Few people have shaved their head, hung from under a fast-moving truck and been catapulted through the air all in the name of work. But then not many people are as tough and determined as stuntwoman Dayna Grant. She has worked as a double for A-list actors including Charlize...
Crystal Riley uses the stunts of Helen Gibson in her talk entitled The Stunts of Helen Gibson: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Join Crystal while she discusses tales of peril and possibility, jeopardy and chance; of flirting with danger and being willing to lose it all in this Odd Salon lecture.
Katie Rowe is a former world-class swimmer from Long Beach, California. Whether she found herself at the beach, in the surf, on a pool deck or racing between the backstroke flags, Rowe cuts a eye-catching figure. The all-around waterwoman turned to Hollywood after her academic studies were over. Anxious to enter the...
In the world of stuntwomen and stuntmen, the audience typically knows little about who is performing. If the job is being executed correctly, viewers may not even realize that their favorite film star was doubled. Makeup, hair preparation and strategic camera techniques disguise these talented daredevils during death-defying, action-packed...
You may not know their names or even their faces, but if you watch TV, go to the movies, or play video games, you know their work. Female Stuntwomen have been making on-screen magic happen for decades, masterminding and performing the car chases, bare-knuckle brawls, and wirework that take...
Stunt work is dangerous, but someone’s got to do it. Behind every great action film is a stuntwoman who risked her life to pull off dangerous feats we’d only dare to attempt if we’re playing video games. These action movie heroines (let’s be real, they’re the actual stars) have...
You’ve heard that anecdote about Ginger Rogers, haven’t you? How she did everything Fred Astaire did, only she was dancing backwards in high heels? Stuntwomen today are expected to perform all the same stunts that men are asked to do. It’s just that they have to do them under...
The Bumblebee stunt team showed up for rehearsals for the latest in the Transformers movie franchise. They were preparing to film the stunt. The rehearsal that day involved 11 stunt drivers and 3 passengers – all men. One of the drivers was told to wear a wig to double for a woman. There was no female stunt drivers included.
Remember the famous scene in Sholay where Hema Malini shouts “Chal Dhanno!” as she is chased by Gabbar Singh’s men? While the audience rooted for the actor, the real hero of that iconic action sequence was stuntwoman Reshma Pathan who rode the speeding cart. She has spent 3 decades as body double to Bollywood’s leading ladies.
Extreme dangers of the job: With seasoned pros stretched thin, productions are hiring haphazardly and cutting corners as stunt performers go public with complaints that union regulations have “no teeth” and new oversight may not go nearly far enough, Scott Johnson reports in the Hollywood Reporter:
Changing dynamics from within: For...