Secrets of The Cutting Edge—Including How They Pulled Off That Stunt

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As much as I adore Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams together – seriously, their connection is electric! – I need everyone to remember there’s another couple on Heated Rivalry with some serious sparks. Let’s just say, keep an eye out for some figure skating drama – it’s hot.

We’re not claiming that The Cutting Edge made Moira Kelly and D.B. Sweeney skilled skaters, even though they played a figure skater and hockey player in the movie. But this popular 1992 romantic comedy—about a refined skater and a tough hockey player teaming up to chase Olympic gold—was a fan favorite, despite only receiving a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film, directed by Paul Michael Glaser, earned a solid $25 million at the box office and led to two television sequels. Actor Sweeney jokes that he still hears a famous line from the movie about five times a day.

Shortly after the movie came out on March 27, 1992, the actor recalled a funny experience he had in an airport. He said he tripped, and seven people immediately shouted, ‘Toe pick!’ He found it amusing that so many people had already seen the film and remembered that specific moment, showing how quickly it had become a cultural reference. He hadn’t realized the movie had made such an immediate impact on people’s minds.

Despite months of training—around three, in fact—the 64-year-old actor, originally from New York, never quite perfected the difficult Pamchenko jump using the front edge of his skates, and neither did his co-star. They weren’t able to land it successfully.

He explained to Entertainment Weekly in 2014 that the fight choreography didn’t really work. “I throw her, then just stand there and wait for her to fly back,” he said. “That only makes sense if she’s Supergirl, but it’s illogical otherwise.”

Although professional skaters Sharon Carz and John Denton performed as stand-ins, the filmmakers still had to use a lot of special effects to make the skating move look realistic.

Okay, so here’s the thing – when I was ‘dancing’ with Moira in that scene, it wasn’t actually her! It was a mannequin. Honestly, it worked surprisingly well, but the wig… oh, the wig kept falling off! Suddenly, I wasn’t focused on how crazy it was to be ‘dancing’ with a dummy, I was completely consumed with figuring out how to keep the wig on the mannequin’s head! It became a whole engineering problem, you know?

He’s good at two things, and skating is one of them. So, get ready, because we’ve only just begun to reveal the hidden stories behind this film.

Neither Moira Kelly, who played the Olympic skater Kate Mosley, nor her costar D.B. Sweeney, who played hockey player Doug Dorsey, were experienced skaters. Kelly even admitted she’d only been on the ice a couple of times! Because of this, they both underwent a three-month intensive training program in New York City before filming began.

The training period really allowed the actors to bond. As Sweeney explained in a 2014 interview with Entertainment Weekly, they skated together almost daily for three months, often playing hockey afterward. This helped them connect on a more personal level than typical rehearsals, mirroring the characters’ developing relationship in the film. He felt it was a natural way to create a shared history for their roles.

It’s important to remember that these skaters weren’t instantly at an Olympic level. To help them improve, British skating expert Robin Cousins—a gold medalist at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics—brought in American figure skater Sharon Carz and pairs skater John Denton as coaches.

Denton was in Boston, unsure of his next steps after his business partner unexpectedly left, when he received a life-changing phone call. As he told Yahoo Entertainment in 2018, Robin called and offered him a role in a movie, inviting him to meet director Paul Michael Glaser in Toronto. Denton was shocked – Glaser was famous for Starsky & Hutch! Robin arranged a first-class flight for him to leave the very next day, and Denton immediately accepted.

Just like Kate and Doug, John and Sharon’s relationship wasn’t easy at first. They were rivals professionally, which made things complicated, according to Carz. Denton added that they often clashed, saying they were “like oil and water” at times.

It wasn’t challenging for the actors to portray enemies, as they were already frequently at odds. As Carz explained, “We were essentially fighting anyway, so it felt natural.” The demanding schedule – often 17-hour days filled with early starts, lengthy hair and makeup sessions, and long waits on set – eventually took its toll. “By the end of filming, John and I were starting to get on each other’s nerves,” Carz admitted.

Still, “He and I later ended up competing together for a season.”

One move they never tried in real life was the Pamchenko – a maneuver Carz described as “insanely difficult and against the rules for amateur players.”

Denton pointed out that the ‘Pamchenko’ move – where a girl is swung in a circle, then lifted and spun, and finally caught by a boy – doesn’t make sense from a physics perspective. He explained that you can’t simply change direction and lift someone into the air after swinging them in a circle; it’s not physically possible.

