Double Dare: Becoming a Stuntwoman in a Man’s World

By now you’ve probably heard the hubbub between Natalie Portman and her dancing double, Sarah Lane, and to whether or not Portman did all of the dancing in the film Black Swan. Prior to being handed the Best Actress Oscar, Portman and her studio pushed the fact that she had done 95% of the dancing in the film in order to increase her chances of taking home the trophy. Lane, on the other hand, insists that Portman only did 5% and that the producers told her not to give interviews on the situation until after the Oscars had been announced.

Anyways, while doing the research for doubles in film—to see what trends existed—I came across this gem of a documentary that I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of before. Double Dare follows two legendary stuntwomen over the course of several years and carries two aims. One is to highlight what is undoubtedly an underappreciated medium and another is to expose what is unsurprisingly a male-dominated industry.

First off, the players: Zoe Bell gets her first mainstream introduction here as the camera follows her from her first part doubling for Xena: Warrior Princess, all the way to her winning role of Uma Thurman’s double in Kill Bill (she was also the one who did that insanely dangerous “Ship’s Mast” sequence in Death Proof).

The other major stuntwoman in the film is Jeannie Epper aka the stunt double for WONDER WOMAN and about 100 other films. Entertainment Weekly called her “the greatest stuntwoman who’s ever lived”.

The documentary immediately begins by showing the first major way women are treated differently than men when it comes to stuntwork. As Lucy Lawless puts it, “The first rule of women in film is that they have to look good… apparently.” Due to the fact that Wonder Woman and Xena are made to wear tight and very revealing outfits, there is often no way to add padding or any kind of safety gear. More often than not, the stuntwoman just work without the protection. Men on the other hand, are able to wear as much padding as they want (they can wear baggy pants, shirts etc). Epper recalls just being thankful that they let her wear flat boots in the second season of Wonder Woman.

Besides not being able to suit up in the same way as their male counterparts, women aren’t able to get the same stunts that men have the opportunity of getting (ala they get stuck with “the crappy stunts”). This was highlighted in a scene that showed the process of organizing the very first World Stunt Awards. Epper fought to have separate categories for the women, knowing that because they were given different stunts they would have less of a chance of getting nominated, but ultimately failed.

The other major monster in Hollywood that goes after actresses as well as stuntwomen is ageism. Epper, who was THE biggest name in Hollywood as far as stuntwomen went, recalls getting job offers non-stop until her 40’s hit. Refusing to retire at 64 because of her life-long passion, the documentary follows her struggle to find work.

Beyond Epper and Bell’s personal stories, the film is a fascinating look at the behind the scenes process and the rigorous training one must go through to become a stunt person. It’s an important documentary in that it does show the harsh realities of working in Hollywood and the director, Amanda Micheli, does a great job of getting us invested in the two main stuntwomen’s lives (tear jerker alert!).

Definitely recommended viewing.

Are you new to Gender Across Borders? Please read this first. We may update the site, and you can stay in contact with us through our Twitter feed and our newsletter. Like Gender Across Borders on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter and Tumblr. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.