Zoë Bell

Not to be confused with Zoë Ball.

Zoë Bell
Bell at the 2013 premiere for Oblivion in Hollywood
Born	Zoë E. Bell (1978-11-17) 17 November 1978 Waiheke Island, Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation(s)	Actress, stuntwoman
Years active	1992–present

Zoë E. Bell (born 17 November 1978) is a New Zealand stuntwoman and actress. Some of her most notable stunt work includes doubling for Lucy Lawless on Xena: Warrior Princess and for Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. As an actress, she has appeared both on television and in feature films and also starred in the web series Angel of Death. She is probably most recognized for playing herself in the Quentin Tarantino film, Death Proof.

Early life

Bell was born on Waiheke Island, New Zealand, to Tish, a nurse, and Andrew Bell, a doctor. She has a younger brother named Jake. She grew up on Waiheke Island in Auckland. At a young age, she participated in competitive gymnastics and at the age of 15, she began studying Taekwon-Do. She also participated in dance, high diving, scuba, and track and field activities. Bell attended Auckland Girls' Grammar School and Selwyn College.

Career

Bell began her career in 1992 when her father treated a stuntman for a head injury and came home with a phone number for her to call. Her first stunt job was jumping out of a car in Shortland Street, a New Zealand soap opera.

She did stunts for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, both of which were filmed in New Zealand; by the fourth season of Xena, she was the stunt double for Lucy Lawless. She fractured vertebrae in her back doing wire work stunts on the show, but continued working for a week until another stunt, in which a breakaway chair was smashed on her back, incapacitated her.

After Xena, she did a number of small films and TV stunt work, including stunt coordinating and playing a small role in a short film Reflections with Adrienne Wilkinson (with whom she had previously worked on Xena). She then went on to double for Uma Thurman in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.

Though she was initially hired as Thurman's "crash and smash" double, the stunt team realized Bell would also make an ideal double for fight scenes and she was trained accordingly. Bell had to learn to fight in the wushu style. Near the end of filming for Kill Bill: Volume 2, she injured her ribs and the ligaments in her wrist while simulating being thrown backwards by a shotgun blast. Bell required surgery and spent several months recuperating. After production wrapped on Kill Bill, she received "The Bells" sign which hung outside the home of the Vernita Green character. She later gave it to her parents. After both Kill Bill movies, she did stunt work for the movie Catwoman, in which she performed high falls and acted as a double for Sharon Stone.

Tarantino was so impressed with her that he cast her in a leading role in his next film, Death Proof, in which she played herself and performed her own stunts, the most notable of which occurs when she hangs onto the hood of a speeding 1970 Dodge Challenger.

In 2004, the documentary Double Dare was released. It focused primarily on Bell and veteran stuntwoman Jeannie Epper, following them during their travails in Hollywood. The film presented a view of opposing ends of the stuntwoman spectrum, with the aging Epper continuing her search for work in an industry where age is not necessarily considered an asset and Bell, then a Hollywood newcomer, trying to break into the industry. The filming of Double Dare covered Zoë's career from the end of Xena to the beginning of her work on Kill Bill: Volume 1.

In 2004, Bell and Angela Meryl (Vivica A. Fox's stunt double) were nominated at the Taurus World Stunt Awards in the categories "Best Overall Stunt by a Woman" and "Best Fight" for their doubling of the knife fight between the characters Beatrix Kiddo and Vernita Green in Kill Bill: Volume 1. In 2005, Bell was nominated for a Taurus in the categories "Best Overall Stunt by a Woman," "Best Fight," and "Best High Work." She and Monica Staggs (Daryl Hannah's double) won Best Overall Stunt and Best Fight for their fight in Budd's trailer in Kill Bill: Volume 2. Her Best High Work nomination was for a fall of over 200 feet in the film Catwoman.

After Catwoman, Bell went on to appear as a stuntwoman in the action thriller The Kingdom . In yet another Tarantino feature film, Inglorious Basterds, Bell performed stunts once again.

In August 2007, Bell confirmed she had signed on to play the lead role in a film about an American soldier who, upon returning to the U.S. from a tour of duty in Iraq, helps a young girl in trouble. She told the New Zealand Herald she would do her own stunts in the as-yet untitled film, and that the American accent was "a big challenge". In October 2007, Variety reported that Bell would appear in the 2009 film Game, starring Gerard Butler; the movie was later renamed Gamer.

