Angelina Jolie’s stunt double’s extraordinary journey – from Gladiators to Tomb Raider and Star Wars
Did you know that Angelina Jolie’s incredible stunt double began her career on Gladiators and was scouted by the James Bond producers for GoldenEye?
And that she went on to make her mark on Star Wars, training the likes of Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, and John Boyega for The Rise of Skywalker?
As part of our new series, Seeing Double, which looks into the extraordinary lives of some of film and TV’s most fearless performers – stunt doubles – we talk to Eunice Huthart, who is best known for doubling Angelina on films including Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,Wanted, and Mrs & Mrs Smith.
Real-life action hero Eunice told about everything from her beginnings on Gladiators and meeting close friend Angelina to coordinating stunts for blockbusters including Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker.
What’s her relationship like with Angelina?
Eunice and Angelina met back on the set of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and became close friends as a result of how many films they’ve worked on together.
While Eunice is keen to keep the details of her friendship with Angelina private, she did confirm that she’s the actress’s eldest child Shiloh’s godmother.
Comparing their working relationship to that of Chris Hemsworth and his stunt double, Bobby Holland Hanton, Eunice explained: ‘If you prove to be just a versatile double for the actress, then especially when you hold on to the character of what the actress is trying to deliver, which is important.
‘Whenever there was an action movie I would get a call from the producers asking, will I come along and be Angie’s stunt double for the movie?’
Meanwhile, Eunice revealed that Angelina is keen to do every stunt herself.
‘She would want to be doing everything, she always does,’ she pointed out. ‘There’s not one stunt that Angelina Jolie would not do, she’d want to do everything.’
How did she go from competing on Gladiators to becoming a stunt performer?
‘I was training as a kickboxing fighter and at the time, I was working at McDonald’s and I entered a TV show called Gladiators,’ Eunice recalled.
She won the 1994 series of the show, before being asked to return as a Gladiator, Blaze, in 1995.
‘I just happened to get seen on Gladiators by the James Bond producers for GoldenEye, as an ideal stunt double for Famke Janssen,’ she continued.
‘When I started doing the stunt work, I was just like “This is amazing, this is what I was born to do,” so it just progressed from there really.’
What was it like to make her mark on one of Hollywood’s first female-led action movies?
‘It was just a great film to do because it’s not that often you get a lead actress, especially in the beginnings of that era where there wasn’t very many leading women – it was generally leading men,’ Eunice explained.
‘So it was it was a privilege to get the job as the lead woman stunt double.’
Meeting Angelina on the set of Tomb Raider, it seems Eunice wasn’t star-struck in the slightest, as she told us: ‘It was just like any other meet really! We assessed her fitness level and stuff like that, to see what she could achieve in the film.’
What injuries has she suffered during her career?
‘I’ve had loads of injuries,’ Eunice explained casually, before listing: ‘Fractured skull, fractured cheek bones, a broken foot, broken coxis, broken ribs.’
‘You’d think I wasn’t very good!’ she joked. ‘But that’s quite normal for stuntpeople…to pick up injuries along the way.’
‘Fortunately for me, I’ve always managed to [get] myself back to normal again. So it’s part and parcel. I mean, if you went through your career, not picking up any injuries, you probably didn’t work very much!’
What was it like to train Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker?
‘They did all [the stunts] themselves,’ Eunice pointed out. ‘Adam’s stunt double never got in costume once. We had a stunt double for Daisy just to do some hard hits.’
Revealing that almost everything she coordinated made the final cut, she recalled that Adam’s beginning fight started out as much longer – and that the epic battles scenes took about eight to 10 weeks to create.
‘The whole movie was really the highlight just because they were just so fantastic to work with, all of them,’ Eunice explained, listing off the likes of director JJ Abrams and actors Daisy and Adam.
She added: ‘JJ had a great vision. He knew exactly what he wanted. And Adam and Daisy are just such great actors that come in very prepared, they do all the hard work. So as a stunt coordinator, it’s the perfect setup for me.’
