As a young kid growing up in Powder Springs, Met Clark would sit in his parent’s house and watch movies that were made far away in Hollywood. He watched everything from gut-busting comedies to thrillers with daring rescues and stunts. But he never dreamt of flying out West to join the action.
“I never would have thought in a million years that I’d be doing anything on a film set,” says Met, who now resides in Atlanta.
And at first, he was right. It was a chance invite on an ordinary day from a coworker that changed Met’s life and career path. Before that, he was a paramedic who served as fire rescue, which was a good way to put the skills he learned as a paratrooper in the 325th Airborne to use.
“I ended up joining the union in 2017 when a friend who was working on ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ invited me over to come work as a medic,” says Met. “From there, I’ve had a whole bunch of opportunities come my way.”
Some of those opportunities put Met on camera doing stunts and acting. He’s appeared in productions like “Haunting of Hill House,” “The Underground Railroad,” and “Doctor Sleep.” And because Georgia has become such an important destination, his medic and water safety credits include both Avengers films, “Stranger Things,” and “Just Mercy” … plus a couple others he can’t talk about yet.
“I’m actually doing movies full-time,” says Met, adding that he took early retirement from the City of Austell Fire Department.
Life on set isn’t all about film credits, though. His workdays can stretch to 18 hours long, and there’s still the fact that everyone there is counting on him for guidance and safety.
“It’s still the same stuff and still the same real dangers,” Met adds. “The construction guys might chop their fingers off or nail their hand to a board.”
When a mistake like that is made, it’s Met’s job to make it right, and sometimes the stakes are higher than a wounded hand.
“I did have to save an actress. I was water safety and she was supposed to tread water,” he explains. “As soon as I pulled the float away, she sunk. I went in and had to save her.”
When Met’s parents moved from Thailand to Powder Springs in 1970 to avoid the conflict in Vietnam, they couldn’t have predicted the path their one-year-old son would take. But he’s not basking in the sunlight, he’s just happy he gets to contribute to productions that millions of people love. And there’s the perk of knowing when a new season of “Stranger Things” is about to film.
“I’ve been pretty fortunate, I can’t lie,” he says.