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Some actors wait for years to feel like they’ve truly made it in Tinseltown. But for Nicholas Hoult, all it took was a little spit on his face from the Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron.

Indeed, Hoult may have just become a real actor in Theron’s eyes after she “spat” on his face during a scene in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) but the film continues to be a gift that keeps on giving nine years later. The post-apocalyptic action epic helmed by George Miller has consolidated its place in pop culture with its prequel flick (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga), set for release later this month.

Nicholas Hoult as Nux in a still from Mad Max: Fury Road (Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Well, in 2020, Hoult and Theron engaged in a Q&a session following the special screening in Los Angeles, where the former recounted a memorable scene from Mad Max: Fury Road.

In Alice Englert’s debut feature as director, drama-comedy “Bad Behaviour,” which plays in World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, the Australian-Kiwi actor-turned-filmmaker explores spirituality, passive aggression and mother-daughter dynamics, as well as paying homage to stunt performers.

Englert, who is the daughter of director Jane Campion, has appeared in 20 films and series, including Sally Potter’s “Ginger & Rosa,” Richard Lagravenese’s “Beautiful Creatures,” and Starz series “Dangerous Liaisons.” Englert has directed two shorts, “The Boyfriend Game,” which premiered at the Berlinale in 2016, and “Family Happiness,” which played at BFI London Film Festival in 2017.

“Bad Behaviour,” which Englert also wrote and features in, follows Lucy (played by Jennifer Connelly), a former child actress who seeks enlightenment at a retreat led by spiritual leader Elon (played by Ben Wishaw), while also navigating the close yet turbulent relationship with her stunt performer daughter Dylan (Englert).

“I think I wanted...

Amazon Studios is standing up against recent reports claiming its “Lord of the Rings” set in New Zealand is unsafe. An article published by the New Zealand Herald this month claimed “at least three” stunt workers were injured on the “Rings” set, with two workers requiring surgeries that were not “proactively reported” to the country’s workplace health and safety regulator WeSafe.

“Amazon Studios takes the health, physical and emotional welfare of our cast and crew extremely seriously,” a spokesperson for Amazon Studios said reacting to the report (via Variety). “As a top priority, the production team continues to be in full compliance with the mandated WorkSafe New Zealand Safety and Security government regulations. Any allegation or report that activities on set are unsafe or outside of regulations are completely inaccurate.”

One of the stunt workers injured on the set was reportedly Dayna Grant, whose previous credits include “Mad Max: Fury Road,...

The recent crowdfunding campaign for top New Zealand stunt performer and coordinator Dayna Grant to undergo emergency brain surgery, supported by Lucy Lawless and other top actors and producers, put a spotlight on Amazon Studios’ The Lord Of the Rings series. That is because Grant suffered a concussion while working on the New Zealand set of the big-budget fantasy drama in March 2021.

It is one of several cases cited in a story by the New Zealand Harold which, relying on mostly anonymous sources, alleges that concerns about safety standards on the show are not being treated seriously enough “after at least two injuries requiring surgery were not proactively reported to WorkSafe,” branding the set of the show as “unsafe workplace” for stunt performers.

“Amazon Studios takes the health, physical and emotional welfare of our cast and crew extremely seriously,” a spokesperson for the streamer said in a statement in response to the article.

Amazon Studios has denied allegations of “unsafe” conditions for stunt workers on the set of its “The Lord of the Rings” TV series adaptation in New Zealand, following a report that two serious injuries were not reported to WorkSafe, the country’s workplace health and safety regulator.

According to a story published by The New Zealand Herald Friday, four sources on the set of the tech giant’s $1 billion “Lotr” show say their concerns about safety regulations are not being taken seriously due to the fact those incidents, which later required surgery, were not disclosed to WorkSafe. These workers also told the Herald they think a senior stunt supervisor has created an “uneasy” on-set environment, contributing to the unsafe standards.

“Amazon Studios takes the health, physical and emotional welfare of our cast and crew extremely seriously,” an Amazon Studios spokesperson told TheWrap Saturday. “As a top priority, the production team...

Amazon Studios is firing back following reports that production on the upcoming “Lord of the Rings” series is not taking safety standards seriously, with the company calling the claims “completely inaccurate.”

An article in the New Zealand Herald, published on Friday, reports that “at least three” stunt workers on the set of the “Lord of the Rings” series — which is costing Amazon $465 million to produce its first season — have been seriously injured. According to the story, two injuries requiring surgery were not “proactively reported” to WorkSafe, New Zealand’s workplace health and safety regulator.

