Michael Papajohn
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Michael graduated
from Vestavia Hills High School in 1983.
The
Texas Rangers drafted him in 1985, but he chose instead to attend
Louisiana State University on a baseball scholarship. He was
the starting center-fielder on the first LSU team to go to the
College World Series in 1986, and again in 1987.
In
1987, Everybody's All-American came to shoot in Baton Rouge, and
Michael was chosen as Dennis Quaid's stunt double for the football
scenes. He caught the attention and earned the admiration of
director Taylor Hackford, who encouraged Michael to pursue a career
in stunt work.
While
filming Charlie's Angels, Michael was kicked in the jaw with a
stiletto boot. He found himself in an emergency room,
insisting that he was not the victim of domestic violence. The
spousal abuse representatives had a hard time believing that he had
been kicked by Cameron Diaz.
Michael
is most widely known as "The Car Jacker" in Spider-Man, whose
actions ultimately lead Peter Parker to become Spider-Man.
Michael first met director Sam Raimi when he played Kevin Costner's
nemesis in For Love of the Game.
Another
notable role was as Guard Papajohn in The Longest Yard for producer
Adam Sandler. They met when Michael did all of Adam's stunts
in The Waterboy, making the hard hits as Bobby Boucher. In The
Longest Yard, things came full circle when Michael had his own
stuntman.
He
has produced one film, Rustin, that went on to win festival awards.
