SURFING STUNTS
Icelandic Surf Adventure on Eastwood Movie Set

Clint Eastwood and Zuma Jay (far right) with two other members of the Flags crew

All together, the shoot was a lot less dangerous than the actual invasion and while Jay worked hard on most days, he did have the leisure to surf: "Some of the actors had boards but they weren't allowed to surf during the shoot because of contract stipulations, so I would sneak into their trailers, borrow their boards, ride them and return them. Those guys couldn't figure out why their boards were wet all the time."

The production had meteorologists and a Water Captain to keep an eye on conditions and Jay said the daily water temperature prediction was always 40 degrees. "It was cold, but I had a 4/3 with sealed seams and could surf for a couple of hours a day," Jay said. "I got some pretty good waves there and had an interesting five and a half weeks in Iceland. The mountain that doubled for Iwo Jima was in a different part of the island from the invasion beach, so I got to see a lot of the island. A beautiful place. Volcanic and desert in some areas, where only lichen grows, lush and green in other places."

Jay has worn many different hats in his life, and one of them was the cowboy hat of a Marlboro Man. Tall and lean, Jay looks a lot like Clint Eastwood. Jay has stood in for Clint in commercials overseas and ads as a lookalike, and they know each other from other shows. Jay said what all people say about working with Clint: efficient, professional, low key, a gentleman: "When I did that stunt in the Jeep out of the Higgins it was a little dangerous, but we did it in two takes, got it, move on," Jay said. "That is how Clint operates. He is always prepared and very professional and he gets it done and moves along. And Clint was usually around, rain or shine, wind and sleet. On some of those lunch calls there were more than a thousand extras, but Clint stood in line like everyone else, taking his chow behind some $100 a day extra. He never raises his voice like some other big time directors. He doesn’t even have a megaphone on the set. He is a pleasure to work with."

Movie producers have been flocking to Iceland lately to shoot everything from Tomb Raider to James Bond to recreating tropical islands. Jay had a good time there, got two credits on a potential Oscar winner and got some surf: "There are a few guys surfing around Iceland," Jay said. "Some guys from the NATO base go to Sandvik a lot, but for the most part there are no crowds. Surfers will invade the place soon enough."