In a statement to both the Nz Herald and Variety, Amazon Studios says that their safety protocols are in compliance with WorkSafe and New Zealand governmental standards.

“Amazon Studios takes the health, physical and emotional welfare of our cast and crew extremely seriously,” a spokesperson for Amazon Studios says. “As a top priority, the production team...

Imagine putting your life on the line at work every day to make someone else look good. That’s the reality for stunt performers, and it gets worse when they actually get hurt. Stuntwoman Dayna Grant was injured on the set of an upcoming project, and health insurance wouldn’t cover her treatment. Thankfully, friends and fans rose […]

The post Fans Raise More than $70k for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Stuntwoman Following Head Injury appeared first on /Film.

Dayna Grant, a New Zealand-born award-winning veteran stunt double, performer and stunt coordinator who has worked on such productions as Mad Max: Fury Road, Wonder Woman 1984, the syndicated Xena: Warrior Princess and the upcoming Lord of the Rings Amazon series, will undergo emergency brain surgery after her Hollywood colleagues and fans rallied to raise the necessary funds.

According to the Give a Little page used for donations, “world renowned Stuntwoman Dayna Grant recently sustained a head injury while on set filming for an upcoming series/film. After experiencing symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury Dayna was sent for Neuroimaging Ct and Mri scans. Unfortunately receiving the devastating diagnosis of an 8mm Aneurysm and upper spinal (neck) injuries. Surgeons recommend immediate surgery.”

According to sources, Grant suffered a concussion while working on the set of The Lord of the Rings in early 2021. It is understood that she received medical attention and was...

“Xena: Warrior Princess” actress Lucy Lawless is among those who have helped to raise over 75,000 New Zealand dollars for stuntwoman Dayna Grant, who recently injured herself on set and was diagnosed with a need for emergency brain surgery.

Grant is a stuntwoman who has served as a double for Lawless on “Xena” and Charlize Theron in “Mad Max: Fury Road,” as well as working recently on “Wonder Woman 1984,” “Mulan,” the upcoming “Lord of the Rings” series and more. It’s unclear on which production she sustained the injury, and the Daily Mail reports that Grant has worked on four productions and ran a weekend stunt school before she was hurt.

But according to a crowdfunding page created by Grant, she sustained a head injury while on set for an upcoming series/film she was filming in New Zealand. Doctors then informed her that she had been diagnosed with an...

Fans of stunt woman Dayna Grant have donated over $73,000 and counting to help raise money for surgery after the stunt performer sustained a head injury while on set. As detailed by an official crowdfunding campaign, Grant was “experiencing symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury” after the injury and was later diagnosed with an “8mm Aneurysm and upper spinal neck injuries.” Surgeons “recommend immediate surgery,” but Grant’s health insurance “confirmed they are unable to cover the surgery.” The campaign’s goal was to raise $60,000, the cost of the private surgery, but that number has been far exceeded.

If the name Dayna Grant does not ring a bell, then you certainly know her work. Grant was Charlize Theron’s stunt double on “Mad Max: Fury Road” and served as a stunt performer on films such as “Wonder Woman 1984,” “The Meg,” “Mulan,” and “Snow White and the Huntsman” (again serving as stunt...

If you're feeling punchy from being masked, shutdown and locked-out, take a look at Margot Robbie and a gaggle of actresses appearing in the 'ensemble' action film "Boss Bitch Fight Challenge", produced by stunt performer Zoë Bell ("Kill Bill") also featuring Halle Berry, Florence Pugh, Drew Barrymore, Zoe Saldana, Cameron Diaz, Scarlett Johansson and a whole lot more:

Actresses appearing include Bell, Lucy Lawless, Tara Macken, Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, Tamiko Brownlee, Rosario Dawson, Amy Johnson, Diaz, Kim Murphy, Daniela Ruah, Michaela McAllister, Kaitlin Olson, Lauren Mary Kim, Pugh, Julia Butters, Angela Meryl, Sarah Irwin, Daryl Hannah, Sophia Di Martino, Tracie Thoms, Shauna Duggins, Saldana, Ming Qiu, Renee Goldsberry, Rosie Perez, Lilly Aspell, Thandie Newton, Mel Stubbs, Jessie Graff, Monique Ganderton, Berry, Heidi Moneymaker, Johansson, Dayna Grant, Robbie, Renae Moneymaker and KT Tunstall.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek the "Boss Bitch Fight Challenge"...

