Actor / Director Profile

Allan Graf is a premier 2nd unit director, stunt coordinator, and stunt man, displaying his talents in scores of films throughout his 35 year career. Recently, Allan has worked closely with acclaimed comedy director, Todd Phillips on films such as Due Date (2010), The Hangover Part II (2011)(The highest-grossing, R-rated comedy of all time) and Todd's upcoming independent producing project Project X (2012). Allan's latest endeavor involved performing as a 2nd Unit Director and Stunt Coordinator on Walt Disney's The Muppets (2011), starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams.A native of Southern California, Graf first made his mark on the gridiron, where he captained the 1967 San Fernando High School city championship team, winning All-American honors. He won a full athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California and played offensive guard for John McKay's powerhouse Trojans. Graf started on McKay's legendary, undefeated (12-0) 1972 NCAA National Championship team and was one of the heroes at the 1973 Rose Bowl when USC defeated Ohio State. He next played in the 1973 college all-star game against the NFL's Miami Dolphins at Chicago's Soldier Field. Following graduation, Graf became a free agent with the Los Angeles Rams before joining the World Football League's Portland Storm during their inaugural 1974 season. When the league abruptly folded, Graf tackled a new arena when he ironically won a role as former Chicago Bears player Dick Butkus' stunt double in the 1976 Disney film, Gus (1976), a comic opus about a field-goal kicking mule.Graf worked as a stunt player on a variety of projects, namely, Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), S.W.A.T. (2003), Independence Day (1996), and Total Recall (1990). He has coordinated stunts on several other projects, including Gridiron Gang (2006), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Wayne's World (1992), and Broken Arrow (1996). As a 2nd Unit Director, Allan has garnered an esteemed reputation directing action scenes in Due Date (2010), Two for the Money (2005), and most notably, A Knight's Tale (2001), and We Were Soldiers (2002), both of which he earned a "Taurus Award" nomination. Allan was the first person to cannon-roll a bus at 60mph on Walter Hill's Another 48 Hrs. (1990), which earned him high praise in the film community.To further add to Allan's slate of talents, he has logged several supporting acting roles, including the role of "Captain Turner" on HBO's _Deadwood (2004 TV series)_, along with many other projects such as Beerfest (2006), L.A. Confidential (1997), The Replacements (2000), Magnolia (1999), Boogie Nights (1997), The Doors (1991), Red Heat (1988), Another 48 Hrs. (1990), Poltergeist (1982), and RoboCop (1987), among dozens of others.The former college football great is also one of Hollywood's best known "pigskin coordinators" and 2nd unit directors, earning accolades for directing scenes in Peter Berg's Friday Night Lights (2004) and Gary Fleder's The Express (2008), both of which were ESPY award-winning films. He was also the first director to incorporate NFL Films camera operators into the feature world, one of many innovative methods used by Graf to stage gridiron action scenes for Hollywood's most successful football films, such as Oliver Stone's epic Any Given Sunday (1999), Howard Deutch's comedy The Replacements (2000), The Program (1993), The Waterboy (1998), Necessary Roughness (1991), Gridiron Gang (2006), and Cameron Crowe's Oscar-nominated classic, Jerry Maguire (1996). Graf recently penned an original screenplay entitled "Turning the Tide," a football drama which depicts the historic 1970 gridiron contest between McKay's USC Trojans and Paul 'Bear' Bryant's Crimson Tide. The film is currently in development.