Bell was a guest star in the fourth season of Lost, playing the role of the freighter team's radio contact, Regina. She stated in interviews that the role required a little acting and some stunt work. She appeared on screen only in episode 7 of season 4, entitled "Ji Yeon".

In 2008, Bell starred alongside her former Xena colleague Lucy Lawless in Sony (Crackle)'s web series Angel of Death which debuted online in early 2009.

Bell also played a medical technician who moonlights as "Bloody Holly", a roller derby star, in Drew Barrymore's 2009 directorial debut, Whip It.

She appeared alongside Wesley Snipes in Italian director Giorgio Serafini's 2010 thriller, Game of Death. She can also be seen in the music video of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' 2012 single "Dream On".

Filmography

Bell at the 2007 Scream Awards

Year	Film	Actress	Stunts	Role	Notes
1998-2001	Xena: Warrior Princess	No	Yes	Xena	main actress: Lucy Lawless
2000	Cleopatra 2525	Yes	No	female betrayer
2003	Kill Bill Volume 1	No	Yes	The Bride	main actress: Uma Thurman
2004	Kill Bill Volume 2	No	Yes	The Bride	main actress: Uma Thurman
	Catwoman	No	Yes	Laurel	main actress: Sharon Stone
	Double Dare	Yes	No	herself
2005	Alias	No	Yes	Kelly Peyton	main actress: Amy Acker
2006	Poseidon	No	Yes
	Penny Dreadful	No	Yes
2007	Grindhouse	Yes	Yes	Sicko Eating Paramedic #2	segment Planet Terror
		Yes	Yes		Herself; segment Death Proof
	The Kingdom	No	Yes
2008	Lost	Yes	Yes	Regina	4 episodes
2009	Bitch Slap	Yes	Yes	Rawhide	stunt coordinator; fight choreographer
	Angel of Death	Yes	No	Eve
	Gamer	Yes	No	Sandra
	Whip It	Yes	No	Bloody Holly
	Inglourious Basterds	No	Yes	Shosanna	main actress: Mélanie Laurent
		No	Yes	Bridget von Hammersmark	main actress: Diane Kruger
	The Proposal	No	Yes	Margaret	main actress: Sandra Bullock
	The Final Destination	No	Yes
2010	Fallout: New Vegas	Yes	No	Melissa & Diane & Linda Schuler & Alice Hostetler	video game voice-over
2011	Gossip Girl	Yes	No	herself
2012	Game of Death	Yes	No	Floria
	The Baytown Outlaws	Yes	No	Rose
	Django Unchained	Yes	No	Tracker
2013	Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters	Yes	No	Tall Witch
	Oblivion	Yes	No	Kara
	Iron Man 3	No	Yes
	Raze	Yes	No	Sabrina
2014	Mercenaries	Yes	No	Clay
2015	The Hateful Eight	Yes		TBA

• Shortland Street (1992–2005)
• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys – (1995–1999 TV series) stunt work
• The Chosen (1998) stunt work
• Young Hercules (1998 TV)
• Jacksons Wharf (1999 TV)
• Amazon High (1999 TV) – background action stunt work
• Jack of All Trades (2000 TV)
• The Bunker Murders (2002 TV)
• Riverworld (2003 teleplay) stunt work
• The Extreme Team (2003) (stunt double) aka The X-Team (USA: TV title)
• Ultraviolet (2006)
• The Devil's Den (2006) (stunt double)
• Reflections (2008) (Woman in Mirror, stunt coordinator)
• The Chronicles of Nerm (2009) (voice)
• The Collector (2009) (Stunt Double)

Awards and nominations

Year	Event	Film	Award	Result
2009	Maverick Movie Awards	Reflections	Best Stunts	Won
2008	Screen Actors Guild Awards	The Kingdom	Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture	Nominated
2008	World Stunt Awards	Grindhouse	Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman	Won
2008	World Stunt Awards	Grindhouse	Best Work With a Vehicle	Nominated
2005	World Stunt Awards	Kill Bill, Vol. 2	Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman	Won
2005	World Stunt Awards	Kill Bill, Vol. 2	Best Fight	Won
2005	World Stunt Awards	Catwoman	Best High Work	Nominated
2004	World Stunt Awards	Kill Bill, Vol. 1	Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman	Nominated
2004	World Stunt Awards	Kill Bill, Vol. 1	Best Fight	Nominated

External links

• Zoë Bell at IMDb
• Zoë Bell Producer Profile for The 1 Second Film