Zoë E. Bell (born November 17, 1978 in Waiheke Island, New Zealand) is a stuntwoman, nicknamed "Zoe the Cat" (and, as you can see from the picture, that's not just because she's really agile) who has recently gained some clout as an actress thanks to Quentin Tarantino for casting her as herself in Death Proof. In her stunt career, she has doubled for such actresses as Lucy Lawless and Uma Thurman. Also, she starred in the internet miniseries Angel of Death, was stunt-coordinator (and had a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo) for the Russ Meyer Genre Throw Back Bitch Slap, and played a prominent (in more ways than one) role in Drew Barrymore's Whip It. She was also one of the two major focuses of the excellent documentary Double Dare (in which she jokingly refers to Lucy Lawless as her "acting double".)
Zoë Ball, on the other hand, is the morning DJ who took over the BBC's prestigious breakfast radio show from Chris Evans. She isn't renowned for being a stuntwoman. If you came here thinking "Bell" was a mis-print for the Zoe you wanted, this is the wrong page.
Selected Filmography:
As a stuntwoman- Xena: Warrior Princess - Xena, doubling for Lucy Lawless
- Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003), Volume 2 (2004) - The Bride, doubling for Uma Thurman
- Catwoman (2004) - Patience Phillips, doubling for Halle Berry
- Alias - Kelly Peyton, doubling for Amy Acker
- Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Shosanna and Bridget von Hammersmark, doubling for Mélanie Laurent and Diane Kruger
- The Proposal (2009) - Margaret, doubling for Sandra Bullock
- Paradox (2016) - Gale
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017) - Hela, doubling for Cate Blanchett
As an actress
- Lost - Regina
- Death Proof (2007) - As Herself
- Planet Terror (2007) - Sicko Eating Paramedic #2
- Bitch Slap (2009) - Rawhide
- Gamer (2009) - Sandra
- Whip It (2009) - Bloody Holly
- Fallout: New Vegas (2010) - Various Characters
- Django Unchained (2012) - Tracker
- Mercenaries (2014) - Clay
- The Hateful Eight (2015) - Six-Horse Judy
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) - Janet
- Malignant (2021) - Scorpion
Associated Tropes:
- Action Girl: When she does appear onscreen, it tends to be in roles like these (fitting for a stuntwoman).
- Cast the Expert: When she was cast as herself in Death Proof.
- Deleted Role: She originally had a bigger part in Django Unchained, and even gets a lingering closeup to indicate she's about to enter the plot in some way. But most of her role was cut down for time (there had been plans to split it into two parts like Kill Bill).
- No Stunt Double: There was the possibility of her having a double for the car scenes in Death Proof, but she insisted on doing her own stunts as well. On the DVD features, she talked about the freedom this brought when it came to getting shots that didn't have to avoid showing her face.
- Playing Against Type:
- Her cameo in The Hateful Eight features her as a gentle, innocent character who is brutally murdered without fighting back.
- Her cameo in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has her as Janet - the wife who disapproves of Cliff being on set and orders him off after he puts a massive dent in her car while fighting with Bruce Lee. It's radically different from her normal Action Girl roles in Tarantino films (fitting for a stunt woman) but also shows some pretty good comedy skills from her.
