Lights, Camera, Action Zoe Cals The Shots

Our Kiwi belle’s new direction.

- Sebastian Van Der Zwan

She was a daredevil stunt double for superstars like Uma Thurman, Sharon Stone and Lucy Lawless before acclaimed filmmaker Quentin Tarantino turned her into a bona fide big-screen Hollywood heroine.

But Kiwi action queen Zoë Bell couldn’t resist returning to her stunt roots when her good friend Taika Waititi, the director of Boy and Hunt for the Wilder people, asked her to stunt double for Cate Blanchett in his big-budget blockbuster Thor: Ragnarok.

“There are so many reasons why it was a dream job,” the Waiheke Island-born star, 38, tells Woman’s Day. “Cate plays Hela, the first female villain of the Marvel movies, and watching an actor like that work was a master class. She’s a professional but also cheeky, witty and so relaxed. It was phenomenal.”

However, little did Zoë realise that the job would lead to an even more exciting gig – following her mates Quentin and Taika into becoming a director herself! While working on Thor on Australia’s Gold Coast, the Death Proof and The Hateful Eight actress met with a producer who asked her to make her first short film.

“I couldn’t say yes fast enough,” recalls Zoë, who lives in Los Angeles with her Californian boyfriend, filmmaker Jacob Horn.