{"id":15981,"date":"2021-12-13T22:16:56","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T22:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blue-subtitle.com\/blog\/?p=15981"},"modified":"2021-12-13T22:16:56","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T22:16:56","slug":"female-stunt-performers-from-hawkeye-to-kung-fu-talk-kicking-butt-and-trouncing-stereotypes-on-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blue-subtitle.com\/blog\/female-stunt-performers-from-hawkeye-to-kung-fu-talk-kicking-butt-and-trouncing-stereotypes-on-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Stunt Performers From \u2018Hawkeye\u2019 to \u2018Kung Fu\u2019 Talk Kicking Butt and Trouncing Stereotypes on TV"},"content":{"rendered":"

The increased focus on female butt-kickers on TV has been a positive step for feminism and in trouncing stereotypes.<\/p>\n

Series as vastly different in tone as AMC\u2019s \u201cThe Walking Dead\u201d zombie franchise to the martial arts-tinged \u201cCobra Kai\u201d on Netflix and the CW\u2019s \u201cKung Fu\u201dto Disney Plus\u2019 Marvel Cinematic Universe spinoffs like \u201cHawkeye\u201d and Starz\u2019s wrestling family drama \u201cHeels\u201d have all highlighted stunt work of female characters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of female stunt doubles and stunt performers and there have been for a lot of years,\u201d says Heidi Moneymaker, the stunt coordinator on \u201cHawkeye\u201d who is also known for doubling Scarlett Johansson in several \u201cAvengers\u201d movies.<\/p>\n

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Moneymaker says that \u201cone of the issues right now is that there\u2019s so much content out there and that is creating an extremely high demand for performers. That gives an opportunity for younger people to step up and get some experience in a role that they might not have had in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Also, stresses Tammy Nera, who is the double for Olivia Liang \u2019s lead on \u201cKung Fu,\u201d the trickle- down effect of Hollywood greenlighting projects with more racially diverse characters means that \u201cit\u2019s opening up opportunities for female stunt performers of varying ethnicities to have the opportunity to double leads and to double big characters on TV shows and movies.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for SAG-AFTRA tells\u00a0Variety<\/em>\u00a0that the proportion of female-identifying stunt performers in the union hasn\u2019t grown that much in recent years. At the time of the SAG-AFTRA merger in 2012, stunt performers who identified as women were at 19% \u2014 however, since 2012, the number of female stunt performers who are members of SAG-AFTRA is up by 93%.<\/p>\n

But it also seems like what\u2019s expected from female performers has become more inclusive.<\/p>\n

Taylor Towery, a stunt performer on \u201cHeels\u201d who has also played a zombie no less than 10 times on \u201cFear the Walking Dead,\u201d comes from a family of stunt performers. Both of her parents have worked in the profession, with her dad Russell Towery serving as stunt coordinator on productions including \u201cThe Walking Dead\u201d and USA Network\u2019s \u201cQueen of the South.\u201d Her brother, Dawson Towery, is a stunt performer and coordinator. Her mother, on the other hand, \u201cdidn\u2019t have that same experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes [women] got to do things, but a lot of times, you\u2019re riding shotgun and you\u2019re not letting the females drive the car,\u201d Towery says.<\/p>\n

Moneymaker, who broke in with such jobs as doubling Drew Barrymore on the movie \u201cCharlie\u2019s Angels: Full Throttle,\u201d says that her side of the industry has \u201cturned into more of a performers\u2019 game. Instead of coming in and being tough and knowing how to fall and knowing how to do big gags, you actually have to perform the whole action scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a whole flow of the different fight styles,\u201d she continues. \u201cWith \u2018The Matrix\u2019 era, we got into some kung fu and then in more recent years, there\u2019s been a little bit more of an [interest] with MMA. There is this realism now where they really want to see the actors doing a stunt. So they want to see really gritty \u2014 not so spectacular \u2014 stunts. They want to see something that looks real.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Part of this might be that audiences have gotten savvier at watching stunt work and seeing if they can tell the difference between when a lead of a show is doing something versus that person\u2019s double.<\/p>\n

Nera got into the job after a decade as a professional dancer. Now as a stunt performer with a passion for wire work and training in martial arts, she says she\u2019d actually be fine with people giving \u201cKung Fu\u201d star Liang credit for her work.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretly, that would be kind of cool if everyone thinks that Olivia is doing it,\u201d she laughs. \u201cThat means her and I are slotting in and out and switching out seamlessly.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a stunt coordinator like Moneymaker, this also means that she\u2019ll spend \u201ctime trying to figure out the safest way I think we can do this with the [lead] actor. And then, depending on how much time I have with them and how much training I can do with them, we often make a very actor-friendly version.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nor should there be an assumption that all stunt performers are good at all stunts.<\/p>\n

Towery was a Level 10 in the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympics Program, the highest level, but she didn\u2019t know much about wrestling before she worked on \u201cHeels.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest thing that they had to teach us is the way that you perform in a wrestling ring,\u201d she says of the experts who work with her on that show. \u201cThe way that you sell a hit, and the way that you take what they call a bump \u2014 when they\u2019d hit the ground really hard \u2014 is different.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn stunts, it\u2019s all about how am I going to throw this punch to where it sells for the camera,\u201d she continues. \u201cBut in the wrestling ring, it\u2019s how am I going to throw this punch or this kick so that it sells for the audience, which is all around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such nuance of character, story and world is key for all shows. \u201cIf somebody kicks me in a real fight, my reaction is going to be different than if a superhero kicks me and now I\u2019m going flying,\u201d Towery, who has also worked on Fox\u2019s \u201cThe Gifted,\u201d says.<\/p>\n

Either way, these women have mastered how to take a punch. And throw some good ones of their own.<\/p>\n

Source:variety<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The increased focus on female butt-kickers on TV has been a positive step for feminism and in trouncing stereotypes. Series as vastly different in tone as AMC\u2019s \u201cThe Walking Dead\u201d zombie franchise to the martial arts-tinged \u201cCobra Kai\u201d on Netflix and the CW\u2019s \u201cKung Fu\u201dto Disney Plus\u2019 Marvel Cinematic Universe spinoffs like \u201cHawkeye\u201d and Starz\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7036],"tags":[18522,18523,18524],"class_list":["post-15981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-female-stunt-performers-from","tag-kung-fu","tag-talk-kicking-butt-and-trouncing"],"yoast_head":"\nFemale Stunt Performers From \u2018Hawkeye\u2019 to \u2018Kung Fu\u2019 Talk Kicking Butt and Trouncing Stereotypes on TV - blue subtitle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blue-subtitle.com\/blog\/female-stunt-performers-from-hawkeye-to-kung-fu-talk-kicking-butt-and-trouncing-stereotypes-on-tv\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Female Stunt Performers From \u2018Hawkeye\u2019 to \u2018Kung Fu\u2019 Talk Kicking Butt and Trouncing Stereotypes on TV - blue subtitle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The increased focus on female butt-kickers on TV has been a positive step for feminism and in trouncing stereotypes. 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