‘I was set on fire’: Stuntwomen push themselves to the extremes

Cinema goers expect no less from the Hollywood legend, who has long set the bar high for his action stunts. We’ve watched him scale a 2,000 foot cliff with his bare hands, then dangle by his fingertips from that same rockface.

We’ve watched him cling by those same fingertips, from an Airbus – 1,000 feet in the air at a speed of 100 knots – for more than eight minutes.

While Cruise is globally lauded for his performances, the film world is filled with performers whose stunning stunts stay under the radar. Two of those brave and exquisitely talented people are Lucy Johnson and Niamh Hogan.

Johnson’s first job was doubling Katheryn Winnick, who was the lead on Vikings. Bill Nighy, Michael Keating and J.K. Simmons are just some of the others with whom she has worked.

Careful not to link any of the stunt performances she describes to any particular film, she says: “I’ve done some amazing stuff. There are things I’ve done in movies that aren’t out yet. Things that were completely nuts. So I can give only a vague overview of some of the work I just loved.

“In one, I was on top of a moving vehicle; standing and bouncing on the roof as it was careering around the streets. Then I got set on fire with a flamethrower, before getting flipped, thrown off the side of the vehicle, which someone is handbrake turning around on the street.. That was scary.

“While hanging on to the top of a moving vehicle, your brain is desperately trying to reason with you. It’s trying to find a logical way of getting out of this. But you know, that’s your job and that’s part of the challenge and the excitement.

“You’re having to convince yourself to let go of a moving vehicle and just smash onto the tarmac. Obviously, there’s technique in that. You build up to things in rehearsals over time. You trust you have the skills and that everyone is in control of the situation.

“That was pretty special. The best week of my life. Someone had designed the best, the most brilliant roller coaster just for you and then they are paying you to be in a superhero movie, to ride that roller coaster for days on end, feeling you are the luckiest person on planet earth at that moment.”

Recalling working on the Batgirl movie, Johnson says: “The beauty of working on something like that is you are on a core team, working for say five months on a movie. So you really get to know people inside and out, and genuinely people are just lovely. Everyone, such as costumes, is creating beautiful designs. Usually I’m tearing them to shreds.”

Of her work on the First Omen film, she says: “It was a lifetime stunt that I expect never to repeat again. I don’t know another woman who has ever done or would ever do this stunt.”

Naturally, she can’t say what it is as the movie won’t be released until later this year.

Asked whether there are enough stunt roles for women, Johnson says it’s harder for women in stunts. “Things are changing for the better,” “But still, it can sometimes feel that this is a male-dominated industry.

“For example, men can take up a lot of parts as soldiers in films. Whereas for a woman to be a soldier you either have to be of modern age, space age or the Viking era. To be a female fighter in the interim period is actually quite difficult.

“So as a woman, you have to be lucky and fit the typecast of the character and the height and the shape and the look at the right moment at the right time. And it’s still very difficult in that regard. You are seeing the shift in there being more female heroes and them being celebrated and that’s really important.” Johnson loves seeing body positivity on screen.

“There is a whole movement in terms of strong women owning their bodies nowadays and the more you see that on film the more encouraged I am. Like Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games. She wouldn’t lose weight for that part. Playing a strong capable woman she knew she would look as she did if she were to win a challenging tournament.

“This is body positivity we need to see. We saw it too with Natalie Portman in the new Thor movie, where she’s got great biceps.”

Niamh Hogan moved into stunt performance in 2016 having got her start on ‘Vikings’ Season 5’. Some of the ‘really amazing women’ she has doubled over the years include Florence Pugh, WWE star Becky Lynch, Kerry Condon and Millie Brady.

In ‘Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill’, Hogan performed her own stunts and fight scenes while playing Taryn Barker, the lead character. While that’s now in post-production she’s currently doubling on ‘Borderline,’ the new police drama.

Hogan says there weren’t any stunts she has refused to do and that she has always felt ‘completely safe and comfortable’ with any stunt requested of her.

“I may have felt nervous, but stunts are a process you build up to. You’re never going to arrive on set and be asked out of the blue, to do a car hit or a fire burn. The nerves are slowly eased down, to just butterflies, by the time you’re at full speed.”

She says people would be surprised about how ‘safe’ stunts are: “Of course, they’re still dangerous. Being on fire or jumping from a building is always going to be dangerous. But days and weeks of prep work and planning go into even the smallest stunt. Every risk is assessed and considered. Stunt teams work tirelessly to build in safety measures and protocols to limit the danger.”

She has ‘always felt perfectly safe’ when performing: “You trust your team, you trust your training, you trust yourself.”

Like Hogan, Johnson speaks of the deep trust that’s a core part of her work.

“I’ve done 25-30 second burns, where when the burn is finished, the costume is completely burnt through,” she says. “Stunts are timed down to seconds, to determine how far you can push the limit. I’ve been grateful to work with some incredibly talented stunt coordinators and stunt teams. So when it comes down to that moment of taking the risk or taking the jump or going on fire, you completely trust everyone around you.”

Trust and safety prep aside, the skill, prowess and sheer bravery of stunt performers is undisputed. Sometimes what’s depicted is violence so vicious it’s hard not to avert your gaze. But still, we try to remember, it’s ‘only’ acting.