Few movies are as important to the Mustang legend as Bullitt, and few actors left the impact that Steve McQueen did. But while McQueen and other action stars get their name in lights and draw the big crowds, there are hundreds, sometimes thousands of people behind the scenes. Arguably, the best gig in show biz is being a stuntman, and being McQueens stuntman came with its own perks.

Marc Meyers, writing on his blog Jazzwax had a chance to drive the original Bullitt chase-scene route with Loren James, the stuntman who drove 90% of the chase in the place of McQueen.

Loren let Meyers in on a lot of interesting little factoids about the movie, working with McQueen, and the perspective of a stuntman. It’s a damn interesting read, with Loren telling how he first met McQueen on the set of the television show “Dead or Alive.” Before Loren had even performed his first stunt, McQueen wanted to fire the new stuntman. After seeing Loren, a Marine, diver, and gymnast, leap through a window, vault over a pair of horses and then land on his own horse and ride away, McQueen made Loren his stuntman for all his future work. This includes Bullitt.

As for that legendary movie, the famous Taylor street chase scene was filmed street by street, and every car (including the trolleys) was driven by other professional stunt actors. Apparently the bad guy driven the Dodge Charger was another stuntman, Bill Hickman, and there were three, not two, backup Mustangs. Each mustang was heavily modified with a better engine, heavy duty racing suspension, skid bars, and over inflated tires (for all that bouncing.) The interview with Loren is as insightful as it is entertaining, and it’s a must-read for any fan of Bullitt.