An Insider’s Life On The Set Of “Spider-Man 3”

There are no happy endings for superheroes. If there were, comic books would cease to exist, and — more importantly for masses of moviegoing fans — superhero film sequels would become horribly boring. Not a chance for that in Spider-Man 3, with its plethora of nasty villains and Peter Parker at war with his own expanding ego.

Chad Cleven
Not that he doesn’t have reasons to be egotistical. After all, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) is going to marry him and the city finally considers his web-slinging alter-ego a hero. But it’s not long before a strange entity from another world takes hold of Parker, magnifying his powers along with the bits of evil inside him. The result isolates him from those who care about him most, just as villains rise to crush him in some of the most mind-blowing action scenes ever created for a film.

Due to the scope of the production — considered by many to be the most expensive film ever made, and with over 1,000 people working on the film — there were times when Spider-Man 3 was being filmed 24/7, creating a daunting schedule for the main actors. Fortunately, some of their time on the set could be shortened through the use of body doubles, photo doubles and stunt doubles.

He’s On First

Actor Chad Cleven, who got his start doing children’s theater in Wisconsin, went to Hollywood looking for acting roles. He soon landed a job as a body double for actor Tobey Maguire, who was about to begin filming Seabiscuit. Cleven developed such a good working relationship with Maguire that Maguire requests him for all of his films.

As a result, Cleven found himself a part of the productions of both Spider-Man 2 and 3, an opportunity he calls “an actor’s dream come true,” working as body double, photo double and, in a minor sense, stunt double for Maguire.

A body double, Cleven explains, does not need to look like the actor, just be the same height and have the same skin tone and hair color. They are used so that the cinematographer can line up his shots and correct the lighting while the actor is occupied elsewhere. Photo doubles look enough like the actor that they can be used in distance shots, or places where the actor’s face is not seen. Stunt doubles are usually experts brought in to keep the less trained stars from getting banged up or worse, but in some cases they are simply used for scenes in which the action is a bit risky and the actor’s face doesn’t need to be seen.

It was impossible for Cleven to pick any one spot in the film where it’s him being shown. “[Maybe] if I could break it down scene by scene,” he tells me, later adding that, “If it’s the back of his head, it might be me.”

Because of their close resemblance, Cleven says, “I get to do pretty much everything Tobey does before he does it.” Cleven also worked with director Sam Raimi to help nail down Raimi’s idea of how the scene would look before Maguire arrived — a huge timesaver for everyone.

Donning Spidey’s Suit

As a stand-in, Cleven also got to wear the Spidey suit. “At first, it’s great,” Cleven says. “But the vanity sure wears off fast. The suit itself is kind of like a spandex material, so it does breathe. But underneath there’s like a muscle suit and the places where the muscles are can get hot. And … after you breathe awhile, the eyes get all steamy and sometimes you can’t see very well.” He notes that, once zipped into the suit, it’s difficult to get out of it. “If I had to go into the suit, I watched what I drank beforehand.”

Facing All Those Fans

Spider-Man 3 also gave Cleven a taste of celebrity life. People lined up for blocks when the production filmed in New York City. And Cleven, in the Spidey suit with his hair slicked back, was often mistaken for Maguire. “I had paparazzi taking pictures and people following me to lunch.” Though he explained he wasn’t the star, fans wanted autographs and pictures anyway. “I was happy to do it, especially for the kids,” he says. “It made me happy to make them happy.” In the big scene when Spider-Man gets the keys to the city, there were hundreds of extras, a lot of them kids, and when Cleven wasn’t working he sat on the sidelines signing autographs.

Action Star In Training

During the production, Cleven got a crash course in working with computer-generated imagery, which included the body scan that turned his form into a computer image, working in front of a blue screen, and staging the fight and flight scenes. For the last, the actors sit on something that resembles a barber chair that moves while the cameras roll, mimicking the fluid motions of flying.

“It’s great when you get a chance to go to see [the film] for the first time, and see how it all got put together. Because sometimes when you shoot with a blue screen — you really don’t know what it’s actually going to look like.”

The experience of working with Raimi — who Cleven describes as a “great director and a fun guy” who shows up for work in a suit every day — gave Cleven experience he could never have acquired otherwise. Now he’s much cooler under pressure. “You learn so much about the technique of filming, and the little things like blocking and how to open yourself to the camera,” he says of his stand-in experience. “Being aware of the camera really helps you out as an actor.”

And acting is what his work is really all about. When Cleven is between films, he works on perfecting his craft and keeping his face out there via his agent and website. He also keeps his schedule open so that he’s ready for auditions and productions.

Did He or Didn’t He?

But, of course, there’s one final question I had to ask. Did he get to kiss Kirsten Dunst? He laughs, then replies, “No, but I came very, very close to kissing her body double.”

Photo Courtesy of Chad Cleven