K.C. Peterson is a stuntman and wrangler. A wrangler trains and sometimes owns the animals on the movies. Peterson began stuntwork about 18 years ago. He is from a family of eight and many of his brothers and sisters are in the same work. The Peterson family grew up on a farm near a small rural Nebraska community.
He has helped with Geronimo, Far and Away, Maverick, Winter People, Down the Long Hill, and many others. His favorite movie that he helped with was the Crystal Eye filmed in South Africa. Peterson enjoyed filming it because South Africa was clean and had good food. In theCrystal Eye, one of K.C.'s stunts was to jump onto a wagon and pull a grenade and jump out again before it blew up. Being a stuntman/wrangler can be very dangerous and adventurous. Along with the movies, he has also been involved with a Belinda Carlisle music video, Marlboro ads, and teaches actors and models how to ride a horse.
Peterson is very adamant in the fact that his movie career is just a side job. "You have to have something to fall back on." He has not worked for two years because there just isn't work to be done.
Peterson drove this pair of oxen in Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's Far and Away movie. Waylon and Willy were trained and raised by Peterson at his Nebraska home. He said that the Oklahoma land race scene took three months to film. One person was killed and eight others were injured in the filming of this dramatic scene. For those of us who have seen the movie, K.C. said that it was as dangerous on the set as it looked on film. The horses and buggies weren't duplicated by a computer or other means of special effects. "It was just amazing to see all of the horses and buggies lined up for at least a mile."
Photos courtesy of K.C. Peterson.
Check out the Stuntman Career page.
Look at K.C. and Mel Gibson's picture under Advantages