make an audience believe what they are seeing.

Peter Pedrero during early Wu Shu Kwan Chinese kickboxing training — Movement, discipline & timingEarly martial arts training — Wu Shu Kwan Chinese kickboxing
Martial arts training strengthened Peter’s understanding of movement, timing and physical performance—skills that would later become central to his work in stunts and action design.

At 17, Peter began his professional career in the film and television industry as a supporting artist. While working on productions, he began the specialist training required to gain the qualifications necessary to become a professional stunt performer and join the Equity British Stunt Register.

After completing the required qualifications and being accepted onto the British Stunt Register, Peter was fortunate to begin building his career as a stunt performer, stunt double and utility stunt performer. With experience came greater responsibility, progressing to Assistant Stunt Coordinator, Stunt Coordinator and, subsequently, Second Unit Action Director.

Over the years, Peter has worked across British, European and Indian cinema, as well as on major international film and television productions.

Peter’s approach to action combines cinematic ambition with practical experience and professional judgement. He believes action should always serve the story, remain believable for the audience and be designed around the individual needs, schedule and budget of each production—without compromising safety.

Of Spanish heritage and fluent in English and Spanish, Peter has worked on productions in Spain and throughout the United Kingdom, Europe and internationally.

02 / Influences

Filmmakers and cinema that shaped Peter’s approach

Cinema
in motion.

From the pioneers of silent cinema through British filmmaking, Hong Kong’s kinetic action tradition and American action cinema, these influences continue to inform how Peter designs action for the camera.

MovementStoryRhythmCharacterPractical craft

01Pioneers of silent cinema

Physicality, invention and risk

Buster Keaton · Harold Lloyd · Charlie Chaplin · The Keystone Cops · Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle · Douglas Fairbanks

The foundations of screen action — physical comedy, extraordinary timing, practical ingenuity and performers genuinely interacting with their environment. Long before modern stunt departments and visual effects, these pioneers demonstrated how movement, danger and character could tell a story.

Harold Lloyd hanging from the clock in Safety Last — 1923Safety Last!Harold Lloyd

Harold Lloyd hanging from a clock face above a city street

Practical cinemaMovement before dialogue

Archive frames

Harold Lloyd · Safety Last!

02British cinema

Craft, character and scale

Alfred Hitchcock · David Lean · Michael Powell · Carol Reed · Richard Attenborough · John Boorman · Ridley Scott · Tony Scott · Alan Parker · Terry Gilliam · Guy Ritchie · Paul Greengrass · Sam Mendes · Christopher Nolan

A filmmaking tradition built on storytelling, performance and exceptional technical craft. From Hitchcock’s precision and Lean’s epic scale through to Ridley Scott and Christopher Nolan, British filmmakers have continually demonstrated how practical filmmaking and action can serve character and story.

Black-and-white photograph of Alfred Hitchcock — Alfred Hitchcock

Black-and-white photograph of David Lean — David Lean

Black-and-white photograph of Michael Powell — Michael Powell

Black-and-white photograph of Carol Reed — Carol Reed

Black-and-white photograph of Richard Attenborough — Richard Attenborough

Black-and-white photograph of John Boorman — John Boorman

Black-and-white photograph of Ridley Scott — Ridley Scott

Black-and-white photograph of Tony Scott — Tony Scott

Black-and-white photograph of Alan Parker — Alan Parker

Black-and-white photograph of Terry Gilliam — Terry Gilliam

Black-and-white photograph of Guy Ritchie — Guy Ritchie

Black-and-white photograph of Paul Greengrass — Paul Greengrass

Black-and-white photograph of Sam Mendes — Sam Mendes

Black-and-white photograph of Christopher Nolan — Christopher Nolan

03Hong Kong action cinema

Movement, rhythm and innovation

Bruce Lee · Jackie Chan · Sammo Hung · Yuen Woo-ping · Lau Kar-leung · John Woo · Tsui Hark · Jet Li · Donnie Yen

A revolutionary approach to screen action where choreography, camera placement, editing and performance work as one. Hong Kong cinema demonstrated that action itself could reveal character, advance a story and become a distinctive cinematic language.

Black-and-white portrait celebrating Hong Kong action cinema

Yuen Woo-pingPrecision · Rhythm · Physical storytelling · Practical filmmaking

Hong Kong action heritage

Jackie Chan

04American / Hollywood action cinema

Story, impact and spectacle

Sam Peckinpah · Don Siegel · John Frankenheimer · William Friedkin · Walter Hill · John Carpenter · Hal Needham · Steven Spielberg · Richard Donner · James Cameron · John McTiernan · Paul Verhoeven · Renny Harlin

From raw physicality and urban tension to character, clear action geography and large-scale spectacle — filmmakers whose strongest sequences remain exciting because the audience always understands the story within the action.

Black-and-white photograph of Don Siegel — Don Siegel

Black-and-white photograph of John Frankenheimer — John Frankenheimer

Black-and-white photograph of William Friedkin — William Friedkin

Black-and-white photograph of Walter Hill — Walter Hill

Black-and-white photograph of John Carpenter — John Carpenter

Black-and-white photograph of Hal Needham — Hal Needham

Black-and-white photograph of Steven Spielberg — Steven Spielberg

Black-and-white photograph of Paul Verhoeven — Paul Verhoeven

Black-and-white photograph of Renny Harlin — Renny Harlin

John McTiernan on a film set — John McTiernan

James Cameron on a film set — James Cameron

Richard Donner on a film set — Richard Donner

When asked to reflect on his career in the film industry and what it had ultimately meant to him, legendary stuntman and stunt coordinator Terry Leonard summed it up simply:

“Memories, friends and 8x10s.”

Terry Leonard

A sentiment I share.

Experience.Craft. Judgement.