Austin Butler expresses surprise that The Bikeriders managed to insure dangerous stunts

Austin Butler is shocked that The Bikeriders got insurance for its dangerous stunts.

The 32-year-old actor stars in the fictional story about the rise of a Midwestern motorcycle club, inspired by the photography of Danny Lyon and his 1967 book The Bikeriders but Austin admitted some of the stunts were particularly scary.

He told Interview magazine: “There’s such a trust as well, when we’d be in these groups of 40, riding bikes down a tiny road, and you’re thinking, ‘If anybody were to crash right now, all of us would go down’ And we’re not wearing helmets, riding through cornfields as fast as we can.

“I don’t know how they insured the film, to be honest. And you’re riding behind a picture car as well, it’s kicking up pebbles in your face, so you’re getting hit in the eyes with rocks. It was so visceral.

“To get to ride motorcycles through Cincinnati, through these cornfields, it was just amazing. You know what that feels like, where the wind is in your hair. You feel like you’re mainlining God.”

The movie is an original story set in the 1960s following the rise of a fictional Midwestern motorcycle club. Seen through the lives of the members, the club evolves over the course of the decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang.

It also stars Tom Hardy and Jodie Comer and Austin was shocked by how funny Tom was.

He said: “It’s the roaring engines and the smell of grease that we got to be around. It was nice to go to something that felt more independent and play in that space for a bit. But one of the things I was thinking about earlier, when you were talking about that relaxation on set, was that Tom Hardy surprised me. I pictured him to be this grizzly bear, always serious. And really, he’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. He’d be joking around until action is called, and then go into being the most intense guy I’d ever seen.”

The Bikeriders does not currently have a release date, due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.