In the doc, Johnston almost acts as the viewer’s entry into this world, being the very first person you see on screen, but then also spending time with many of the vets, including Keegan, as part of Wright’s film. I just started networking with the right people, training with the community, and little by little, I got into the industry through a lot of hard work.” In his backyard, I started learning how to do high falls and adapting martial arts for camera, learning about angles and hitting marks and all that good stuff. After I finished my college degree, I moved to Los Angeles, where I got with a stunt specialty agency for commercials, and they referred me to Bob’s Backyard - Bob Yerkes, who was like one of the pioneers of stunts. I just trained basically from childhood in gymnastics and martial arts all the way through college. As I expanded and grew more into myself as an artist, I was like, ‘I really would love to do this on a bigger scope.’ I was watching Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, all these incredible men doing martial arts and kicking butt. “I always loved storytelling and got my first taste of performing with the violin in an opera company where - because of my background in gymnastics and martial arts - I would often have these character roles, which required me doing some flips and fights on stage. She even was a stunt capture performer for the recent The Avengers video game. “I’ve been in the realm of performing since I was a kid,” said Gonzalez, whose skill set goes far beyond stunt work into music, but as far as the former, she’s done movies like The Fate of the Furious and the upcoming A Quiet Place, Part II. ![]() ![]() I happened to be a great double for Pam Dawber, and I did that movie, and then everything snowballed after that.” Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez I met him, and he introduced me while I was there to another man who was stunt coordinating a movie. I just packed up one day and moved everything to California from New York City, and sought out a famous stuntman by the name of Alan Gibbs at International Stunt Association. not that I participated in them - but that’s a normal way of Jersey life. That’s the way we run in New Jersey,’ all that kind of crazy stuff, barroom brawls, etc. “It was immediately obvious from the moment I saw the movie Hooper,” she continued. Having grown up with older brothers, I learned a lot of ways to survive.” ![]() I had been an international springboard diving champion when I was a kid, so I thought I could be an action actress and utilize all my athletic skills. “I was modeling in New York and starting to do some acting, and I had heard about stunts. I don’t have family - I didn’t marry someone and I’m not somebody’s daughter or girlfriend, where you see many, especially females,” she told us over the phone a few weeks back. ” I didn’t come into the business like the majority of stuntwomen or stunt people. Of the three stuntwomen we spoke to, Keegan is definitely the most veteran of the group, already retired after a 28-year career that began with films like Scarface, and included stunts in an amazing run of films including Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, To Live and Die in L.A., Top Gun, Robocop, True Lies and much more. Johnston has even written her own book on the subject, How to Stunt in Hollywood: Insight and Advice from World Class Stunt People. Over the past few years, action movies and shows featuring women leads have led to the need for a more diverse group of stuntpeople, including the movies and shows from Marvel Studios like Captain Marvel and Jessica Jones, and plenty of others.ĭirected by April Wright and inspired by Mollie Gregory’s book, Stuntwomen is narrated by Michelle Rodriguez from the Fast and Furious franchise – another great example of an action movie with great female roles - and it features an amazing array of women talking about their work, some of the highlights but also plenty of low points.īelow the Line had the opportunity to talk with three of the stunt performers featured in Wright’s film: Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez, Donna Keegan and Amy Johnston. It’s a fascinating film that goes deep behind the scenes into the world of a frequently-neglected segment of an already underappreciated group so pivotal to the world of film and television: the stuntwomen. This week, a documentary called Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story is being made available for digital download. Poster for Stuntwomen (All photos from Shout! Studios)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |