Alisa Hensley has done action scenes for Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Gisele Bündchen and Charlize Theron. She lives near Los Angeles with her children Taylor, 4, and Joshua, 2
A typical day in my life starts with getting the kids up and giving them breakfast. Then I become a superhero for the day. I do anything from martial arts to fight scenes, jumps, dirt-biking and explosions. I’ve done falls of up to 40ft (12m), firearms work and I fence and abseil. Even when I’m not working I’m in training, doing martial arts and running. I make sure my body is always ready for the next big stunt.
It only took me three months to drop the weight after I had kids. I know some moms who thought it was too hard to get back in shape, but I was more motivated than ever. I knew that people in the industry had heard I’d had kids, so I took loads of pictures of myself to show that I could still be a stunt double in a swimsuit for someone in her twenties.I may not be 18 but I have the set etiquette and the knowledge that make me an asset in my job.
When I’m filming I can be working a 14-hour day for three weeks. There’s a lot of waiting around on set because stunts are often the last shot of the day. But the most important thing is that no one is ever waiting for you. If I’m late for work I lose my reputation and future jobs. I’ve recently become a single mum so I have a regular babysitter and my mum comes over if I have to work a night. But I rely a lot on other mums in the industry to help me out.
I love it when all the elements in my job come together: the props, the special effects and camera work. You create something bigger than yourself. When I was doing Terminator 3 (as a body double for Kristanna Loken) I had to jump off a 20ft embankment on to a moving hearse. We had to be precise with the timing and measurements so that my feet just touched the car but I was still on a harness.
Advertisement
When we do driving stunts in LA the streets are usually blocked off from the public and the other drivers are stunt drivers. But when I was doubling for Nicole Kidman in The Interpreter in New York we did live traffic scenes, dodging among real cars and buses.
Things can go wrong when you’re dealing with explosions and you need to be fit enough to get yourself out of trouble. One of my friends recently got a head injury in a driving stunt and was in a coma. I love what I do but I’m also doing it for my kids. I’m putting myself in harm’s way for their college fund.
If you have no nerves then you have a problem. It’s scary to think what could happen if I do get hurt, but I tweak that thought and focus. I empty every worry from my mind. It’s a sort of therapy. My reactions speed up and I think: “How can I save myself if a stunt goes wrong?”
I’ve had concussion and all sorts of knocks. When I’m working my body is covered in road rash or weird marks. If I’m out with the kids wearing a dress or a tank top, I forget that other people are probably wondering what all the marks are. I’m always happy when I see that my wardrobe for a stunt is trousers and a long top so I can pad them.
I don’t feel guilty about being a working mum. I feel proud that I’m earning money and I hope that it’s inspiring for the kids. But if I’m on set until late and I miss their bedtime I do feel disappointed. I used to travel more and in the summer I was in Greenland for two weeks but it was really hard being away from them. Two weeks is enough; if it was much longer I’d take them with me. I do a lot of TV because it’s in town and close to home. Some days are really tiring. I might be up with my daughter at 5am, then working into the night. I grab a few hours’ sleep, but then I get up because I want to spend the day with the kids. It’s normal for them that I work odd hours. They always know that mommy comes back.
Advertisement
The kids are getting used to what I do. I don’t let them watch my stuff yet because it’s grown-up TV. I don’t want them to get any ideas and think that they can jump off things and be OK. When I tell them not to smack each other it can feel like a contradiction because that’s my job. They’ll prance around the sitting room pretending to kill each other and do kung-fu and say they are doing “mummy work”.
Not being physical feels like having my hands tied behind my back. I was a tomboy growing up. When I met some stunt people while I was doing a bit of modelling and acting at university, a light just went on inside me. The only time I have taken out is when I was pregnant. I focused on building the little life inside me and tried to enjoy time off but it did feel foreign.
On days when I’m hurting and tired I tell myself: thousands of people would love to do this. My body will wear out eventually but I’ve got a while longer. When it’s over I’ll figure something out. I would love to teach martial arts to kids.