Pros And Cons Of Being A Stuntwoman

As a stuntwoman, have you had issues with sexism?

Yeah, not a major issue, but it's an issue in certain circumstances. I've declined a few jobs and walked off a few jobs where things have been going on that I didn't like. And men doubling women. It's not good stuff and it's just based on the old ideas.

AA: There's still a subtle sexual preference. For example, if a woman goes in and rehearses something and gets it wrong on the first rehearsal, you'll get a lot of stunt coordinators--if it's a vehicle or something--they'll say, "Do you want to step out and let one of the guys do it?" Whereas the same action, with a guy driving or riding the bike, they'll be allowed to fail several times before anyone will ever think about replacing them.

JC: I've had it where the men have a rehearsal day and then they call me to come in, and I don't get the rehearsal day, but there's someone who can do it in the event that I can't pull it off. It's a man,
It wasn't whether we were going to play a musical instrument; it was what musical instrument we were going to learn. And I wanted to play the drums. Basically they said, "No, you can't play the drums. We'd really like for you to play the French Horn." For the first time in my life, I had to stand up and say, "You know what? If I don't get to play the drums, I'm not playing an instrument." I got to play the drums, and I actually put myself through college playing the drums. I got a scholarship, and I played in the band for four years. So an interesting thing. This was a time when young girls weren't supposed to take an interest in drumming. There was another girl who did percussion with me--she was more into the marimba and more musical stuff like that. And I was more the drumset, snare, and all that. It was kind of blazing a little bit of a path. Obviously men were always able to play the drums. Now you see a lot more little girls playing the