quite a big one:
Holy Trinity! From Daredevil to Charlie’s Angels to The Matrix, Hollywood has ushered in a new breed of leather-clad, stiletto-heeled, antigravity goddesses, actresses who master the jump-kicks and free falls that actually warrant their burgeoning salaries. But a body of action-related work—beginning with real-life martial-arts champion Michelle Yeoh, a tough-as-nails Bond girl in Tomorrow Never Dies (setting the scene for Halle Berry’s Jinx in Die Another Day) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, FLARE cover girl Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity in The Matrix, Jennifer Garner as both Daredevil’s Elektra and Alias’s Sydney Bristow and Cameron Diaz as Charlie’s Angels’ Natalie Cook—demands a body of steel, as much for reasons of strength as for appearance.
Screen sirens might be born with beauty but, for most of them, action roles must either be shared with a stunt double or taught through vigorous work involving trainers, stunt coordinators and the doubles themselves. Dana Hee, Garner’s first stunt double and a double for Diaz on the first Charlie’s Angels, admits that while many female actors still choose not to perform the physical stunts or fighting themselves, the pantheon of superwomen is growing, in part because, as Hee says, “it’s empowering to see a girl kick ass.”
This fall, as we tire of reality TV, there’s no shortage of buff-bodied women entertaining us with their risky moves. The third installment of the Matrix series, this month’s The Matrix Revolutions, has Moss continuing her sleek gravity-defying stunts, Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Volume One features the normally nonphysical Uma Thurman as a butt-kicking assassin bride and the dark Underworld boasts cute-as-a-button Kate Beckinsale as a vampire vixen.
In the film world, it can all be traced back to the brother team of Woo-Ping Yuen and Cheung-Yan Yuen, who have revolutionized American action films through martial-arts choreography. Their shared roster of movies—which includes both Charlie’s Angels flicks, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Daredevil, all three Matrix installments and Kill Bill Volume One—features many forceful female leads who have learned stylized versions of traditional martial arts to perform that signature slow-to-sudden explosion of moves.
“We tell [the actors] to be fearless. Second thoughts can only hurt,” writes Cheung-Yan via email from Hong Kong (as translated by his manager, Daxing Zhang). “People want to see their favourite stars actually sweating and making the human effort when they are on the big screen.”
According to Garner’s current stunt double, Shauna Duggins, the film crew’s collective jaw dropped upon seeing Garner successfully brandish sais (a pair of ninja-type shortened swords) at Ben Affleck’s double on her first day shooting Daredevil. “She was gung ho from the very beginning and wanted to do as much as possible. Not a lot of actresses are like that,” says Duggins. “The difference with her was, after we put her in some scary spots, she got the same high that the stunt people get.” After revealing that Garner had been practising with the sais for three months, Duggins says the producers told her they never had an actress prepare so much for a role. It comes as no surprise that a movie devoted solely to Garner’s Elektra character is currently being prepared for production.
Garner’s background in dance clearly contributes to her flexibility, allowing her to contort herself for fight scenes. “We like Jennifer to be really lean and we want certain muscle definition,” says Valerie Waters, Garner’s personal trainer. “She really can do pull-ups and push-ups. She really can do these stunts that they ask her to do because she has the physical strength to do it—and not only can she do it once but she can do it over again as they request to get her shot.”
more: http://www.flare.com/health/article.jsp?co...1020_134137_900
continues...
Holy Trinity! From Daredevil to Charlie’s Angels to The Matrix, Hollywood has ushered in a new breed of leather-clad, stiletto-heeled, antigravity goddesses, actresses who master the jump-kicks and free falls that actually warrant their burgeoning salaries. But a body of action-related work—beginning with real-life martial-arts champion Michelle Yeoh, a tough-as-nails Bond girl in Tomorrow Never Dies (setting the scene for Halle Berry’s Jinx in Die Another Day) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, FLARE cover girl Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity in The Matrix, Jennifer Garner as both Daredevil’s Elektra and Alias’s Sydney Bristow and Cameron Diaz as Charlie’s Angels’ Natalie Cook—demands a body of steel, as much for reasons of strength as for appearance.
Screen sirens might be born with beauty but, for most of them, action roles must either be shared with a stunt double or taught through vigorous work involving trainers, stunt coordinators and the doubles themselves. Dana Hee, Garner’s first stunt double and a double for Diaz on the first Charlie’s Angels, admits that while many female actors still choose not to perform the physical stunts or fighting themselves, the pantheon of superwomen is growing, in part because, as Hee says, “it’s empowering to see a girl kick ass.”
This fall, as we tire of reality TV, there’s no shortage of buff-bodied women entertaining us with their risky moves. The third installment of the Matrix series, this month’s The Matrix Revolutions, has Moss continuing her sleek gravity-defying stunts, Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Volume One features the normally nonphysical Uma Thurman as a butt-kicking assassin bride and the dark Underworld boasts cute-as-a-button Kate Beckinsale as a vampire vixen.
In the film world, it can all be traced back to the brother team of Woo-Ping Yuen and Cheung-Yan Yuen, who have revolutionized American action films through martial-arts choreography. Their shared roster of movies—which includes both Charlie’s Angels flicks, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Daredevil, all three Matrix installments and Kill Bill Volume One—features many forceful female leads who have learned stylized versions of traditional martial arts to perform that signature slow-to-sudden explosion of moves.
“We tell [the actors] to be fearless. Second thoughts can only hurt,” writes Cheung-Yan via email from Hong Kong (as translated by his manager, Daxing Zhang). “People want to see their favourite stars actually sweating and making the human effort when they are on the big screen.”
According to Garner’s current stunt double, Shauna Duggins, the film crew’s collective jaw dropped upon seeing Garner successfully brandish sais (a pair of ninja-type shortened swords) at Ben Affleck’s double on her first day shooting Daredevil. “She was gung ho from the very beginning and wanted to do as much as possible. Not a lot of actresses are like that,” says Duggins. “The difference with her was, after we put her in some scary spots, she got the same high that the stunt people get.” After revealing that Garner had been practising with the sais for three months, Duggins says the producers told her they never had an actress prepare so much for a role. It comes as no surprise that a movie devoted solely to Garner’s Elektra character is currently being prepared for production.
Garner’s background in dance clearly contributes to her flexibility, allowing her to contort herself for fight scenes. “We like Jennifer to be really lean and we want certain muscle definition,” says Valerie Waters, Garner’s personal trainer. “She really can do pull-ups and push-ups. She really can do these stunts that they ask her to do because she has the physical strength to do it—and not only can she do it once but she can do it over again as they request to get her shot.”
more: http://www.flare.com/health/article.jsp?co...1020_134137_900
continues...
