Which Celebrity Would You Save?

It's the outdoor set of an expensive Hollywood historical movie. Test shots are being taken, the principal actors are all in attendance. As a runner, you have been delivering messages, equipment, and coffee to everyone on set. Suddenly a fire breaks out. There's panic everywhere. Everyone on the crew is running away. You hear shouts from a nearby wooden house. Two men are trapped inside. Just your damn luck, they are on opposite sides of the house. You'll only have enough time to save one of the men before the whole place collapses in flames. The question is:

Gary Oldman or Daniel Day Lewis?

Two amazing men. Two icons of method acting... Such a hard choice. But a choice must be made.


My Answer: Daniel Day Lewis
As much as I like Gary Oldman, no one is more single-minded in his quest for a dedicated portrayal of whatever role he undertakes than Daniel Day Lewis. No offense Gary.

A brand new action flick is being filmed on an oil barge out in the Atlantic. Action packed scenes between Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme are shot during a rain storm for dramatic effect. Unfortunately, the rough seas pitch both men over the side. As they struggle to stay afloat and slowly drift further from the barge, you grab the only floatation ring you can find. The question is, who do you throw it to?

Steven Seagal or Jean-Claude Van Damme?

Both are unique action movie actors. Both are past their prime, but each is remembered for their violent, over the top martial arts moves.


My Answer: Jean-Claude Van Damme
No offense to Steven Seagal, but Jean-Claude Can Damme is a more iconic actor in my opinion. He's also in better shape, which means he can still hold his own in an action movie, even at his age.

On route to a remote movie location, the cargo plane plane carrying Jet Li, Jackie Chan, yourself and some producers is malfunctioning. The others quickly don parachutes while Jet Li and Jackie Chan help them bail out. You're wearing your chute, and you get the last two to hand to the action stars. You realize that one of them has a fatal flaw, and won't open correctly if used. With only seconds before the plane drops too low to survive a parachute jump, you have to decide who gets the working parachute, and who gets the flawed parachute. So, you gotta ask yourself:

Jet Li or Jackie Chan?

Both are entertaining martial arts heroes. But neither can survive a fall from 3,000 feet without a parachute.


My Answer: Jet Li
I know about the storied and successful career of Jackie Chan. But the buddy movie franchises that he's done over the last decade are played out. Jet Li can act in both action and dramatic roles. I think Jet Li has more of a future as an aging actor.

You are an e.m.t. on a movie set. Your job usually involves sitting around while nothing happens, and going home. Today, Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson are in a Western, about to act a scene, running from an exploding saloon. The special effects demo team assure the actors that there is no risk. When the director says action, both actors are surprised when the explosion goes off early, before they get to a safe distance from the blast. Wood splinters are flying everywhere, and both men have punctured lungs. Slowly suffocating, you know that while you save one life, the other will surely die. No matter how fast you work, you will be sacrificing one actor while saving the other. The question is:

Ralph Fiennes or Liam Neeson?

Both well loved European actors with a long resume of success. One English, the other Irish. And only one will survive.

My Answer: Laim Neeson
I like Ralph Fiennes. But I like Liam Neeson a little better. It shouldn't come down to something so simple, but sometimes it has to.

Javier Bardem and Jeffrey Dean Morgan are starring in a movie about recently reunited half-brothers that embark on a journey into the jungles of Indonesia on a voyage of reflection and self discovery. Once again you are the only trained medical professional on location. One of the boom operators accidentally hits a wasps nest with his microphone. The damn wasps sting everyone in sight. Both Bardem and Morgan are stung multiple times. Unfortunately for them, they're both horribly allergic to wasp stings. Unfortunately for you, you only have one shot of Epinephrine on you. Whoever you inject will survive, while the other will die of anaphylaxis on the way to the hospital. So, you gotta ask yourself:

Javier Bardem or Jeffrey Dean Morgan?

My Answer: Javier Bardem
I feel kind of guilty. I really like Jeffrey Morgan in most of the roles I've seen him in. But Javier Bardem has become a star in both Spain and the US. He has acted in a wide variety of dramatic roles, and only to seems to get better with age.

As a climbing instructor, you have taken many celebrities up sheer rock faces for hefty sums of money. This time, Ewan McGregor and Jonny Lee Miller have hired you to take them both up a difficult cliff face. Both seem competent and you agree. The night before the climb, you have a premonition wherein the person in the back of the three man group will have to be cut from the line in order to save the other two. The next morning, you try your best to dissuade the two actors, but they insist on going up, and will simply hire another instructor if you refuse to take them. Being lead climber, you have to be out front securing lines. The question is, which of the two actors gets to take the middle position, and which has to climb in the tail position and later get sacrificed?

Ewan McGregor or Jonny Lee Miller?

Two British actors well known throughout the UK and US. Both launched successful careers in the 90's, and are still relevant today. But only one will survive.


My Answer: Ewan McGregor
Jonny Lee Miller isn't as versatile an actor to me. I like them both, but I'd rather see a movie in 2014 starring Ewan McGregor than Jonny Lee Miller.

Will Smith and Jamie Foxx are starring in a new action movie. One of the commercial selling points of the film is how many of the stunts the lead actors will undertake themselves. In a relative routine chase scene in the hills of LA, something goes horribly wrong when the two actors, each driving their cars, crash into one another, and nearly slide off a cliff. With both vehicle teetering on the side of a cliff, you (a member of the crew) rush over to assist help the men out of their cars. You quickly realize that you only have enough time to pull one of the actors to safety before both cars plummet down the cliff. The question is, who are you going to help first? And who gets to fall?

Will Smith or Jamie Foxx?

Icons of television and movies for two decades. Both have a lasting legacy. But who lives?

My Answer: Jamie Foxx
Ten years ago I would have said Will Smith. But I think Jamie Foxx is more relevant in today's movie industry.

Ryan Gosling and Ryan Reynolds have both been cast in a movie about the American Revolution. In a strange twist of fate, they discover on location that they are both in love with the same woman. Inspired by the methods of their forefathers, Gosling and Reynolds decide there's only one way to solve this dilemma: A gentleman's duel. They sneak into the prop room and get their hands on a couple of dueling pistols from the 1750's. As a friend to both men, they ask you to officiate the duel. Right before you hand them their weapons, you notice a flaw with one of the pistols that won't allow it to fire properly. Suddenly faced with the awful choice of handing one man a working firearm, and the other a defective one (and assuming you like one actor more than the other), what would you do? Who gets the working pistol, and who gets the defective one? Who will lie bleeding in a grassy field, lamenting his unrequited love?

Ryan Gosling or Ryan Reynolds?

Both are well liked actors of the 21st century. Both are beloved of many a woman, and probably some men too.



My Answer: Ryan Reynolds
This was an easy choice to make for me. I've never really been a fan of Ryan Gosling. I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's because I'm not a woman.

Out on a jungle adventure with James Franco and Seth Rogen. Spirits are high until you reach a dangerous river. As the three of you brave the rapids in your raft, it capsizes, sending you out of control down the rapids. You just manage to make it to shore, but Franco and Rogen are clinging to slippery rocks, barely holding on. By the time you reach one of the men, the other will surely be swept down river and drowned. The question is, who gets a low five and who gets a wave goodbye?

James Franco or Seth Rogen?

Best friends. Comedians. Actors. But only one comes back.

My Answer: James Franco
Sorry Seth. But you got to go. You got to go! Franco has a slight edge, doing both dramatic roles as well as comedy, and action. Rogen is mostly comedy.