Actress and stuntman Zoe Bell: biography of a famous New Zealander, selected filmography

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

New Zealand actress and stuntwoman Zoe Bell became known to a wide audience mainly due to her long collaboration with the famous film director Quentin Tarantino. In addition, there are many other interesting projects on the account of a sporty fit blonde. About the life of the future star before appearing in front of the cameras, about the arrival of fame and the best films with her participation are described in this article.

Not a day without sports

Zoe Bell was born on November 17, 1978 on one of the New Zealand islands called Waiheke, which refers to the local region of Auckland. Both parents worked at a local hospital. The father of the future actress - Andrew Bell - worked as a doctor. Her mother - Tish - was a nurse. After the birth of their daughter, the Bells also had a son. Zoe's little brother's name is Jake.

The girl spent her entire childhood and youth in her native Waiheke. The corner was picturesque, and the area was very conducive to extreme sports.sports. The latter interested the active Zoe much more than the natural beauty of the surrounding landscapes.

The girl became interested in mountain biking, as well as scuba diving or, in other words, diving. In addition, she was seriously engaged:

• athletics;
• dancing;
• gymnastics.

Moreover, she gave special preference to the latter. From an early age, Zoe Bell took part in the New Zealand Gymnastics Championships.

Stunt debut

Fate led the future actress on her destined path when she was 14 years old. My father treated a stuntman with a skull injury. In the ensuing conversation, Andrew Bell mentioned his daughter's sporting achievements. The interested patient asked the doctor to give young Zoya his contacts. Dr. Bell complied with the request of the patient and on the same day gave his daughter the phone number of the stuntman.

As a result, in 1992, Zoe first appeared on the set and performed her debut trick, namely, jumping out of a moving car. The tape in which she was invited was the multi-part New Zealand project "Shortland Street". So Zoey began her on-screen career as a stunt performer.

When the girl was 15 years old, her sports passion was taekwondo. The process of studying this fight captivated Zoe completely. In mastering the martial art, she made amazing progress - the existing gymnastic skills mainly affected. Zoe devoted everything to taekwondo classestime off from school.

After completing her high school education at an all-girls school in Auckland, she entered Selwyn College. After graduating there, Bell already knew what she wanted to devote her life to. She plunged into the world of movie sets and stunts that beckoned her.

Dangerous profession

Since 1995, Zoe Bell has been filming action scenes in high-profile fantasy series:

• "The Amazing Travels of Hercules";
• "Xena, Warrior Princess".

Both projects were filmed in the girl's homeland - in beautiful New Zealand. By the time the next season of the story about Zena Bell was released, she had turned from a simple stuntwoman into a personal understudy for the title character Lucy Lawless. In the remaining half of the series, Zoe appeared in this capacity.

On the set of one of the scenes, she injured her vertebrae, but continued to work until a week later, a new badly staged trick "finished" her. For the time being, Zoe had to retire and undergo treatment.

Recovering from her back injury, Bell got back to work with renewed vigor. She has worked on various film sets as both a stunt performer and a stunt coordinator.

Invincible

In 2004-2005, Zoe dubbed:

• Umu Thurman in "Kill Bill";
• Sharon Stone in Catwoman.

Perhaps, these films are her most successful stunt work, one might say, reference. For participating in theseZoe Bell's films received several special award nominations:

• for "Kill Bill" - "Best Fight" and "Best Stunt Female Stunt" (twice each);
• for "Catwoman" - "Best Fall".

She has only won one award for best stunt.

In 2004, Bell took part in the filming of a documentary called "Fearless Understudy" (alternatively called "Double Daring"). The picture told about women - representatives of the stunt profession. The main characters were Zoe and her already elderly colleague Jenny Epper. The picture showed without embellishment the hard work of these workers in the Hollywood film industry.

New challenges

As an actress - not a stunt double - Zoe first appeared in 2000 on the television series Cleopatra 2025. By her own admission, it was very difficult for her to change the direction of work. She considered herself an excellent stunt performer, but as an actress she was afraid to look fake.

However, the debutante worried in vain. The directors appreciated her precisely for her sports warehouse, fighting spirit and ability to perform even complex tricks. Among the acting works of Zoe, one cannot find fragile young ladies with the soul of a deer Bambi. Her characters are just like herself. Strong, brave. They fight, skillfully wield weapons, jump in and out of cars, etc.

The first memorable film with Zoe Bell on the screen as an actress was2007 project "Death Proof". The director of the picture, Quentin Tarantino, invited her to the role of actually herself, remembering the amazing stunt work of the girl in Kill Bill that struck him.

The most striking roles of the actress can be considered:

• Eve in "Angel of Death";
• Judy in The Hateful Eight;
• Karoo in "Oblivion";
• Sorceress in "Witch Hunters";
• Regina in Lost;
• Sandru in Gamer.

Of course, this is not all of her work. Zoe Bell's filmography continues to grow to this day. And both acting and stunt.