Meet Paul Whitecotton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Whitecotton.

So, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The journey I have taken into this current phase of my life has had many turns and pauses, so I’ll try to keep it simple! My name is Paul Whitecotton, I am from San Diego, CA and I am 27 years old. I currently live in Los Angeles and do freelance work as a Stunt and Motion Capture Performer, and professional Parkour Athlete.

The deepest roots of my athleticism are in a traditional TaeKwonDo background. From the age of 7 to 14, I trained six days a week (with the exception of my first year) for at least one hour each day. This martial art helped me develop my initial strength and coordination, and more importantly, a concept of discipline and respect. After seven dedicated years of practice and earning my second-degree black belt, I transitioned from TaeKwonDo into Parkour.

I want to qualify that Parkour changed my life. It was the first time I had found something that I both truly passionately loved, and had complete creative control of. Parkour gave me a sense of self-control, self-understanding, and a direction in my life when at times, nothing else seemed to be aligned correctly. It helped me overcome low self-esteem, insecurities, fears, and even heartbreak. Coming directly from martial arts, I embodied Parkour as a way of life. It was not only for fun; it was not just to be fit. I put my heart into Parkour as an artist.

Pursuing this passion led me to many opportunities. I helped spread Parkour in San Diego by being a gym teacher and prominent community member. I was blessed with a principal role in “People in Motion,” one of the earliest Parkour documentaries in the USA. Many of my closest friends (who are also colleagues) and I met because of Parkour, and it also served as my entry key to the entertainment industry in Los Angeles.

My biggest breakthrough occurred later on when my brother Travis Wong personally vouched for me to work on Jon Favreau’s “The Jungle Book.” Alongside Travis and Ben Jenkin, I was one of the Mowgli stunt doubles and did creature performance as well. This single opportunity gave me the ability to move to Los Angeles and start my career here. [Fun Fact: the first three weeks I worked on the film I was living in a DoubleTree Hotel next to the studio, as I hadn’t yet found an apartment. I was 22 years old.] At least a year or so later Ben gave me a chance to do some mo-cap (motion capture) work at Activision for the video game Call of Duty, a chance which became the start to the mo-cap work I do today. Big thank you to these two dudes as well as many others who have helped me along the way!

While I continue to work and grow in these fields, I am also committed to discovering my other loves and passions, and I intend on staying true to my heart whenever it pulls me strongly enough in a new direction towards a new purpose.

Has it been a smooth road?
Initially convincing my parents that not going to college wasn’t the worst idea was pretty difficult at first. It was hard for myself even at times to believe that there was real potential to monetize Parkour outside of coaching. To be fair, I did kind of put all my eggs in one basket and I could feel the risk to that. Not knowing many people who had gone a similar route required me (and my parents) to have a lot of faith in my choices!

I had some bumps in the road healing from various injuries throughout years of training. On separate occasions, I’ve broken my leg, wrist and neck, aside from the normal sprains and bruises. Each injury served as a learning lesson, all of which built my mental strength and willpower. When I broke my neck, I almost chose to quit doing Parkour altogether actually. I chose to continue in hopes that I could be an example to anyone who looked up to me, that even a massive setback like almost dying doesn’t have to break your spirit.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with your work – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I do freelance work as a Stunt and Motion Capture Performer. My particular specialty is Parkour, which sets me apart a bit from others in the industry; it’s not a very common skillset to have in either stunts or motion capture, partly due to Parkour being such a relatively new phenomenon in general. I don’t always have to do any Parkour related stuff every time I’m on set though; a lot of the times I get to be a goon in a fight scene or a soldier etc.

It’s wild to think that I went from playing around with jumps and flips to being able to support myself. I feel like I am a small testament to the notion that you don’t need to go to college, and that chasing something in your heart combined with a rational plan leads to success. It’s really worth it to pursue what you love doing and I’m proud to exemplify that.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the cool vegan restaurants here in Los Angeles, almost as much as I love the 405 traffic *laughs heartily*

I’d say one thing I don’t prefer about this city is how unEarthy it feels. I love nature and the peace I find in it. If I could put more trees and grass all over LA, somehow I would!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: intstagram.com/paulwhitecotton

Image Credit:
Connor Simon (ONLY FOR MAIN PERSONAL AND FLIPPING PICTURE)

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