Brian Nickels died suddenly on January 15, 2020, of cardiac arrest at his West London home. The professional boxer turned stuntman’s career culminated with Bridgerton, the new hit Netflix series from Shondaland.
Bridgerton paid tribute to the man many called Sonny. This tribute came prior to the final credits of Season 1 of the series.
The full-screen remembrance read, “In loving memory of Brian Nickels.”
What did Brian Nickels do on Bridgerton?
Brian had surpassed stuntman status by the time he worked on Bridgerton. His job on the Regency love story was officially stated as a stunt coordinator, a big step up from his previous job as a stuntman.
Martins Imhangbe, who was cast as boxer Will Mondrich in the Netflix series, talked to Meaww about his time on Bridgerton with Nickels.
“We trained about 3-4 times a week during filming, focusing on strength and conditioning in order to get in shape and be prepared for the boxing routines,” the actor said.
Imhangbe told Meaww that those routines “were choreographed by the late and great Brian Nickels who sadly passed away towards the end of filming — may he rest in power.”
“I’m sure he’s very proud of this show and all his work,” Imhangbe added.
Brian’s wife worked with the stuntman
Meanwhile, Brian’s longtime wife, Simone, who worked as his assistant and as a stunt department coordinator, spoke to Yahoo Movies UK about her husband.
“He was one of the hardest working men ever. Ever,” she told the source.
As a stuntman, Nickels initially appeared in the 1997 James Bond movie called Tomorrow Never Dies.
Also among some of his many credits, he worked on big-budget films like 2012’s Skyfall and 2017’s Wonder Woman.
Brian also worked on the Bourne films. In fact, he fought Matt Damon in 2016’s Jason Bourne.
In addition, the brawny guy was seen on the big screen in the popular Marvel movies. These films included Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Guardians of the Galaxy.
He also worked on the last two Harry Potter movies as well as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Hobbs & Shaw, and Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
Brian Nickels worked on many television shows
On the small screen, Nickels was constantly in demand, too.
His credits include such television shows as Life on Mars, Band of Brothers, and Killing Eve.
He also appeared in the first season of the highly-celebrated HBO fantasy drama series, Game of Thrones.
Besides his spouse Simone, the 54-year-old stuntman, whose last effort was as stunt coordinator on Bridgerton, left behind their two children, seven-year-old Sienna and three-year-old Rocco.
What a remarkable person, what a life he led, sadly cut short.
So sad.