Zoe Bell

Zoe is a member of the New Zealand Stunt Guild.

In 2008 Zoe got the chance to work again with her former Xena colleagues Lucy Lawless and Ted Raimi in a new web series titled Angel of Death, which is set to debut online in early 2009. The role garnered her a nomination for "Best Actress in a Web Series".

Shortly after the series Xena finished filming, Zoe worked as the stunt coordinator for a short film made by fellow Xena colleague Adrienne Wilkinson.

Zoe's first work as a stunt woman was for the soap opera Shortland Street. The stunt was jumping out of a moving car.

Zoe has had two films roles created specifically with Zoe in mind. Quentin Tarantino wrote the film Grindhouse for her, and a new project featuring Zoe as a returning vet from Iraq who helps a young girl is the second.

Zoe is represented as an actress by the firm Karen Kay Management. She is also represented by the Talking Heads agency, where she can be booked as a celebrity speaker. She's also listed by the NZ Stunts agency run by Peter Bell, which is where she got her start in the business.

Zoe's sports background includes competitive gymnastics, Tae Kwon Do, diving, track and field and dance. Her stunt abilities are high diving, SCUBA, high falls, wire work, stunt fighting and martial arts. She scored three second-place finishes in the New Zealand Gymnastics Nationals from 1989 to 1991.

Lucy Lawless was so grateful to Zoe for all of her hard work doubling the actress over the last three years of Xena that she sent Zoe and her brother Jake on an overseas holiday after the final season wrapped.

Zoe's nickname is Zoe the Cat.

Quentin Tarantino revealed at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards that Zoe had broken bones in her back while shooting Kill Bill vol 2 and she hadn't realized it until a month later, requiring surgery to repair.

Zoe says that the most dangerous stunt she's done is falling over 200 ft off a building. It was the first time she had done anything like that in her career. She wore a descender rig and dropped at real speed to mimic free fall. She also had to somersault twice on the way down, which is what really made it dangerous, since that gave her a chance of landing badly in spite of the safety harness.

Zoe appeared as herself in the Scream Awards show. which is an Awards Show that was created in 2006 to honor the fringe genres Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Cult.

After Xena and before her career as a stunt double took off Zoe appeared as a double on Alias and on an episode of Cleopatra 2525 for Victoria Pratt.

In 2005, Zoe was nominated for a Taurus Award for the movie Catwoman. It was for "Best High Work", and she fell over 200 ft.

Zoe starred in Double Dare, which is a documentary that follows Zoe and fellow stuntwoman Jeannie Epper as they perform as stunt doubles. Double Dare was awarded the Audience Award Best Documentary at the AFI, San Francisco Int'l, Sonoma, and Feminale Film Festivals. At the Woodstock Film Festival is received Best Documentary and Best Editing Awards, and at the Independent Film Festival of Boston it won the Audience Award and Special Jury Prize.

Zoe's favorite shows growing up were M*A*S*H and The Cosby Show, and her favorite movie was The Never Ending Story.

Zoe admits to talking to herself. She gives herself pep talks, and sometimes does pretend interviews with herself. She pretends that she's being interviewed by Oprah and others like her, and when she does she even changes and uses all of the appropriate accents!

In 2005, Zoe won two Taurus awards along with her fight partner Monika Staggs for "Best Fight" and "Best Overall Stunt by a Stuntwoman" for the movie Kill Bill: Vol 2. In 2004 she was nominated for the same two awards along with her fight partner Angela Meryl for the movie Kill Bill: Vol 1.

To stay fit Zoe does dancing, running, swimming, yoga, and gymnastics. She has trouble staying motivated just working out at a gym, and she needs to feel as if she is learning or perfecting her skills to stay satisfied.

Zoe was injured at the end of filming Kill Bill vol 1. She broke her ribs when she missed the mat falling and required surgery. She also tore a ligament in her arm when a stunt called for her to be blown out of a trailer in a harness. Fortunately she actually landed on her stunt coordinator instead, who broke her fall enough to keep her from a major injury.

Zoe was initially hired to be the "fall over" double only, (which is the stuntie that hits the ground and is thrown into things) for Uma Thurman in the movie Kill Bill vol 1, and she was given six weeks worth of training beforehand to fulfill that role. But when they actually started shooting the film they realized that Zoe would make a great body double for Uma, so they decided to train her in her additinal role as they went along on set. That meant she was never properly trained for her fight scenes. She found it difficult, since she had only ever fought as Xena. She had to consciously avoid fighting like Xena to fight as her new character, who used a completely different style of martial arts.

Zoe was the stunt double for Sharon Stone in Catwoman. This was the first time she ever doubled for "the bad guy".

Although she is a native of New Zealand and hopes to someday own a home there, Zoe currently resides in Los Angeles.

Zoe is 5'7", and often works as a stunt double for taller actresses. She has blond hair and blue eyes.

Zoe starred in the indie film documentary Double Dare, which showed the life of women stunt doubles. The film won the Audience Award at the AFI Film Fest.

Zoe Bell was the stunt double for Lucy Lawless on Xena: Warrior Princess and Uma Thurman in Kill Bill vol 1 and 2. She also did stunt work on the shows Jack of All Trades, Young Hercules, and the pilot episode Amazon High, which was later recycled for the Xena episode "Lifeblood".