Zoë Bell

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Zoë Bell (2019)

Zoë Bell (born November 17, 1978 on Waiheke Island , Auckland Region ) is a New Zealand stunt woman and actress .

life and career

Bell is the first child of Tish and Andrew Bell. She has a brother, Jake. In her childhood she took part in gymnastics competitions. At the age of 15 she stopped doing gymnastics and started Taekwondo . She attended the Girls High School in Auckland and Selwyn College in Otago .

Bell's career began in 1998 thanks to an agency from her father. Later she made stunts for the US - television series Hercules , and Season 4 she was then the Double by Lucy Lawless in Xena - Warrior Princess . She broke several vertebrae during the shoot, but worked for another week until a chair on her back was smashed in another stunt, rendering her unable to work until further notice. In the following years she got a few minor television and stunt roles, including stunt double with Adrienne Wilkinson , with whom she had previously worked in Xena . She then got the role as Uma Thurman's stunt double in Quentin Tarantino's film Kill Bill - Volume 1 . Originally employed as Thurman's “crash and smash” double, the film team realized after a short time that she would make a good double for the fight scenes and gave her appropriate training. Bell had to learn to fight in the wushu technique, which required her to abandon the behavior and movements of Lucy Lawless. Towards the end of the shooting of Kill Bill: Volume 2 , she broke her ribs and injured her wrist when a scene was being filmed in which she was thrown backwards by the blast of a shotgun. Bell had to have an operation and it took several months to get well again.

Tarantino was impressed by her and gave her a lead role in his next film Death Proof , in which she played herself and her own stunts, one of which took place on the hood of a moving Dodge Challenger . She also played as a stunt woman in the movie Catwoman , where she performed the falls and jumps and doubled Sharon Stone .

The documentary Double Dare - which came out in the US in 2004 - is about Bell and her colleague Jeannie Epper trying to achieve success in Hollywood . The film covers Bell's career from the end of the Xena cut to the start of filming Kill Bill: Volume 1 . In 2004, Bell and Angela Meryl (stunt double of Vivica A. Fox ) were awarded the Taurus World Stunt Awards in the categories Best Overall Stunt by a Woman and Best Fight (best fight scene) for their doubling of the knife fight scene between Beatrix Kiddo and Vernita Green in Kill Bill: Volume 1 nominated.

In 2005 Bell was nominated for a Taurus in the categories Best Overall Stunt by a Woman , Best Fight and Best High Work (best stunt in height). Together with Daryl Hannah's double, she won Best Overall Stunt and Best Fight for her fight in Budds Trailer in Kill Bill: Volume 2 . She received the nomination for Best High Work for jumping from more than 60 meters in the film Catwoman .

In 2009, Bell played the character Bloody Holly , one of the protagonist's roller derby team members, in the film Roller Girl .

In 2015 she used Quentin Tarantino again in his film The Hateful Eight , where she played a New Zealand stagecoach driver .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Zoë Bell  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Double Dare: A Film by Amanda Micheli. Retrieved March 19, 2020 .
  2. ↑ NZ Herald - Breaking news, latest news, business, sport and entertainment. Retrieved March 19, 2020 (en-NZ).
  3. ↑ BBC Films - Zoe Bell. Retrieved March 19, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Bell, Zoë
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand stunt woman and actress
DATE OF BIRTH 17th November 1978
PLACE OF BIRTH Waiheke Island , Auckland Region , New Zealand