I have always been fascinated by the challenges that women face in unconventional professions, especially those that are typically male-dominated. Women who work in the stunt industry must constantly prove themselves to male and female producers alike, and with a few exceptions, are rarely if ever promoted to stunt-coordinator positions. After meeting a number of stuntwomen, I was struck by the extreme challenges they face on a daily basis.

Jeannie Epper and Zoë Bell have landed arguably the best action roles for stuntwomen in the history of Hollywood. They love their work, and rarely if ever complain. But, as Jeannie enters her sixties, her Wonder Woman physique is a distant memory and she considers getting plastic surgery to keep herself competitive for roles. While battling the aging process, balancing the challenges of motherhood and career can be overwhelming. For her part, Zoë is growing up fast. After stumbling into Xena: Warrior Princess, a dream job that lasted three years, she finds herself unemployed, leaving her family behind for an uncertain future in a brutal job market.

As an athlete and a woman in the film industry, these issues are all too familiar to me. I have played women’s rugby at the national level for over a decade, a sport that is marginalized for men in the U.S., but even more so for women, who are not encouraged to play contact sports at all, much less professionally. My first film, Just for the Ride, followed two women on the little-known Women’s Professional Rodeo circuit. I was compelled by these women’s strength of character and the unknown histories they carry on. At 51, Jan Youren won the World Championship in bareback bronco riding with a handful of people in the audience and $500 winnings in her pocket. Her male counterpart won over $100,000 that year. People balked: “Why does she do it?” To me, that answer is clear: she does it because she loves it, and she’s not afraid of being different.

The same stereotypes that keep women from professional sports careers abound in the film industry. Women like Jeannie and Zoë thrive on physical work; they courageously follow their calling despite the obstacles in their way. I have chosen these two characters because they set up dichotomies of young/old and past/present—between which lie the experiences of so many women defining their own identities in a culture plagued by gender stereotypes.

—Amanda Micheli

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