WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – A chance encounter on a Wilmington movie set in 1983 led two local teenagers to pursue careers in film and video production. More than 40 years later, it also became the groundwork for a book about the Hollywood stuntman who inspired them.
Kevin Dennis and John Copeman were Wilmington teenagers obsessed with movies, particularly horror films, when they signed up to be extras on the set of “Firestarter.” When they learned that stuntman and a hero of theirs, Dick Warlock, would also be on set, the two worked up the nerve to knock on his trailer door.
At the time, Warlock had already built a notable career in Hollywood. He worked on the set of “Jaws,” where he doubled for Richard Dreyfuss’s character in a shark cage. What Dennis and Copeman were most excited about, was his role as Michael Myers in “Halloween II” — including a stunt in which the character is set on fire…