When it came time to schedule this week's interview there was really only one choice: BMX legend Mat Hoffman. After all, the latest of ESPN's 30 for 30 series to be directed by Tremaine, Angry Sky, premieres tonight at 8pm EST / 5pm PST (with an encore PST presentation at 7:30pm), and Mat played a significant role in getting the story of Nick Piantanida from the pages of Magnificent Failure: Free Fall from the Edge of Space
Rick Kosick: When did you first learn about Nick Piantanida?
Mat Hoffman: I got fascinated by him after I get hit by a semi-truck and couldn’t ride for a while. I was trying to figure out what I could do besides ride. I remember I was in an airport and I saw in some science magaizine that had an article about people who go to the stratosphere and test out these suits where they jump from space shuttles in the event of a problem. They could essentially jump from the shuttle and save their lives, and they were looking for people to test this. I was like, “This is it, I can fall in love with this!” But my wife Jaci balled up and got super depressed. She’s not seeing the joy and the fun and adventure—she’s seeing her husband die and body parts falling off.
So I started studying other people that were doing it, and at the time there was this 60-year-old guy from France who had an online countdown about him going up and doing it. The weather wasn’t right or something, so they ended up rescheduling a few times, but when everything was finally looking perfect, they had his capsule attached to the weather balloon and all of a sudden it just drifted away, putting them out of 250 grand. I was really hoping he would do it, because if a 60-year-old guy could do it, I thought I could too. He ended up not doing it at all, and I was so bummed. A friend who knew I was fascinated with this whole idea led me to the Magnificent Failure book, and I read it while on vacation in 2010 with my family in French Polynesia.
What attracted you to the story and ultimately made you bring the idea to Jeff Tremaine?
I was so inspired. I love people who dream like that and do whatever it takes to make it happen. I don’t think you can have impossible dreams without anyone really supporting that dream but this is a guy who followed a dream, no finances, he was a trucker, and people told him he was gonna die. Still, he persevered and made it all happen. I thought that was awesome. That’s how people should live. Even though I didn’t know this guy, I felt like my heart and spirit seemed to be connected with his … like me or some of my friends have evolved from that same spirit. So I felt like I had to share this. How the hell did we never hear this story? He’s a hero, you know? This guy’s story is the greatest story never told! Tremaine and I both felt we could make a film out of this. Kaboom, things started rolling, next thing I know, I’m hanging out with his family at the Tribeca FilmFest, giving them high-fives.
Nick was kind of a DIY daredevil in his own time. Do you feel like you can kind of relate to him?
Yeah, I totally relate to him, but I also relate to his love story. I’ve been married over 20 years. My wife has seen me in the worst condition. I've broken so many bones. I’ve been given 15 minutes to live at the hospital. I’ve flat-lined in her arms before. Yet she’s always thought, “I’m not here to marry you to change you, I’m here to support you.” Although I might have driven her emotionally crazy, she’s never once asked me to change. And vice versa towards her. I’ve kinda felt guilty for that in a way, but I can’t help who I am. At the same time I put so much pressure on my family and my wife. Then I read this story about this guy and his story is way more gnarly. So I really connected to his story on a couple levels. He kinda jumped into these holes and then tried to dig himself out rather than trying to figure out how to get into the hole safely in the first place.
When we were in pre-production and shooting the sizzle reel for Angry Sky, we met Colonel Joseph Kittinger. What was it like meeting him the first time?
Just hanging with him in his house, being a part of his family, talking with them … it was bizarre hearing those stories straight from the horse's mouth. Kind of like that feeling I had driving around in a car with Evel Knievel in Las Vegas, hearing him tell stories that I already knew about. I had to pretend I never heard these before, but hearing it directly from the person that lived it is surreal. I didn’t expect that. I never thought I’d be making a movie with Tremaine about this man. That was a whole different gnar-level.
So if Nick had proper help the day of the jump, do you think he would have had a solid chance of becoming the first civilian to jump from space and land safely?
