Hollywood Stuntwoman Breaks Down Her Career in Stunts

Hi, my name is Alicia Vela-Bailey,

and I'm going to breakdown my career in stunts.

Being a stuntwoman is super cool.

I never wanted to do stunts.

It never crossed my mind.

I literally fell into it.

I was asked to audition for a film,

because they were like,

you would make a great double for this actress,

and it kind of snowballed from there.

People remembered me from working on that show,

and they hired me on other things,

and it's the greatest fun job in the world.

(screaming)

This is my first time doubling Kate Beckinsale.

Even though I'm a little bit taller than she is,

when she wears the heels,

I get to wear my flat shoes,

which makes it easier for me to do the stunts.

We made a great team, so it was awesome.

This was the first shot of the film for us.

We film out of order a lot of times.

This was eight stories high.

Landing onto this truck.

Rolling off, and the grabbing.

Quite painful, but luckily for me,

because I was so cold, I felt numb,

so I didn't realize my bruises until the next day,

and then you feel the pain later.

So for this, I'm of course on a wire.

We did have to time out the truck over here,

to drive up perfectly,

so by the time it rolls in underneath me,

I'm in the right spot for the landing.

We had this huge, huge crane,

way up here that attached me,

and it was kind of at a certain level,

that it wasn't until about three quarters

of the way down that you actually feel like,

oh, I have something on me to protect me,

and not fall to my death.

This shot, right about here,

is when I do feel the support of the wire holding me up.

Learning how to fall, and movement with the legs and stuff,

you don't wanna look like

someone just hanging on a wire, frozen.

So, giving it slight movement.

You're not trying to fly,

but your trying to balance yourself.

Doing a jump with a wire on, for me,

is a lot more comfortable,

because you do have that extra protection,

and you're not full on freefalling the whole way down.

This is a whole different shot,

so they have me on a quick release.

They pull, and it drops me.

So I'm basically freefalling onto the truck.

Boom.

Because this outfit is so skintight,

wearing pads, it's a bit tricky,

so you have to disguise them.

We used ice skater pads.

So I had knee pads on, elbow pads,

and I think I stuck a little bit of foam

in my back for my spine.

This parking structure back here, it's so dark,

but there was a line, it was almost like 50 feet,

to the truck.

It wrapped around me, and I had another line back here,

going off the other direction,

so when I rolled, I couldn't roll off the truck.

It was still protecting me,

but this had a release on it,

so it would start my roll, and then get released.

Then I could reach out and grab without falling.

So I had a wire here attached,

to protect me from falling off all the way.

(crashing)

This one was fun.

We had a stuntman dressed as this werewolf,

in all this prosthetic.

Her arm gets bit, and she starts to fall.

This, all this right here,

we did it in a room, green screen.

This is the ground right here,

and we had wires holding us up.

And we spun this way, around this way,

and we had objects like poles in our way,

so we had stuff to hit.

Basically someone pushed us on a wire,

and we just spun around and whacked into things,

for this one shot right here.

For this next part, this was done practically.

We were hanging on another platform

right off camera over here,

and we basically had to jump, freefall,

and land sideways, and hit, and then fall right off.

They did have a little insulate right here,

to help pad it, but it's still really thin,

and the stunt person in the werewolf outfit

actually cracked his ribs.

Boom, boom.

So yeah, that didn't feel good.

This part, so this all compressed,

and made it a little cushion for me.

And they actually put foam around this,

so it wasn't a metal, hard object.

Oh, you can kind of see right here,

there's a little shackle.

That's actually one of the wires.

So my legs were held up,

and then my ribs and chest were held up

by another wire.

So my back, when I do hit this,

I wouldn't over arch, and break my back.

Made it so much safer for me.

(intense music)

This is Total Recall.

I was doubling Kate Beckinsale again.

We put all this shuffleboard wax,

to help make this a more slippery surface,

to get me all the way through to the elevator.

I had to work up enough speed

to get a good enough slide

to make it all the way to the hole.