Despite the difficulty, the filmmakers decided to try the Pamchenko jump. According to choreographer Lori Nichol, who spoke with Yahoo, the jump was created by combining three separate elements: a triple twist takeoff, performed partly by an adagio team and partly with a doll. She explained that the other skater involved was visibly exhausted after repeatedly practicing it, and was warned against attempting it more than three times in a row.

Carz explained the next surprising moment: the scene cuts to him doing a backward quadruple jump on a trampoline secured to the ice. He wasn’t wearing skates. A stunt coordinator helped him practice, as he needed to jump backwards, tuck his body, maintain control, and land spinning while a mat was quickly placed under the trampoline.

Denton explained that the final stunt – when the performer was caught and lowered back onto the ice – was actually him and Sharon. He said because Sharon was so small, he could lift her high enough that her skates went over his head.

Interestingly, it wasn’t a difficult stunt that caused Kelly to break her foot. During the first week of filming, while practicing her skills, she landed awkwardly on a jump and fractured her leg, as Sydney Sweeney explained to EW. This made Sweeney quite nervous, as she worried about filming and potentially having to step in to cover scenes with the actress’s stunt double.

Skating with someone truly skilled is incredibly helpful. It’s like they naturally raise your own level because you try to copy their technique – their movements and posture. It’s a fantastic way to improve, almost like having the best possible training aid. Sharon, in particular, helped me skate much better than I could have on my own.

Despite the positive experience, not all of Sweeney’s skills improved. While filming, Kelly had a broken foot in a cast, but the crew cleverly concealed it using camera angles and special effects, as Sweeney explained to EW. He admitted the most awkward scene for him involved a dance sequence with Kelly. She was seated on a camera dolly with her foot casted, only moving her upper body, while he gave it his all. He jokingly said she was a better dancer even with limited movement than he was.

Kelly wasn’t the only one who had a mishap. While filming Doug and Kate’s hockey game, Carz was hit in the leg with a puck. Denton injured his back – specifically, a muscle pulled away from his spine – after powerfully lifting Carz for a complicated aerial move. And a $20,000 camera wasn’t so lucky, taking a hit to its lens during the action.

Carz explained that the crew was trying to capture footage of them doing aerial spins and performing jumps very close to the camera.

Even Chris Chelios, a three-time Stanley Cup winner and a supporting actor playing a German hockey player, noticed how tiring the long filming hours were. After a five-hour shoot, Sweeney told Entertainment Weekly that Chelios said, “I’ve never been on skates this long in my life.”

Carz looked remarkably like Kelly on set—so much so that people often mistook them for each other, as Carz explained to Yahoo. However, her costume included a wig and prosthetic breasts. In fact, Carz revealed to Yahoo that she regularly removed the breast forms during the show and tossed them into the audience at the end of the night.

Denton explained to Yahoo that it took three to four hours to apply his makeup each day. This included a fake forehead, adjusting his hairline, and coloring his hair. Makeup artist Carz also shared that Denton wore a prosthetic chin, and jokingly stuck it on the wall after filming was finished.

Although Patrick Sweeney had fun filming the hockey scenes, he surprisingly revealed a different moment as his favorite when asked.

You know, as someone who appreciates great on-screen chemistry, I have to say filming the scene with Moira where we were about to go on, and I suddenly felt sick, was a highlight for me. It was just brilliantly written and the setup was hilarious. Honestly, Moira was phenomenal in that moment – and in all our scenes together! I’ve been fortunate to work with amazing actors throughout my career, but Moira really stands out as the best.

Kelly also highly praised her fellow actor, giving them a perfect score. In a 2020 Instagram post remembering the movie Cutting Edge, the former West Wing star described it as “one of my favorite films I’ve ever been a part of.”

In real life, their relationship was solid. She told TopMob News, “He’s a genuinely good person – really supportive and like an older brother to me. We had a lot of fun joking around together.”

Moria explained that this person is uniquely suited to her, saying, “He’s the only one I can really be sarcastic with without causing offense, and he’s just as quick to give it back.” She described it as a great connection and a comfortable, playful dynamic between them.

Despite this, both actors turned down an offer to return for a sequel. According to an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sweeney explained that they had agreed not to participate unless they both did. She said it wasn’t hard to decline, as the proposed salary was very low and the script was poor. She felt it was a shame the studio would even make such an offer.

They did work together again, though. He mentioned, “She graciously agreed to be in Two Tickets to Paradise, which I directed in 2007.” They’ve remained friends over the years, and he has a lot of respect for her.

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2026-03-27 13:18