There are a lot of important jobs when making a film that no one seems to pay very much attention too. Behind the scenes jobs and in front of the camera jobs, aside from the actors, are usually on the backburner. So, I wanted to take this interview to shine some light on someone who works just as hard, if sometimes not harder, than actors to deliver a quality film to viewers. Sophia Crawford is one of the best stuntwomen in Hollywood. Her credits include doing stunts for Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Power Rangers, and dozens of other productions. In this interview, we focused mostly on her contributions to the horror/scifi/thriller genres. Take a good look at the interview below and see what goes on in one of Hollywood’s most thrilling jobs.
What is the process of becoming a professional stuntwoman in Hollywood?
Sophia: I don’t actually believe there is a “process” or maybe there is but people don’t follow it. If you went up to any stunt professional on the set and asked them how they “got in”. I bet each and every one of them would have a unique and different story to tell. Our job is “different” and well sought after. I didn’t enter the business by any conventional methods and I know a lot of my friends didn’t either. To be honest, I think if you are determined enough, you can do just about anything.
A lot has changed in the stunt business over the years and now with stunt people being recognized in awards shows, more and more new faces appear on the scene each year. It’s all about talent, luck and a serious amount of determination! Being a professional stuntwoman is a brilliant job! It’s incredibly exciting and rewarding but there are many pitfalls too. I would study up on it a bit first and then decide if this truly is the right job for you. It will create numerous challenges for you and yes, if you stay in long enough you will get injured at some point.
If you have made up your mind and you are determined to follow your dreams, here are a few basic things that you can do: Locate yourself in an area where the hub of the work is. Currently it’s LA, Vancouver, New York and Louisiana. Pick which skills suit you best and work like crazy on those skills. Try to be as versatile as possible: in the industry it’s known as being an all around performer (you must have many tricks!)
Type a resume and shoot a demo of your skills. Do not lie about your skills! That will bite you later and could get you seriously injured. Be honest with yourself. Find a production that’s shooting on location and track down the Stunt Coordinator. Do not stalk him! He will be the one hiring you, not the star. Be very polite and quiet and leave your resume’/demo behind. He will either chuck it or look at it…
Attend gyms where stunt performers work out and look into the various stunt driving clinics and stunt schools around LA. There was a time when these places didn’t exist but now they are popping up everywhere. Join a phone service, the unions, get your face in the directories and online… This all sounds super easy but it’s not. Be aware that it is a very competitive market. You must be tenacious…. Good Luck!
What made you pursue this specific career in the business?
Sophia: What excited me most about this specific career was not about how I could be most famous or how much money I could make. I simply love to perform the action. I was a tomboy and it was a perfect way for me to channel my (sometimes) aggressive nature. I had a hard childhood… I know, boo hoo!
I went to Hong Kong after a long back packing adventure. It was an amazing experience, a huge challenge and one I won’t likely ever forget. Stunt work is creative, artistic, technical and yet brutally hard on the body. It’s a roller-coaster ride and one that warrants a thick skin both physically and mentally. I wanted to do something unique!
How do the stunts in the horror films you’ve been in compare to stunts in other genres?
Sophia: In a horror movie there may be a lot of running, hard hits, wire gags, furious fighting and plenty of gruesome death scenes. In some films your stunt buddies will be unrecognizable under layers of prosthetics, their faces molded into ugly demons. They could be anything from vamps to psychotic gnomes! I’ve fought with creatures of all kinds throughout my career. In horror films you can get away with being very exaggerated in your movements, it’s almost like nothing is too big. They are a lot of fun to work on.
Other genres like Sci-fi and fantasy films generally have a lot of over the top action too. These days many action sequences are shot on green-screen. It takes away from being in the actual environment, so you’d better brush up on your acting skills! You can also find an array of stunts in comedies, dramas and across the board. Maybe the artistic impression is different; it’s significantly more violent in horror a movie, that’s for sure.
Definitely having a fan boy moment knowing you were Sarah Michelle Gellar’s stunt double on Buffy. What was that like? You did stunts in some pretty pivotal moments like Buffy vs Faith in Graduation Day Part 1, Buffy vs Adam in Primeval, etc.
Sophia: It was a dream job. The kind of job that only comes around once in a career. I remember all the fight scenes very well and I especially enjoyed Buffy vs Faith and Buffy vs Adam. My husband, Jeff Pruitt, choreographed all of the fights and stunts and those were some of his faves too. They were pivotal moments and were it not for all our efforts behind the scenes none of these fights would have come to play on screen. From the start of season two Jeff had to gradually convince the producers to allow BUFFY to have longer and more complex fights.