He was such an independent thinker, he wasn’t used to having to work with a team to make things happen for him. I think even if he had the right team, it's hard to say. I love how we took his story and re-opened it, like a little investigation of “How did this really end?” It never really says in the book how things happened. It was too dark, I think, and they didn’t want to bring it up. So I felt there was this unfinished story when I read the book, and it was really cool how we were able to take that and finish the story—well, I know because of legal things it had to be kind of a suggested ending. Even if he had the best team, he went to 125,000 feet. They couldn’t get his oxygen figured out. That’s what failed the third mission. The pressure in his suit became de-pressurized.
All-in-all, Joe [Kittinger] made a good point. If Nick would have just taken the time to run some more tests and make all the corrections rather than saying, “Let’s hope this works,” they might have discovered some things that made it successful. However, I don't think they had the budget or the patience. I understand that. I’ve taken some leaps of faith, myself. He was a stunt man. He just went for it. He wasn’t a trained astronaut. He wasn’t someone who even cared about training. He just wanted to go for it. That’s how he got where he was and eventually where he ended up. That’s the nature of that beast. It was kind of destined to be what it was.
Were you involved throughout the entire production of Angry Sky?
Yeah, I would get sent edits and watch them. I got to make a few trips out there. I got to sit in and watch you guys breathe some life into it and finish the story. It was incredible how you guys brought that all to life. I was involved in Being Evel, too, so I jumped back and forth between the studios since they were so close, and I saw a lot of similarities. They were both similar in their mindsets. They both loved to just go for it. That was really intriguing to see.
What was it like meeting Nick’s family at the Tribeca film festival premiere?
It was incredible. One of the best moments of my life. I feel in love with this family. I grieved for them. These little girls lost their father when they were babies. To hear them talk to me and admit that this was complete closure for their lives was incredible. Nick's daughter, who is like 50-years-old, told me she felt like she was reborn. She never got to tell this story growing up at school. Nobody believed her. She said that now people will finally know. That’s a heavy burden to carry for 50 years … losing this superhero of a dad. They didn’t even get to see or hear their father before this movie. They never remembered their father picking them up, and in this film they got to see Nick picking them up after he packed his parachutes. That was incredible. To give something back to this family.
How long until we see you take a balloon up to the stratosphere and jump from space?
Haha, I’m still negotiating. Man, I was hoping you guys were gonna need a stunt double and I’d at least be able to get a few high-altitude jumps in. I think pretty soon it’s gonna be one of those rides where you can just buy a ticket and get a lift up there. So I’ll wait for that day.
Bonus story! Early on in the interview, Mat sidetracked into a tangent while reminiscing about his inspirational reading of Magnificent Failure in French Polynesia, so here's the tale as it relates to our fascinating world where dumb collides with science:
Mat: I got all my gear, found this volcano on the island, and hiked up to find somewhere I could paraglide from. I was climbing through all this super thick bamboo and found this incredible flower that was about 6 inches in diameter, super pink, with about a 4-inch high stack of bees pollenating it. It was such a bizarre sight that I just stared in awe, but as I was staring the bees sensed me and attacked. So I started falling down the mountain with all my parachutes. I’m not really getting hurt, but these bees are stinging me non-stop. A few weeks before this trip, I was in LA and you guys had shown me a screening of one of the jackass movies with a skit involving Steve-O and bees. I learned from him that you have to relax by acting calm and changing your pheromones. So once I relaxed, the bees just kinda left me alone. Anyways, I continued onward and found this clearing and jumped off the side of the volcano. I'd already found a soccer field I could land in, so I landed in the middle of all these kids playing soccer. They didn’t say anything, but just came up and gave me some watermelon and I was actually shown an easier way to get up the side of the mountain. So I did it a few more times. It was just a bizarre, funny story I never got to share. Just wanted to let you guys know you kinda saved my life with your bad stunt.
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