We were able to appreciate his abilities X Men: Dark Phoenix, Terror train 2 or even recently in the series Chucky. She also made appearances in O’, The honorable ones, 19-2 And Twilight for a killer.
But if her name has never been at the top of the list in cinema, it’s because Gabrielle-Anne Désy has been working internationally as a professional stuntwoman for 12 years and “hates learning lines,” she said. She confessed, laughing, during an interview she gave to QMI Agency earlier this week.
Photo Philippe Bossé provided by Gabrielle-Anne Désy
Quebec stuntwoman Gabrielle-Anne Désy was Jennifer Aniston’s understudy on the set of the film Murder Mystère, available on Netflix.
The Toronto-based Quebec native was understudy to Jennifer Aniston in Murder Mystery, Megan Fox in Expendables 4 and Emma Mayer on Wednesday, among others.
Difficult beginnings
The young woman, now in her thirties, began her career at the bottom of the corporate ladder when she was only 21 years old.
“Every time I saw it [roulottes] On the street I wanted to submit my resume as a production assistant. I started like this; I blocked roads, I cleaned toilets, I swept the broom… One thing led to another, I did a little special effects work to make myself visible,” she confessed.
Photo Philippe Bossé provided by Gabrielle-Anne Désy
Quebec stuntwoman Gabrielle-Anne Désy on the set of the film “X-Men: Dark Phoenix”.
Then her name began to circulate among stunt coordinators and she met the man who became her mentor, karateka Jean Frenette, who also had great success in the stunt world.
For her part, Gabrielle-Anne practiced Muay Thai, also known as Thai boxing, before taking up Taekwondo. She was also always interested in cinema, which she studied. But it was in the obstacle race (“Spartan Race”) that she experienced her first professional breakthrough.
In 2018, she took part in the show Bootcamp: The Extreme Course broadcast on Noovo, where she unfortunately suffered three ligaments, the menisci, and a fracture of the tibial plateau in the final.
“It slowed down the start of my career quite a bit,” she remembers. At the same time, the stuntwoman landed her first international jobs.
The pressure of mega-productions
With their enormously impressive budgets, the productions Gabrielle-Anne has worked on allow the stuntmen a reasonable amount of time to develop, choreograph and practice the “stunts” before filming. But be careful, once you get on set you should be ready.
Photo provided by Gabrielle-Anne Désy
Quebec stuntwoman Gabrielle-Anne Désy filmed some stunts on the set of the series “Lâcher Prize”.
“It costs so much to have all the crew and all the equipment on set that you don’t want to do it multiple times. “The plan in the organization is that everything on the large sets has to be first class so that only one take is filmed,” explains the stunt woman.
“On low-budget sets, it is your responsibility as a stuntman to be prepared for all eventualities without having any training time allocated to you,” she added, emphasizing that the ability to do only the first takes is a significant one represented a gain for their reputation.
In addition to their physical abilities, stunt performers must know how to behave and demonstrate nuance. “I once had a stunt contract where I had to get hit by a car while walking down the street with my child in my arms (a 30-pound model) during the apocalypse. I had to mourn the death of my son, let myself get involved and cry again,” said Gabrielle-Anne, who wants more successors in this industry.
“Nowadays it’s so easy to film yourself and show what you can do. I also think that young Quebecers who dream of doing this job need to persevere, because it is possible to break through,” she indicated, adding that the demand for stuntmen from different backgrounds is becoming stronger.