BUFFY was one of those shows where when you got the script you read it. You didn’t just flip the pages to find your stunts. It was well written and quirky, finally a female hero who was smart and kicked ass. At the beginning of the series there wasn’t much action written into the scripts. Being a television show, time was tight and the fight scenes were really short and kinda boring. I was used to performing long elaborate fight sequences having worked in Hong Kong for several years. To do just one punch or one kick was pretty frustrating.
When Jeff Pruitt came on the show he changed all that and gave Buffy a style. He had previously belonged to an Asian stunt team and had become known for bringing a mix of Hong Kong and American style stunt fighting to low budget films. But Joss had only known him as the guy who made MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS and he had said he didn’t want Buffy flying around on wires all the time! Jeff had to show him that what he had in mind for BUFFY was completely different, rougher around the edges, and high impact. The blend of Joss’s writing and Jeff’s action fit the show perfectly.
Our only problem was that it became normal for Jeff to choreograph a fight, show it to me and the stunt people, present it to the director and plan the shots, and then be expected to shoot it all in a few takes. So, some of those fights you mentioned actually were shot in record time. Unlike POWER RANGERS (which Jeff would shoot in sections to be edited together by him later) BUFFY’S fights had to be shot in a long master take. Jeff would pick a few spots to insert close ups of the actors and then have them perform a punch or duck (as well as their dialogue) usually after the fight was shot.
Later, when it was all edited together it appeared seamless. This method allowed us to maximize our time and get the most bang for the buck. It also spared the actors from physical injury. I’m pretty proud of what we were able to accomplish in the time we had. It was a great show.
According to IMDB you had an acting credit in the Buffy season 2 episode Becoming Part 1. I’m trying to think…Were you the vampire fighting Kendra near the end of the episode or the vampire who lights herself on fire in the classroom?
Sophia: I was the vampire fighting Kendra. :-)
How did you get credit for the Buffy game for Xbox? Did you do that thing where they tape the little foam balls to you and record your body movements?
Sophia: Motion Capture. I got credit for the BUFFY game because I performed all the movements for BUFFY’S character. At that time I did have balls attached to my body and I would have to perform the action in a very specific area. Motion Capture has progressed quite a bit now, allowing the stunt performer a bit more freedom.
You also acted in Night Hunter and Demon Hunter. Which one was your favorite film to work on?
Sophia: I did. I think DEMON HUNTER was a good set. I was working with people I have known for years and the vibe was mellow. NIGHT HUNTER was a tricky one. Nothing to do with the script or my character. Don Wilson had a problem with fighting women. He didn’t want me doing taking any hits or anything…
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The 13th and Scary Movie 3, can you clarify the stunts you did in these two horror-comedies so fans can pick you out?
Sophia: In SHRIEK I remember being chased around with a hedge cutter? In SCARY MOVIE 3 I traveled up to Vancouver and spent two weeks rehearsing a big fight scene that got cut. I still doubled Anna Farris in bits and bobs here and there.
Dylan Dog: Dead of Night is set to be released this March, according to IMDB. Can you give us any inside information on this new horror film?
Sophia: April 29th in the U.S I believe?
I shot that movie almost two years ago in Louisiana and I heard it was riddled with budget problems. I doubled Anita Briem for a fight at the end of the film and did a crash into some chairs. I helped Anita train and prepare for her fight sequences, she was determined to do as much as she could on her own.
I hope for the sake of the fans of DYLAN DOG that this movie is campy enough to be brilliant. Having only caught a few quips on set I can’t form an opinion. I just hope it’s GOOD!
Another actress you’ve stunted for was Christina Ricci. You took her place for sequences in Cursed. Do you ever run into actresses such as Ms. Ricci and Mrs. Gellar-Prinz while on set?
Sophia: I never did run into Christina Ricci but of course, Sarah and I worked together very closely everyday on the set of BUFFY.
It seems like you have a lot of support overseas in Hong Kong. Can you explain where that fan base popped up from?
Sophia: I spent five years honing my skills in Hong Kong. I played many roles where I was the evil western villain and I had the crap beaten out of me a zillion times by the Asian leading ladies. Many of these films have ended up at Amazon.com and they have a sort of cult following. Not just my films but Hong Kong action films in general.
What is one upcoming horror film, if you can think of one, that you would love to be in whether it be acting or doing stunt doubling?
Sophia: I believe they are going to do another remake of THE THING. That has always been one of my favorites both John Carpenters and the original.
Where can people look to see you in 2011? Any new projects on the horizon?
Sophia: Dylan Dog is one. Other than that, this is the year that I am stepping out and I’m doing something for myself.
To see everything Sophia has worked on, visit her IMDB page here or her official website here. Make sure to check her out in reruns of the TV shows she stunted for and give some of her films a look over, too. She will be stunting for the lead actress in Dylan Dog, which has been getting some press lately. Sophia Crawford works constantly!
Thank you for taking the time to chat with me, Sophia.
