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Meet the two stuntwomen featured in DOUBLE DARE.
Jeannie Epper
After decades in the industry, Epper remains a working stuntwoman. Her family has been in the stunt business for four generations, starting with her father, a premiere stunt coordinator who doubled for Ronald Reagan, Errol Flynn and Gary Cooper. Her sister, brothers, children and grandchildren are all stunt performers. Epper’s father taught her to ride horses, and she became one of the first stuntchildren—when Hollywood was still using midgets—to double for child performers. At the time, Westerns were going out of style, but Epper was young enough to segue into car work and fistfights, the bread and butter of cops-and-robbers shows. Her highest profile job was doubling for Lynda Carter on the popular TV series, Wonder Woman.
Epper has also doubled for numerous actors, including Shirley McLaine, Kathleen Turner, Linda Evans, Sally Kellerman, Diane Ladd, Louise Fletcher, Cybill Shepard and Shelly Long. While doubling Polly Holiday in Stir Crazy, Epper jumped from the skid of a helicopter onto a moving train. By 1984, recognition for her achievements was growing. At the 1985 Annual Stunt Awards, she was presented with the Most Spectacular Stunt Sequence Award for her work on Romancing The Stone. Epper was recognized by Women in Film at their 1994 Crystal Awards for her dedication and outstanding work in the entertainment industry. She is a past president of the Stuntwomen’s Association of Motion Pictures and an honorary member of the Stuntmen’s Association of Motion Pictures. She is a regular on director Steven Spielberg’s productions. Some of her most recent work can be seen in the feature films Catch Me if You Can, The Fast and the Furious 2, The Italian Job, I Heart Huckabees, Kill Bill and the upcoming War of the Worlds.
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Zoë Bell
A native New Zealander, Bell is a newcomer to Hollywood, but is blazing her own trail with remarkable ease. At the age of 18, she had her first stunt job on Amazon High, and soon became the primary double on Xena: Warrior Princess. As Xena’s double in New Zealand, she got more steady work than most stuntwomen in Hollywood. She has also worked on Hercules, Cleopatra 2020 and most recently, doubled Sharon Stone on Catwoman and Uma Thurman on Kill Bill, for which she was nominated for a World Stunt Award.
Bell specializes in fights and harness work and has experience with air rams, high falls, fire burns, car hits and horse gags. Her background is primarily in gymnastics: at the age of two, her father bought her a trampoline and she was instantly hooked. She began competitive gymnastics at the age of 8, and later pursued Tae Kwon Do, diving, track and field and dance.
Learn about stuntwomen, then and now >>
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