The Kingsman franchise has soared past all expectations for spy parody movies. Its outrageous action sequences are still mind-blowing to watch years later. The innovative techniques that went into producing them are no less astonishing.
Scenes required actors to put their lives at risk. Cameramen walked away with injuries. The making of the story was dangerous in another way. Vaughn and Jane Goldman pulled inspiration from odd sources to create a new and untested universe. Making this movie happen took massive efforts from everyone involved. Here's how it came together.
The Church Scene Took Weeks To Film
Numerous cuts were hidden to make this scene look like one continuous shot. That seamlessness conceals how much time and effort it took to pull off.
Over 100 actors and stunt doubles were involved in the church brawl. While they were caught up in the fight, the cameramen had to rush around set to catch the right angles. The plan was to shoot it all in seven days. By the end of the filming of the 5-minute scene, they’d come just short of two weeks.
Colin Firth Trained To Do His Own Stunts
The decision to cast Colin Firth in the role of Harry Hart hinged on his ability to execute the famed church scene. As an unathletic 50-year-old the odds were not in his favor. Firth says he trained three hours a day for six months to convince director Matthew Vaughn that he could nail the stunts.
Firth’s efforts went towards more than one scene. He did nearly 90% of all his own stunts in the movie. An expert took over for the most dangerous scenes but Firth still left set with enough bruises to prove his hard work.
The Actors Nearly Drowned With Their Characters
The plan was to sink the set four feet at a time into a pool of water. Computers had been programmed to execute a controlled drop. Right as filming began, the computers malfunctioned and the actors plunged 25 feet down into the water.
The team had to dive in to drag each cast member back to land. Any sense of safety would’ve been shattered by this little mishap. The fearful expressions on the actors' faces in this scene seem so real because they are real.
The Dogs Were Supposed To Die
Forcing the audience to watch Eggsy execute his pet dog would've changed the tone of the entire movie. That's why Vaughn's co-writer, Jane Goldman, talked him out of the idea. She decided that the agents would use blanks instead to prevent Eggsy from having to choose between his morality and his future as a spy.
There is no such mercy in the comics. The agents were tasked with killing numerous human targets in a much more brutal test. Movie Eggsy was lucky to escape training with his humanity intact.
These Actors Changed Their Characters
Samuel Jackson gave his character, Richmond Valentine, a lisp. He took inspiration from James Bond films in which the villains always have some sort of physical quirk. Merlin was made Scottish after actor Mark Strong said the Welsh accent would be impossible for him.
In contract, Mark Hamill didn’t influence his character on purpose. Valentine kidnaps actor Mark Hamill in the comic because of his love for Star Wars. When they decided to cast the real Mark Hamill in the movie as a professor, his name was changed to James Arnold.
The Idea Came From A Drunken Conversation
One of the source comic authors, Mark Millar, joined Vaughn for a night out at the pub. They expressed mutual discontent with the serious tone spy movies had taken in recent years. Ridiculous action scenes and outlandish gadgets had once been defining characteristics of the genre. Millar and Vaughn wanted to bring back that type of fun.
No serious plans were made during that conversation, but when Millar completed the comic, Vaughn just had to write a script. A few years later, their drunken ideas were racking up millions in theaters worldwide.
Matthew Vaughn Passed Up X-Men To Direct Kingsman
X-Men: Days of Future Past was supposed to be Vaughn’s next movie. He had already begun the writing process. Within that time, the idea for Kingsman: The Secret Service appeared on his radar. This new movie was so attractive to him that he asked for X-Men to be delayed so that he could direct Kingsman first. The film studio refused, forcing him to make a choice. Vaughn decided to give up his role in an established franchise to begin a new, riskier one. Bryan Singer ended up directing X-Men: Days of Future Past while Vaughn pursued his passion project.
Stunt Doubles Were Called In For Bizarre Tasks
Eggsy took advantage of a sexual encounter with Clara Von Gluckfberg to plant a tracking device inside of her. Filming the scene would’ve required actor Taron Egerton to slip a hand into actress Poppy Delevingne's underwear. Egerton refused to participate in such an intimate act.
An emergency stunt double was called to fill in for Egerton. As the camera pans down the bodies of the two characters in this sex scene, the hand that reaches across them belongs to a third person: Delevingne's husband.
A Complete Clothing Collection Was Made During The Film
Arianne Phillips was responsible for dressing all of the dapper spies that make up the cast of the Kingsman movies. She considered the retail potential of each design. Traditional fabrics and cuts were used to make the outfits as English as possible. Wristwatches and pocket squares were sourced from other, notable English brands to complete each look.
The collection was picked up by Mr. Porter, an English menswear retailer. Pieces range in price from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Though spies in Kingsman: The Golden Circle exchange suits for jeans and cowboy hats, the collection is limited to luxury menswear.
The Movie Was Inspired By Vaughn's Favorite Tailor
The Kingsman tailor shop didn't exist in the comics. Harry claimed to be part of the fraud squad in the police department to conceal his top-secret identity. His stylish suits were a personal choice, not a characteristic of Kingsman agents.
Frequent visits to the Huntsman tailor inspired Vaughn to make it the Kingsman meeting place. Tailors employed at the shop had served Ronald Reagan, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, and other notable celebrities over the course of fifty years. Vaughn's collection of sleek spies were the next ones in line.