When Johansson gets punched in the face, Heidi Moneymaker takes the hit. When Elizabeth Olsen crashes through a window, it’s C.C. Ice who ends up with scratches. Hollywood’s most unsung behind-the-scenes heroes star in a Hollywood Reporter photo portfolio. Meet the Stuntwomen who help stars kickass.
Helen Gibson’s strong, handsome face and dark hair gave her the look of someone who would try anything. In 1915, while in her early twenties, she was doubling for the star The Hazards of Helen. She was supposed to leap from the roof of the station to the top of a moving train. Years later, she called it her most dangerous stunt.
Becoming a stuntwoman is especially difficult in an industry where men often play female characters. But more performers are breaking through.
A woman is doubled over on a platform, clutching her stomach. She screams, then flops 4.5 metres (15ft) on to a giant airbag. To my left, a dozen people...
Annabel Wood has performed stunts in some of Hollywood's biggest hits including Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), Wonder Woman, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and The Mummy, and TV work is no less impressive with her 3 year stint on Game of Thrones.
“Wigging” is a film industry term that describes the practice of male stunt performers standing in for women on gags. “Painting down” is its cousin, in which White stunt performers stand in for actors of color. Veteran stunt performer Deven MacNair has made it her mission to speak out against these practices and demand change.
Picture a job that requires long hours, dangerous physical tasks, a high risk of injury, and enduring discrimination and a lack of opportunity.
These are the challenges faced by black stuntwomen.
In a 2016 survey, 18 out of 43 stuntwomen said they’d experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, and 26 out...
The practice is called wigging: stuntmen don wigs and women’s clothing to resemble female actors while filming risky action scenes.
Camera angles, special effects and editing preserve the illusion that it is a pulchritudinous star leaping off a building or driving through a window rather than a man in drag.
Audiences...
For Hollywood stuntwoman Janene Carleton, a typical day at the office might involve jumping off a building, or from a moving vehicle, or perhaps both of these things at the same time, while her entire body is engulfed in flames. After nearly 15 years in the business, Carleton has...