I don't do stunts - I do running, jumping and falling down. After 25 years I know exactly what I'm doing.
It's fun for women to be in a Western. And I had to learn how to handle the guns. I would walk around with the fake guns. It takes a lot of practice to twirl them around - but I can do a lot of crazy things now from movies. I can gallop a camel! Give me a camel, I know how to start it and stop it!
Since very early in my career, I have always did my own stunt fighting.
I want to be able to do more of my own stunts and really be proficient with my weapons.
I do have a stunt double because there are certain things that they won't let me do. Like they won't set fire to me. They won't like let me jump off a 20 story building. There are certain big stunts that it's just impossible to get insurance to let me do, but for the most part I'd say I do probably 75% of my stuff.
I count 'Underworld 4' as my training period for 'Total Recall.' I do think it was hard because I didn't realize how tired I was. It is quite a lot to sustain that kind of physical work over nine months altogether and by the end of it, I definitely felt like I had aged quite a bit in that year.
I don't do my own stunts, but I do my own fighting. I don't consider fighting to be a stunt.
I've not done the Jackie Chan kind of stunts.
Doing all the rig work and the stunt work has actually been wonderful. It's a whole new skill set that I've learned that I'll get to take onto my next jobs. We get to do that all the time, the fighting and the learning new moves. It's quite exciting.
I've definitely become much more aware of physical stunts.
For the most part, I do a lot of my own stunts. On 'The Final Destination,' they kept pulling my stunt woman in, and I'd shoo her away. I'm a black belt in tae kwon do, so I was adamant about doing stuff myself.
You do your own stunts as an actor, and you end up getting hurt. It's not your job. You've got stunt guys. Stunt guys make a lot of money.
I had done a lot of running in 'Texas Chainsaw' and sword-fighting in 'Percy Jackson,' which taught me to fall properly.
I would like to be able to do as many of my own stunts where I can.
I did do my own stunts.
I had one lesson with Devil's Horsemen, who do a lot of the horse-riding stuff for films. They train actors to look reasonable on horses. They do 'Game of Thrones', everything.
Being physical and doing my own stunts - it is fun to do these kind of films once in a while, especially before you get too old.
There's a standard pay scale for stunts. The more difficult the stunt, the more money involved. But if I'm the only stuntman who can do a particular gag, there's usually a little more in it for me.
But I loved doing the physical stuff for 'Dredd.' I have to give a shout-out to the stunt team that I worked with.
It's not that demanding. It's fun. That's one of the great things about being an actor. You get to learn all these things normal people don't get to learn. Going through hallways where it's basically like S.W.A.T. tactical stuff. Around hallways, how to cross, how to signal everyone. Then how to hold a gun, holster the gun - everything.
Stuntwork... once, I've really only done one thing, which is take a punch and transport myself into the air onto a mat.
Zack Snyder is a huge fan of 'Game of Thrones,' and I met him in the training stunt facility that I train at, and I guess he really liked me because he later called me into his office, and we talked about playing Aquaman.
I think I'm going to be a stuntwoman on the side.
I have to stay in shape for the physical endeavour stunts I do. I work out a lot. I have a personal trainer. I go two or three times a week. I'm on a diet where I photograph everything I eat and send it to her.
I would love to do my own stunts, but stunts are not something I have a lot of experience with.
