YOU HEAR THE ACTION at 87North before you see it. Swords shingging and clashing together. Thuds as grapplers slam each other to the padded floor. Fists and feet slapping against focus mitts, heavy bags, and the occasional face. But for the frequent bursts of laughter and breaks in the action for commentary and suggestions (“Wouldn’t it be), you might think you were visiting a training facility for real-life superheroes. And in a sense, you’d be right: 87North, housed in a converted church in East Hollywood, is the world’s premier action-design stunt-training facility. Wrestlers struggle for control of a dummy knife. Acrobats hurl themselves like human missiles through the air. A squad of stunt performers work on “pre-viz”—action choreography worked out and filmed prior to shooting. Keanu Reeves and Ryan Gosling drop in to hone their heroics for new projects.
