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The woman who acted as a stunt double in Free Willy is sharing what it was like working with a killer whale
Debi Derryberry recounts in a podcast how she was cast as the stunt double for the the film's protagonist, a 12-year-old boy
She further shared that she spent seven weeks training with the killer whale, Keiko
The woman who acted as the stunt double for the lead character in the 1993 filmFree Willyis opening up about what it was like working with a killer whale.
Speaking on an upcoming episode of theEst. in the '90spodcast, Debi Derryberry recounted what it was like to film the scene in which the orca rescues the film's protagonist, a 12-year-old boy.
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"They were looking for someone to body double this 12-year-old boy. I spent seven weeks training with Keiko, the Killer Whale," Derryberry says in the podcast, going on to detail the plot of the film. "The boy — he runs around the whale's tank. He wants to get the whale free, but he accidentally trips, and it's night and he hits his head on the edge, and he falls in, and the whale comes, and picks him up, flips him up, and flips him over."
As Derryberry was acting as the stunt double for the boy — Jesse Greenwood, played by Jason James Richter in his breakthrough role — she had to be the one to actually get "rescued" by the whale used in the film.
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"My job was to let the whale rescue me and flip me on deck," she said in the podcast.
She continued: "I could see him when he was about six feet from me, but I could feel him about 20 feet from me. I mean, Keiko the whale was really tired after that. He was like, 'Ugh, I really don't want to be doing this.'"
Elsewhere in the interview, Derryberry said she wouldn't have taken the stunt double role at this point in her life, adding: "I would never take the job again, because I don't believe in whales in captivity. I didn't know how horrible it was."
Free Willywas directed by Simon Wincer and released on July 16, 1993, becoming an instant hit thanks to its poignant message and the overall hype surrounding the film — which was furthered by its soundtrack, the lead track of which, "Will You Be There," was sung byMichael Jackson. Also in the cast were Michael Madsen, Jayne Atkinson, and Mykelti Williamson.
Greenwood reprised his role in the subsequent films,Free Willy 2: The Adventure Homewhich came out in 1995 andFree Willy 3: The Rescue,which was released in 1997.
"The Good Whale," a six-part podcast hosted by Daniel Alarcónand released in 2024, detailed the real-life efforts to save Keiko the whale.
AfterFree Willybecame an unexpected hit, fans learned that Keiko was ill and living in a pool at an amusement park — revelations that sparked an uproar and led Warner Bros, the studio behind the film, to seek a way to release the animal into the wild.
Keiko was ultimately released and returned him to his native waters in Iceland in 2001. The orca died in 2003 from pneumonia after becoming ill at the age of 27, according to theInternational Marine Mammal Project.
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