Man stages tiger attack as he teaches big cat to play fight

Animal trainer Randy Miller dices with danger as he teaches his 400lb tiger Eden to leap into the air and pretend to maul him in action scenes in films.

26 Jun 2013

Mr Miller rears his animals from birth at his facility in Big Bear, California and uses his bond with them to get them to perform on the big screen.

He has hand-fed Eden since she was born and eventually taught her to jump on him for food rewards.

He has trained creatures for roles in Transformers 2, The Last Samurai and many other big-screen productions.

"I like using Eden for the staged attack because she comes at me so fast and hits hard, so it's very convincing" said Mr Miller.

"She's dependable and knows what she's doing, but you still need to be cautious and play your role.

"You can hit your head and get knocked out and that becomes dangerous because the animal can take advantage of you. It's in a predator's instincts to prey on the weak, and it can come at any time.
"One bite could kill you, and if you get bit in the neck, you're dead."
The expert handler's act with predators is so convincing it landed him a top stunt award for his work on Russell Crowe blockbuster Gladiator.

Crowe's face was superimposed onto his for a scene when Maximus was attacked by one of Miller's tigers, Tara, in a battle in the Colosseum.
However during the stunt Tara bit through his fake armour on his arm, which was made of leather.
"It wasn't a big deal and I didn't take it personally," he said. "She just liked the smell and got possessive of it."

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