Episode 5: From Skip Bertman to Spider-Man

For this episode, Jordan, James, and Alex are joined in the studio by Baton Rouge actor and stuntman Michael Papajohn. Papajohn played baseball for LSU under Skip Bertman's coaching 1986–1987, the two years the team made it to the College World Series. His life changed forever when he was randomly asked to audition for a small part in a feature film while leaving LSU's weight room one day—which set him off on a lifelong career in major motion pictures, both as a stuntman and in a wide variety of recognizable roles in films ranging from The Waterboy to Spider-Man.

Reading List 

Here, find articles that we either mentioned in the episode, or that we think might enrich and/or further the conversations we had. 

The Papajohn Effect

By Jordan LaHaye Fontenot 

One of Baton Rouge’s busiest actors talks Skip Bertman, stunting, and Spider-Man

Our feature on Michael Papajohn was part of our inaugural November Film issue in 2022. Read that entire issue here: 

The Homegrown Cinema of Hollywood South  

To see a glimpse of Papajohn in action, you can watch his recent demo reels here: