Stunt performers conquer many death-defying acts on the set of Hollywood blockbusters, but are they trained to do everything?
In the latest issue of Us Weekly, a reader asked Us whether these stunt people can specialize in various tricks — so we took the question directly to expert Jénel Stevens, who’s taken onscreen hits for the likes of Gabrielle Union, Queen Latifah and Viola Davis.
“Each one of us stunt performers has our own unique aspects we bring to the stunt world,” Stevens tells Us. “Many of us specialize in one or two things, but almost always we are called to do a variety of stunts, including things we may have never done before. Acting is especially one of those areas we have to venture in and out of when they need to fill a role that is very action-heavy.”
According to Stevens, a stunt person can also “say they don’t want to do a certain stunt.”
“In fact, at the beginning of my career, I told myself I wouldn’t ride a motorcycle, do high falls or any car hits,” she recalls, noting that another highly trained individual would then need to be called in her place. “I have since gotten my motorcycle license and have done all three of those stunts on camera.”
Stunt performers, however, don’t have any specific certifications in order to tackle a job.
“We do go through courses, though, that give us certifications which help with our credibility in that area,” Stevens says, noting that she also trains in martial arts. “I train primarily … at Anderson’s Martial Arts Academy in NYC. I am a Muay Thai Kru, hold a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu, am a 3rd degree black belt in Jeet Kune Do, have a yellow glove rank in Savate and also train in Silat as well as Balintawak.”
She also frequently does training in gymnastics, swimming, skiing, firearm shooting and stunt driving, among others.
Stevens even once took a 33-foot swan dive off a yacht — while wearing thigh-high snakeskin boots! — after six hours of coaching.
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“I had never done a high dive before and was petrified about this one at the time,” she reveals to Us. “Luckily, someone on the stunt team gave me the contact information to his dive coach and after six hours of instruction, I went from walking into the pool area saying, ‘There’s no way,’ to performing the stunt so well on camera that we only had to do it one time.”
Stevens, who finds fight scenes her favorite type of stunt, also gave Us a peek into her “unorthodox” preparation before each take.
“I prepare as much as I can physically, but on the day, I tell myself that whatever happens will be over in two seconds,” she says. “So when they call action, I just go and let my body do what it knows how to do. My motivation in this industry is overcoming fear, and being able to walk away from a dangerous job, saying ‘I did that’ is so empowering.”
Stevens next appears opposite Kerry Washington and Omar Sy in the upcoming movie Shadow Force.
“Kerry and Omar are two of the kindest, warmest, most genuine people you will ever meet, and sharing the screen with them was fun and inspiring, but most of all an honor,” she gushes to Us. “Moving into the acting space for this one was very refreshing for me. I had started out in this industry on the acting side and continue to train as such throughout my stunt career.”
For more Ask Us answers, pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands now.
