Zoe Bell

Professions :

Stuntwoman

Born :

November 17, 1978

Feeling fear is a good sign that your survival instincts are intact. You need to appreciate the dangers to stay safe.

appreciate survival feelings

A couple years in [to acting], I recognized that I developed methods from being a stuntwoman for so long that worked for me that I wasn't aware of. And I had to become aware of them, because I didn't recognize that I could actually apply them across the board.

couple long years

In my career as a double, a lot of my job is to not just do the fights to make them look cool, but also to appear as the same person as the actor I am playing.

careers fighting jobs

Humans sort of instinctively respond negatively to something that... by Zoe Bell

Humans sort of instinctively respond negatively to something that's not true.

There is an art to acting, and there are techniques that are acquired. You can be as emotional as you'd like, as a person, but figuring out ways that you can bring specific emotions at specific times and have them be true, and relating to someone as someone that they're not, is a lot.

emotional acting art

I love acting. And if there's a niche that needs filling, I'm happy to get in there and try to fill it.

acting trying needs

Being a stunt girl is very much my comfort zone, so I had to remove the comfort zone to step fully into the slightly scarier zone. Also, just being perceived as an actor by the outside world, rather than as the stunt girl who does dialogue, has been a part of the challenge in front of me.

girl challenges comfort

Part of the joy I'm discovering in acting is the fact that it's uncomfortable to me, that it's challenging, and the possibilities of always being able to improve on something, of always being able to try something new, it's intriguing and exciting.

challenges joy trying

My job has always been to not only make my character look like a badass but to also make the actor I am fighting opposite to be the character they need to be too.

badass jobs character

I think because I am a physical person, and because my way of expressing and performing and storytelling or explaining has always been with my body, if I can combine the two I find it really liberating.

body two thinking

I would find it more difficult if somebody else was doing the act... by Zoe Bell

I would find it more difficult if somebody else was doing the action.

difficult ifs action

I was interested in seeing how to branch out and sort of use the Internet more as a way of making and promoting movies. There's no real difference in making it successful - it's all down to the dedication of the people involved to make it a success.

dedication real successful

My favorite thing in moviemaking is to shoot in chronological order if at all possible, because it just helps for continuity and all the logistical purposes. It also helps with performance and the journey of each character, but I also think it's good for the director and everyone [else] involved.

journey character thinking

When my physicality is involved, it's kind of my comfort zone, so I find it much easier to access emotions.

emotion kind comfort

When being a stunt double, my job has always a supportive role, which is interesting, really. Part of what I really like about it is making a situation where people can just come out of their shell and be super bad-ass. That's exciting!

bad-ass jobs people

I mean, acting or stunts, doing my job means doing my job, and I'm loving it. It's fun to put my face in front of the camera; I'm really enjoying the process. But at this point, it's still just not too easy to go around describing myself as an actor. It took me a good long while to get to where I could do it not only without laughing, but without trembling a little bit, which is terrible, but... I mean, I was really hesitant to 100 percent walk down that path, to expose myself to that.

fun long mean

People are far more protective [of women] instinctively. by Zoe Bell

People are far more protective [of women] instinctively.

protective people

My job as a double was always to put [actors] at ease. My job was to make my character, or the actress that I was doubling, look as badass as possible by being there.

badass jobs character

I think the biggest shift for me is - this is going to sound like a wanky actor, but - getting in touch with, and learning to not just appreciate, but actually really enjoy being a woman. Because for so long I was a jock, and I was an athlete, and I was a tomboy, and people would joke about like, fancy dress, you should go as a girl.

girl athlete thinking

Some of my best friends are like, "I love that you are just the biggest pussy on the planet." And I have no problem with it at all, I love it. But it took a long time to understand that that's a part of my tapestry.

pussy my-best-friend long