Then we cut to me kind of standing over the hole,

and dropping straight down.

Starting this battle was a lot of fun.

Very small space, and then you have four people in here.

It was hard to make sure everyone's timing was perfect,

because we're moving back and forth,

but then you also have to worry

about the people behind you, and everyone ...

It was just chaotic.

Because in rehearsal it's easy.

You don't really care.

But when there's cameras,

that's when everyone kind of has brain farts,

and they forget the choreography,

and that's when you can accidentally ...

As a stuntperson, we're trained

to make sure we stop, and not actually punch them,

but sometimes the actors,

that's when it can get a little like, ooh, watch out.

The actors were great.

They learned their choreography perfectly.

So this is me and the other stunt double.

And because the camera's above us,

I'm actually swinging underneath her chin,

to give the effect, so it looks like a hit.

When you can make contact safely,

like the blocks and certain punches to the body,

we know how to go in strong,

but then almost retract it.

A love tap, is what we call it.

[Woman] Must never know the truth about what she is,

or how she came to be.

For Wonder Woman, I was doubling Gal Gadot.

For this training sequence,

this costume, as you can see,

her knees are not covered.

Her shoes only go up so high.

There's no room for pads at all.

The men are in full jackets, backpacks, whatever,

and so they can wear all the pads they want.

For us women, we get the short end of the stick sometimes,

and we have to just choose little places

where we can pad up.

So this was in Matera, Italy.

Beautiful location.

There was just strong women everywhere,

learning the fights together, training together.

It was just magical.

This character, she was so strong,

and the swords and stuff that we had,

we were really having to block,

and really take the hits with the, sell the action.

They do different weights for different shots.

There's a more realistic metal sword,

which is heavier for the clink clinks,

and then there's the lighter foam versions,

that are still hard, but it helps for us

doing the speed of the action.

When she gets pushed down to the ground, right here,

that was basically we had a pad down there,

so they could just push her right out of frame.

This was CG.

She was getting close,

but we weren't actually making full contact.

And then right here, this with the stunt double,

she was on a wire,

that was hooked up to this crane off camera,

and basically she goes flying.

And then they do another shot

of her landing on the grass.

So it was done in two parts.

For this next clip, we were on a stage.

Lots of green screen all around us.

They had the street part on the floor,

and I basically had to run full speed,

jump, and toss myself on the ground, and roll.

And then they cut to Gal finishing the roll.

It's hard to see, but this is actually me,

tossing myself onto the ground, and rolling.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

And I had to land perfectly in this one spot.

The next shot was her kind of going up,

but she started with her arms crossed

the way I landed.

So she would watch me do the action,

and see how I landed.

And then they would cut, and be like,

alright Gal, get in there.

And I would help position her body exactly how I was,

so it would cut a lot nicer.

(dramatic music)

Avatar was actually my third film I ever did.

I worked on it for three years.

A lot longer than most projects.

Even though we're playing these alien creatures,

we actually are doing the action.

So, we have these logs that are built.

They don't look all green and beautiful.

It's like a gray volume,

but there's millions of cameras everywhere

to capture all of us doing this.

But then we also have reference cameras.

Normal filming cameras, all different angles,

so when Jim figures out his angle

that he wants to edit with, he can go back and look

at all these different angles we have.

This first part was a lot of fun.

I basically run up this log,

and had to jump into a net

that was being held by some of our riggers.

The leap was one take.

So that was just that.

We went to another stage

which was about 30 or 40 feet tall,

and we hung on a wire.

So, we were in a harness, held up,

and we basically were dropped

onto an actual PVC pipe here,

and then we folded a mat over it,

so it actually created a leaf looking effect.

That was just for us to get the idea of it.

So even this one down here,

it's still a pipe with mats over it.

And it was folded, so it created a teepee effect,

and we really had to fold over the leaf.

Training this was actually where I cracked my ribs,

because we didn't put the mat on it first.