Five years later “Mad Max: Fury Road” is the gift that keeps on giving. With a Furiosa spinoff prequel on the way and continued play in best-of-the-decade lists, George Miller’s Oscar-winning 2015 action epic has stayed firmly in the cultural imagination. The film was toasted once again Friday night at a special drive-in screening in Los Angeles, with Kyle Buchanan of The New York Times moderating a Q&a with stars Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult.

As reported by Variety, Hoult recalled filming one challenging fight scene alongside Theron inside of a tractor. “I knew I really arrived as an actor when there was a scene when you spat in my face,” Hoult told Theron. “I think I asked politely, ‘Do you mind if I spit back?’”

Talk about a spit take! That kind of intense camaraderie on the set was also evident in an on-set feuding between Theron and co-star Tom Hardy.

While George Miller's 2015 action-adventure film Mad Max: Fury Road is considered by many the greatest action movie of the last two decades, the process of making the film was even more packed with action than what showed up on-screen. The cast and crew of the film have spoken at length about the difficulties of filming in the middle of the desert. In an interview with Metro, Dayna Grant, who was Charlize Theron's stunt double in the role of Imperator Furiosa opposite Tom Hardy's character of Max Rockatansky, revealed that the hostility between the two lead stars was apparent from the start.

"We knew right from the get go. We knew from the beginning that it was happening when we were doing the fight choreography...there was tension then. So we were told what was going on. And we were just told to try and make it work as much as possible,...

Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy talked in May for the first time in detail about their feud on the set of “Mad Max: Fury Road,” and now stunt performer Dayna Grant is opening up to Metro about the “intense” and “challenging” atmosphere that was created on set by the clash between the two lead actors. Grant served as Theron’s stunt double for Furiosa. The stunt performer said the Theron-Hardy feud was apparent from the earliest stages of production and forced a separation in how the action scenes were choreographed in pre-production and filmed during production.

“We knew right from the get go,” Grant said. “We knew from the beginning that it was happening when we were doing the fight choreography…there was tension then. So we were told what was going on. And we were just told to try and make it work as much as possible, which was challenging,...

Take another look at Margot Robbie and a gaggle of actresses appearing in the 'ensemble' action film "Boss Bitch Fight Challenge", produced by stunt performer Zoë Bell ("Kill Bill") also featuring Halle Berry, Florence Pugh, Drew Barrymore, Zoe Saldana, Cameron Diaz, Scarlett Johansson, and a whole lot more:

Actresses appearing include Bell, Lucy Lawless, Tara Macken, Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, Tamiko Brownlee, Rosario Dawson, Amy Johnson, Diaz, Kim Murphy, Daniela Ruah, Michaela McAllister, Kaitlin Olson, Lauren Mary Kim, Pugh, Julia Butters, Angela Meryl, Sarah Irwin, Daryl Hannah, Sophia Di Martino, Tracie Thoms, Shauna Duggins, Saldana, Ming Qiu, Renee Goldsberry, Rosie Perez, Lilly Aspell, Thandie Newton, Mel Stubbs, Jessie Graff, Monique Ganderton, Berry, Heidi Moneymaker, Johansson, Dayna Grant, Robbie, Renae Moneymaker and KT Tunstall.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek the "Boss Bitch Fight Challenge"...

The "Boss Bitch Fight Challenge", a 'lockdown' project organized by 'Socially Distanced' actress/stunt performer Zoë Bell ("Kill Bill") enlisted well-known actresses to 'take a punch' including Halle Berry, Florence Pugh, Drew Barrymore, Zoe Saldana, Cameron Diaz, Julia Butters, Scarlett Johansson, Margot Robbie and a whole lot more:

Actresses appearing include Bell, Lucy Lawless, Tara Macken, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, Tamiko Brownlee, Rosario Dawson, Amy Johnson, Cameron Diaz, Kim Murphy, Daniela Ruah, Michaela McAllister, Kaitlin Olson, Lauren Mary Kim, Florence Pugh, Julia Butters, Angela Meryl, Sarah Irwin, Daryl Hannah, Sophia Di Martino, Tracie Thoms, Shauna Duggins, Zoe Saldana, Ming Qiu, Renee Goldsberry, Rosie Perez, Lilly Aspell, Thandie Newton, Mel Stubbs, Jessie Graff, Monique Ganderton, Halle Berry, Heidi Moneymaker, Scarlett Johansson, Dayna Grant, Margot Robbie, Renae Moneymaker and KT Tunstall.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek the "Boss Bitch Fight Challenge"...

