 Stanton Barrett may have left his 15-year career as a Hollywood stuntman to become the full-time driver of the No. 60 OdoBan Taurus, but his most recent stunt work is just now coming out on the silver screen. Barrett has performed stunts for two motion pictures due to be released in February, an urban action thriller called Cradle to the Grave and the civil war epic Gods and Generals. Cradle to the Grave, which stars rap artist DMX and martial arts expert Jet Li, will be released February 28, 2003. In the film an international criminal kidnaps a gang leader's daughter as part of a dramatic diamond heist. Barrett handled much of the stunt work of the film including a dramatic chase scene between an ATV and motocross bike (driven by Barrett) through downtown Los Angeles. "I broke most of the bones in my foot doing a stunt for that movie," explained Barrett. "Then I had a race at Chicago a week and a half later. I did a motorcycle chase scene in Cradle to the Grave and had to jump big trucks and jump through windows. In one scene I'm following an ATV, chasing the bad guy, and we're going through an intersection where there are two cars rigged on cable pulleys. We're going through the intersections as these two cars are coming at us, there is no turning back. Then right as you pass through, they hit each other head on. You're committed to the hole and you're watching these cars move in on you and it's pretty wild shot." Opening February 21, 2003, Gods and Generals, an epic screen adaptation of Jeff Shaara's heralded best-selling novel, is a dramatic look back at the Civil War - America's bloodiest conflict, in which more than 620,000 lives were lost. Barrett plays a soldier in several of the movie's action sequences, filmed on location in Virginia. "Mainly I was just blowing up," said Barrett. "I fell down some stairs in one scene, but mainly I ran through fields, got shot, wiped out in the dirt, got back up and did it all over again. That was a really fun movie because I was working with some good friends. We would work, goof off, get blown up, and do fight scenes all in Civil War costumes." Despite his successful stunt carrier, Barrett is now entirely focused on his dream of becoming a successful NASCAR driver. Driving the No. 60 OdoBan Taurus, Barrett's newest and possibly best opportunity to date, leaves him little room for a Hollywood career.
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