They’re some of the hardest working people in showbiz — literally — but until now stunt men and women haven’t gotten the awards-season recognition they deserve. (For the past several years, their only major kudos have come from the thoroughly fun but largely unheralded World Stunt Awards.) It looks, however, like that might be about to change: Reports today say that the Screen Actors Guild will honor stunt folk with awards at their annual prizefest next January. Mazel tov to them!
Maybe it’s about time for the Motion Picture Academy to follow suit. Along with casting directors, stunt people are, I believe, the largest Hollywood body without an Oscar category. I don’t mean to underestimate the contributions that certain people make to the world of cinema, but you have to think that if, say, hair and makeup people can win Academy Awards, the stunt community deserves a shot too. What’s more, the recent performance of longtime stunt woman Zoe Bell in Grindhouse (pictured) shows that they’ve got lots of talent, that they’re more than just wordless brutes. Don’tcha think, PopWatchers?
EXACTLY…..if any performance/example of great stunt work made the category essential, it’s Zoe Bell in Grindhouse
Also, casting deserves it’s own award for sure.
Agreed that the MPAA should give some recognition to these folks who make movies possible(I agree with Josh Rich twice in one day? End of the world is near folks). Without stuntmen, there’d no James Bond movies, and most tv shows would suck big time. If soundfolks are worthy of awards for making movies sound good, why not an award for people who make movies look good?
Zoe Bell is HOT! Even my fiancé (and she’s straighter than a ruler) was digging on Ms. Bell’s kickazz performance in Death Proof. Can’t wait to tivo this one off “on Demand” when it arrives shortly…
I agree about stunt people receiving awards are long overdue. I am afraid though that with CGI that it will continue to be a lost art form. I disagree however with the acting ability of Zoe in “Grindhouse” Her acting is one of many reasons I hated “DeathProof” (loved “Planet Terror”).
Zoe Bell is not a great actress but compared to Cynthia Rothrock( a famous B-movie female martial artist)Bell is pretty decent,and oh man can she kick-a**! Seeing Kurt Russel cry while getting the stuffing beat out of him was the best part of the movie!
when i go see an action film, I always stick around to see the credits of the stunt people. Why? they make the film. They take the chances, they are the ones I owe my pulse pounding, arm chair gripping, DAMN comments to. Now if the Academy would just add them to their list, take song out of as a category if you have to, add stunts and stunts cordination.
They put their own bodies on the line with helping develop these movies and TV shows, so I agree they should receive some recognition.
Mr. Rich. You are aweome. Seriously. You are slowly becoming the champion of things I’ve been saying for YEARS. Rock on. I totally agree with everything. I think it’s WAY BEYOND OVERDUE that stunt people get little to no recognition for their hard work. the total bleakosity of the situation is that which you mentioned, a person who pastes on a little fake blood can get an oscar, but a person who actually BLEEDS it for action effect can’t. Bleak!
Stephanie T, mega props for mentioning Cynthia Rothrock! While her acting was just okay, she had great martial arts skills (one of her instructors was Sigun Fu who is the grandmaster of the Bak Shaolin Eagle Claw Kung Fu School. They are the baddest kung fu school in the world!), and was the queen of 1980′s straight to video action flicks.
While Zoe wasn’t an oscar calibur actress, I thought her scenes on the hood were outtasite!
Ep Sato, won’t disagree with you about her stunt on the hood, pretty cool but that acting (not just her, the whole female ensemble)and her accent….aarrgh…drove me nuts.
I completely agree.
hmmmm….I never thought about Oscars for stunt people before, but I’m all for it.
I also think they should bring back the choreography award, even though movies like ‘Honey’ and ‘You Got Served’ might start winning Oscars..
Huzzah!
What will they call the awards?
Totally Awesome Outside Stunt Work?
Hyper Awesome Inside Stunt Work?
Super Awesome Car Stunt Work?
Mega Awesome Martial Arts Work?
As a friend of a stuntwoman, I say HECK YEAH!!!
I have a feeling (totally unsubstantiated) that it may be the stars themselves who are reluctant to place too much emphasis on the stunt workers. It’s one thing to have the stunt crew’s names as part of a long credit scrawl; It’s another thing entirely to have it clearly pointed out to everyone that that amazing 40-story fall that you took at the climax of your picture was actually done by a stunt man.Yeah, everybody knows it, but do we want to make a big point of it by giving them awards?