Why Brie Larson Sharing Her MTV Award With Stunt Doubles Matters

Actor Brie Larson received the ‘Best Fight’ award for her film Captain Marvel, but she didn’t walk up the stage alone to receive it. The Oscar award winner brought along stuntwomen Renae Moneymaker and Joanna Bennett, who acted as doubles for Larson’s Captain Marvel. “I wanted to take this moment to really say thank you to the two women who are standing here beside me,” she said. “These are the women that trained me and were also the stunt doubles for ‘Captain Marvel.’ I could not have made this film without them. They are really the baseline of who she is. They are the living embodiment of Captain Marvel,” Larson said, before giving both the spotlight and the mic to the two women.

SOME TAKEAWAYS:

• Brie Larson received won Best Fight award at the MTV Movie & TV Awards.
• Larson took her stunt double from the film Captain Marvel on stage with her to pick up this award.
• Stuntwomen contribute so much in making characters like Captain Marvel or Wonder Woman so badass.
• Which is why they deserve a part of the adulation that we shower on these characters?

The action hero universe wouldn’t be as effective and explosive, if it wasn't for the doubles who dare to perform stunts which are too dangerous for actors to do by themselves.

In times when most actors love to take credit for all the action sequences featuring in their films, it was refreshing to see Larson acknowledge the efforts of the stunt community, whose work often goes unappreciated. The action hero universe wouldn’t be as effective and explosive if it wasn't for the doubles who dare to perform stunts which are too dangerous for actors to do by themselves. Men and women across film industries risk their lives for the sake of our entertainment. While women superheroes like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel have only recently found their space in this male dominated realm, it isn’t as if women action heroes are something new in the cinematic universe. Be it Scarlet Witch, Black Widow or Gomorrah or Lara Croft and Selene, who do you think hangs from those ropes or jumps across those cliffs? Women actors essaying these roles are always backed by doubles, who take over when the hazard if injury is greater during a sequence or a stunt needs a certain expertise to be performed.

YES! Girl Power!! @brielarson #MTVAwards pic.twitter.com/QHBKbpNJe0

— MTV (@MTV) June 18, 2019

With the rise of girl power in the superhero realm, it has become essential that we also appreciate the invisible efforts that stunt women put into making a Captain Marvel or a Wonder Woman be her badass self. These women contribute equally to fleshing out such characters, as do the actors whose names we are familiar with. Larson’s effort puts the talent and gut of stuntwomen on the stage and makes us realise how any superhero is not the actor who is essaying the part. Making films like Avengers, Captain Marvel etc. is a team effort. We often end up appreciating the technical aspects of filmmaking in broad-strokes. What cinematography, what special effects, what make-up. But beneath these more recognised categories are departments whose work often goes unnoticed, people who only find a tiny and hurried mention in the credit roles.

With the rise of girl power in the superhero realm, it has become essential that we also appreciate the invisible efforts that stunt women put into making a Captain Marvel or a Wonder Woman be her badass self.

Larson has put a face on those tiny names that we see on the credit roles. The next time you see Captain Marvel perform a daredevil stunt, you would know, it wasn’t just Brie. Little girls who look up to these female superheroes should know that it isn’t just Brie Larson or Scarlett Johansson they must adore. That there are real women who do these surreal stunts and they are badass and iconic in every way possible. In fact we need to keep that in mind for every action film that we watch. Giving a voice to these behind-the-scenes crew is also a part of the drive to include and empower them. Let them have their share of the spotlight; let them have access to the mic. It may not mean a lot to us, but it does to them, and they have clearly earned it.

Picture Credit: movieweb

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Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is a writer with the SheThePeople team, in the Opinions section. The views expressed are author’s own.