We were just trying to get the effect

of bending over the leaf,

and really making the impact,

because you are falling, you're freefalling.

This isn't just computer.

We are doing the movement for this character.

(buzzing and loud winds)

So for this next film, Interstellar,

this was when I was doubling Anne Hathaway,

and she's rushing in onto the ship.

Makes it just in time,

and we filmed this part on the stage.

They had this water that was gonna shoot out at me,

and I had to just jump in at the right moment,

as the door was closing.

The suit itself, because it weighed 30 pounds,

it was easy for me to fall.

But right here, that was just really hard

to get up, move.

They just had this huge, huge gush that came through,

and that made it actually slippery as well,

so, trying to stand up was not as easy as it looks.

And then, they had the ship tumbling.

So we are all on wires here,

and basically we had a rigging team hiding,

off camera over here,

and another one off camera, way, way over here.

So we were being pulled in every direction,

and they would kind of drop us and lift us up,

to simulate the ship going out of control,

and tumbling through the water.

And you just had to go with it,

and pretty much you were a puppet.

(intense music)

For Divergent, I was doubling Shailene Woodley.

In the beginning, when I first read the script,

I see that there's this huge jump,

and I was kind of wondering how we were gonna do this,

so I was asking Garrett Warren,

who was the stunt coordinator.

And originally we were gonna do it on a wire,

and I was like, ooh, thank goodness.

Until they were like, no,

we really wanna do this for real.

So I had to do a free fall.

Originally they told me it would be 40 feet.

I was like, okay.

And then it went up to 60.

And then it got up to 66, or 68 feet.

That was a big nerveracking,

because with the wire, you feel safe.

This is like, if you miss that airbag, you'll die.

Now, it's hard to tell, but right here,

this ledge I'm standing on, it's not flat.

My feet are angled down already.

Getting your balance was tricky up here.

So we had a green screen over the airbag.

All below me was green.

The camera is looking out at me.

The stunt coordinator, Garrett, is hanging,

holding the camera above me,

and he's hooked up to a wire.

So he's falling almost in front of me.

So this is how you get that top shot,

because he stops, he gets to stop on the wire,

where I keep going out of frame.

This hole was not here.

This was actually the airbag.

All this was green screen everywhere.

Green, green, green.

Also, around just for safety precautions,

they had boxes helping support the airbag.

If for some reason I did land kind of off center,

I would still be somewhat safe,

and crash into the boxes, as opposed to the concrete.

These boxes, they're your moving boxes,

your normal cardboard boxes.

We usually do two feet by two, good size.

You would also have a layer of flats.

So you cut open the box,

so it's open into one flat,

and you'll put those on top as well,

to help give it a little more stability.

Depending how high you're falling,

or what the action is,

the level of boxes will change.

The width, everything.

And sometimes people will hammer the corners

of the boxes, because sometimes if you land wrong

on a corner, it can really dig into you,

so they'll cushion it by hammering the corners down,

so it's a little bit more soft.

But the boxes basically when you land,

they kind of fold into each other, and they catch you.

I was hanging on a truss.

I had to crawl out, on my own, no wires,

and basically below is a net.

It's different from landing in an airbag,

because the airbag, you land and you just sink.

Landing in a net, you had to land proper,

because you could easily get bounced off,

and go off the net.

There's walls on every side,

so you're just in this tiny little room,

and all over here is walls.

Up here too.

So, you're just seeing buildings

and objects moving past you.

That was fun.

So right here, landing in the net, and bouncing off.

My gymnastics training came in great,

because it was kind of like a trampoline.

If you felt you were going off,

you had to use your arms and legs

to kind of swim in the air,

to make sure you would land proper, in the right area.

(crashing)

(screaming)

For Transformers 3, this part was actually done on stage.

So this is all real, right here,

but, and this window is where we were jumping out of.

All over here, this is all CGI.

I forget how thick it was,

but they had to crack the glass first,

before we can jump out, because if not,

it was so thick that you would just bounce, so.

It was multiple people,

so we had a ton of boxes there.

