Zoë E. Bell is a New Zealand stuntwoman and actress.
Some of her most notable stunt work includes doubling for Lucy Lawless on Xena: Warrior
Princess and for Uma Thurman in Kill Bill.
As an actress, she has appeared both on television and in feature films and also starred in the
web series Angel of Death.
She is probably most recognized for playing herself in the Quentin Tarantino film, Death
Proof.
Early life Bell was born on Waiheke Island, New Zealand,
to Tish, a nurse, and Andrew Bell, a doctor.
She has a younger brother named Jake.
She grew up on Waiheke Island in Auckland.
At a young age, she participated in competitive gymnastics and at the age of 15, she began
studying Taekwon-Do.
She also participated in dance, high diving, scuba, and track and field activities.
Bell attended Auckland Girls' Grammar School and Selwyn College.
Career Bell began her career in 1992 when her father
treated a stuntman for a head injury and came home with a phone number for her to call.
Her first stunt job was jumping out of a car in Shortland Street, a New Zealand soap opera.
She did stunts for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, both
of which were filmed in New Zealand; by the fourth season of Xena, she was the stunt double
for Lucy Lawless.
She fractured vertebrae in her back doing wire work stunts on the show, but continued
working for a week until another stunt, in which a breakaway chair was smashed on her
back, incapacitated her.
After Xena, she did a number of small films and TV stunt work, including stunt coordinating
and playing a small role in a short film Reflections with Adrienne Wilkinson.
She then went on to double for Uma Thurman in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.
Though she was initially hired as Thurman's "crash and smash" double, the stunt team realized
Bell would also make an ideal double for fight scenes and she was trained accordingly.
Bell had to learn to fight in the wushu style.
Near the end of filming for Kill Bill: Volume 2, she injured her ribs and the ligaments
in her wrist while simulating being thrown backwards by a shotgun blast.
Bell required surgery and spent several months recuperating.
After production wrapped on Kill Bill, she received "The Bells" sign which hung outside
the home of the Vernita Green character.
She later gave it to her parents.
After both Kill Bill movies, she did stunt work for the movie Catwoman, in which she
performed high falls and acted as a double for Sharon Stone.
Tarantino was so impressed with her that he cast her in a leading role in his next film,
Death Proof, in which she played herself and performed her own stunts, the most notable
of which occurs when she hangs onto the hood of a speeding 1970 Dodge Challenger.
In 2004, the documentary Double Dare was released.
It focused primarily on Bell and veteran stuntwoman Jeannie Epper, following them during their
travails in Hollywood.
The film presented a view of opposing ends of the stuntwoman spectrum, with the aging
Epper continuing her search for work in an industry where age is not necessarily considered
an asset and Bell, then a Hollywood newcomer, trying to break into the industry.
The filming of Double Dare covered Zoë's career from the end of Xena to the beginning
of her work on Kill Bill: Volume 1.
In 2004, Bell and Angela Meryl were nominated at the Taurus World Stunt Awards in the categories
"Best Overall Stunt by a Woman" and "Best Fight" for their doubling of the knife fight
between the characters Beatrix Kiddo and Vernita Green in Kill Bill: Volume 1.
In 2005, Bell was nominated for a Taurus in the categories "Best Overall Stunt by a Woman,"
"Best Fight," and "Best High Work."
She and Monica Staggs won Best Overall Stunt and Best Fight for their fight in Budd's trailer
in Kill Bill: Volume 2.
Her Best High Work nomination was for a fall of over 200 feet in the film Catwoman.
After Catwoman, Bell went on to appear as a stuntwoman in the action thriller The Kingdom
. In yet another Tarantino feature film, Inglorious Basterds, Bell performed stunts once again.
In August 2007, Bell confirmed she had signed on to play the lead role in a film about an
American soldier who, upon returning to the U.S. from a tour of duty in Iraq, helps a
young girl in trouble.
She told the New Zealand Herald she would do her own stunts in the as-yet untitled film,
and that the American accent was "a big challenge".
In October 2007, Variety reported that Bell would appear in the 2009 film Game, starring
Gerard Butler; the movie was later renamed Gamer.
Bell was a guest star in the fourth season of Lost, playing the role of the freighter
team's radio contact, Regina.
She stated in interviews that the role required a little acting and some stunt work.
She appeared on screen only in episode 7 of season 4, entitled "Ji Yeon".
In 2008, Bell starred alongside her former Xena colleague Lucy Lawless in Sony's web
series Angel of Death which debuted online in early 2009.
Bell also played a medical technician who moonlights as "Bloody Holly", a roller derby
star, in Drew Barrymore's 2009 directorial debut, Whip It.
She appeared alongside Wesley Snipes in Italian director Giorgio Serafini's 2010 thriller,
Game of Death.
She can also be seen in the music video of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' 2012 single
"Dream On".
Filmography
Shortland Street Hercules: The Legendary Journeys – stunt
work The Chosen stunt work
Young Hercules Jacksons Wharf
Amazon High – background action stunt work Jack of All Trades
The Bunker Murders Riverworld stunt work
The Extreme Team aka The X-Team Ultraviolet
The Devil's Den Reflections
The Chronicles of Nerm The Collector
Awards and nominations References
External links Zoe Bell at the Internet Movie Database
Zoë Bell Producer Profile for The 1 Second Film