Remington Steele 'takes a small beating' on the job for 'Dome'

Remington Steele is used to getting a few raised eyebrows when he introduces himself.

To clarify, Steele is not the title character of the Pierce Brosnan crime-solving series from the '80s. He is actually a stunt double who has worked on projects such as AMC's "The Walking Dead" and "The Hunger Games" franchise installments "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay: Parts 1 and 2" – all of which shot in Georgia.

This summer, Steele, 28, is spending a few months beachfront in Wilmington as the stunt double for actor Mike Vogel on CBS' locally filmed summer series "Under the Dome." He previously worked three episodes of the series last summer.

On the Chester's Mill High School set, constructed on a sound stage at EUE/Screen Gems Studios, Steele said that "taking a small beating" is just part of the job. And he is used to it.

"When something is deemed too dangerous or Mike isn't in the mood to do something that day, I will step in," said the Georgia native.

On any given day, Steele said he is frequently at the mercy of stunts that have him "hitting the ground pretty hard, slamming into stuff, falling off of things" or having things fall on him.

"I get his bruises and cuts," Steele said, laughing.

Vogel plays Barbie, the show's unlikely hero, so Steele stays pretty busy. Just in the first two episodes of the new season, Barbie has escaped being publicly hanged, only to be violently dragged to the magnetized dome in handcuffs, fight the villainous Big Jim (Dean Norris) and fly a plane in the potentially deadly skies over Chester's Mill.

"He is the main character, so they are constantly throwing different things at him," he said.

Steele's start in the industry was much less jarring, if not a bit slower paced, than his current day job.

After graduating from Georgia Southern University, Steele entered into a sales job, which he quickly determined didn't lend itself well to the active lifestyle he aimed to maintain after spending his formative years getting roughed up playing lacrosse and football.

Soon, he started working short stints as a production assistant on a few TV shows before working food services for an "American Pie" film. One night, a producer came knocking on his door at 3 a.m. and asked him to do a stunt as Stifler, the popular character played by Seann William Scott. From that night on, Steele was hooked.

But the work didn't immediately flood in. Between his first stunt and his second, a whole year passed. That didn't discourage him.

"Having that opportunity made me realize that this is what I want to do," he said. "So I took it and I ran with it."

And with a name like Remington Steele, how could he not?

About his name

Steele, whose full name is Richard Remington Steele, frequently fields questions about his name and attributes all the credit to his father, who stumbled across the moniker in a baby names book and thought it was "strong and solid."

His mother and grandmother didn't share the feeling, concerned about the link to the show. "My dad insisted that the show would be canceled in a year and no one would remember it," Steele said. "Well, everyone remembered."

But Steele doesn't seem to think too much into it. His main focus now is making it day to day with no more than the customary bruise of a job well done.

"So far, I haven't broken anything," Steele said, before walking over and knocking on a nearby sheet of wood.

Hunter Ingram: 343-2327

On Twitter: @WilmonFilm