The whole stage, it was really big,

and we had it at an angle.

So basically, on action,

we were standing up at the very top,

and we just jumped and then landed,

and then started the slide.

But this was fun, because it was like

a huge Slip N Slide, pretty much.

And they had the fake glass

to keep the window that we just broke through with us.

This is pretty much all we had right there.

Our wardrobe, everyone had something different,

so we had to do it a few times

to make sure we all slid at the right pace.

(crashing)

This was another building that was full on tilted,

and things were flying.

It was a hectic mess in here.

These types of movies, for Transformers especially,

a lot of it's realistic,

so it really does help with the adrenaline rush,

and you're really trying to save yourself.

There was a skateboard little thing,

to help slide faster.

And as soon as he grabs,

it would fly out from underneath him.

And then for Rosie, having to slide right here,

and get caught at the last second,

that was a timing thing.

Rosie did actually a lot of that,

so, she was in there doing it herself too.

In three, two, one.

(lasers)

For Ender's Game, I was actually doubling Asa.

He was growing at the time.

I think he started off at five five,

and through filming, he grew to five nine.

So they used me, because I was really skinny.

They were having problems finding a mail stunt guy

who could do the wire work, but also be super thin.

This was done on a gimbal,

which basically was almost like a circle,

and we almost had, it was almost little seats.

It would rotate, and we would have a camera,

hooked on, right above the heads, or off the shoulders,

so they could see the other actor,

and it rotated like a hamster wheel.

For filming weightlessness,

you have to have tremendous core strength.

It's a lot different than doing normal wire work.

Fighting and jumping, you basically do all the work.

For this, you have to let the wire do the work for you.

If you sag any weight in your body,

it gives away the effect, like,

oh, they're getting held up by their waist right here.

But, you had to be careful,

because if you pushed off of something too hard,

you would get a pendulum,

and that you would never get if you were in outer space.

So, it's controlling it, going slowly,

and that also made it harder on the body,

because you're holding it.

So for this scene, he's in a twisting belt.

We call it the lollipop arm,

so it was like a belt in another ring,

and that ring was attached to a seesaw type thing,

so the people can control up, down.

No wires were in his way,

and that's what gave it that smooth spinning effect.

(crashing)

Working on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,

I was doubling Adrianne Palicky.

This was letting out all your aggression.

You really had to make contact.

Even right here, I'm actually kicking him in his belly,

and we actually put a pad, a hard pad right there,

so I can actually kick him.

My husband was doubling the other actor,

so, we got to kick each other's butt.

They always give a countdown,

like three, two, one, action,

and that's so you get ready.

But right before we were like,

we looked at each other, because we were bracing,

because we're about to slam into the wall,

and we're just like

(kissing)

I love you, I love you, and we kissed,

and then it was like, action,

and then we just went at it.

We hit the pole, and then he basically pushes me back.

So up here, we have the door.

So this is on a release system,

so as soon as I hit it,

it would just timber over.

They had boxes back here to block it,

because they wanted to make sure

I didn't fall all the way flat,

because then it would throw off the rhythm.

It'd be a lot harder to get up quickly,

and continue the fight.

So this made it a bit more sloppy,

and more realistic.

For television fights,

you only have a day or two to prep.

Luckily my husband and I,

we were able to choreograph this fight on another day,

and then we had to teach it to the actors.

That's why we mainly do masters for television,

because it gets a lot of the fight,

and the flow, and everything all in one take,

and then they can go back in and do their edits,

and capture the actors' faces,

and certain moments that they want to get.

Being a stuntwoman is super cool.

I feel you're just playing make believe all day.

I kind of feel like a kid.

And yes, there are dangers.

People do get hurt.

But we're always ready.

We have personnel there with a medical background,

to make sure if anything does go wrong,

everything's all good.

Each day on set, it's something different.

You never know what you're gonna do.

One day you're flying, another day you're fighting,

another day you're crashing through a window.

So it keeps you on your toes.