The current lockdown is getting on everyone's nerves, and celebs are coming up with interesting ways to pass the time and entertain their fans on social media. Recently, actress and stuntwoman Zoe Bell made a montage of various famous Hollywood starlets partaking in a brutal free-for-all, titled Boss Bitch Fight Challenge, which she posted on Youtube and Instagram with the following caption.

"Here it is......! Kicking lockdown boredom with some of the coolest! Ladies, you are all my hero's. A massive personal shout out to @bodhihorn for editing the flick and my stress levels! Follow this fight challenge on my new youtube channel (link in bio)."

The star-studded video starts with Bell sitting at home, musing about how bored she is and expressing a desire to play with her friends. The play takes the form of a front kick that bell delivers to the camera, with the next shot switching...

Just a quick head-up: For those of you in the Los Angeles area, next weekend, April 22-24, marks the occasion for the second annual Artemis Women in Action Film Festival, playing at the newly refurbished Ahrya Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills. This festival, a labor of love project from athlete-actress Melanie Wise and writer-producers Sean Newcombe and Zack Baldwin, highlights the cinematic contributions of women in movies, in the stunt field as well as actresses in the realm of action cinema, and also highlights real-life women who have made significant, pioneering contributions to the furthering of women in sports and other traditionally male-dominated arenas.

Wise, an actress, athlete, aspiring filmmaker and one of the founding members of Artemis Motion Pictures, the group behind the festival, remembers her days auditioning for countless roles in TV and movies that amounted essentially to helpless women in peril. But being six feet tall herself,...

It was a match made in heaven - and on set - when Dane Grant locked eyes on Dayna Porter, thanks in part to their jobs as stunt doubles for Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.

The pair met while shooting Mad Max: Fury Road in the Namibian desert three years ago and went on to tie the knot.

My husband @DaneGrant and I on set were we met #MadMaxFuryRoad #Furiosa pic.twitter.com/fJsF6ZPJ6Z

— Dayna Grant (@Daynastunts) May 20, 2015

"I saw Dayna straight away - she was the only girl from New Zealand and she stood out like a sore thumb," Dane told Stuff.co.nz.

"I saw her bag with her name on it and my opening line was literally, 'Hi. I see you're Dayna. I'm Dane'. That was about it."

The pair were apparently doing an "S&M-type fight" when they started "eyeing each other up".

They...

On-set romances are the stuff of Hollywood tradition. But while we normally only hear about the big stars who fall in love while filming a movie together, there are tons of other couples who originate among the crew or develop between cast and crew. Well, here's one of the cuter production love stories involving two people who are technically both cast and crew at the same time.  Stunt performers Dayna Porter and Dane Grant met in Nigeria during the making of Mad Max: Fury Road. She was the double for Charlize Theron, as Imperator Furiosa (she also worked with the actress on Snow White and the Huntsman), and he was the initial double for Tom Hardy's Max Rockatansky, in rehearsals, before Hardy's now-regular man, Jacob Tomuri, showed up and took over. Grant first...

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We all know how tough it is to meet people. Getting set up on blind dates, online dating, people will try anything to find that special someone. Sometimes however, you meet people in the last place you expect, like the middle of an apocalyptic wasteland surrounded by murderous zealots trying to kill you. That was the case for a couple of crew members on the set of Mad Max:Fury Road. The Telegraph tells the story of love found in the harsh Namibian desert. Dane Grant was the South African stuntman who was brought in during rehearsals for Fury Road to stand in for Max.s Tom Hardy. Dayna Porter was the native New Zealander stunt double for Charlize Theron, having worked with her before in Snow White and the Huntsman. (Yes, their names are Dane and Dayna, and this is already super cute.) They spent a lot of time ...

Ingrid Bols&#248 Berdal is only just starting to get the attention of moviegoers in America, after starring in Norwegian films such as Cold Prey, Cold Prey II and Escape. Following roles in American films such as Chernobyl Diaries and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, the actress is poised for a breakout, starring alongside global superstar Dwayne Johnson in Hercules, which debuts on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD November 4.

The actress plays Atalanta, the only female in Hercules' group of mercenaries, whose skills with a bow and arrow are unmatched. Along with Amphiaraus (Ian McShane), Autolycus (Rufus Sewell) and Tydeus (Aksel Hennie), Hercules and Atalanta agree to help the King of Thrace defeat a nefarious warlord in director Brett Ratner's epic adventure.

I recently had the chance to speak Ingrid Bols&#248 Berdal about all things Hercules and much more. Take a look at what she had to say below.

This project...