Fed up with “wigging,” “paint-downs” — in which, respectively, stuntmen are put in wigs to double for actresses, and white stuntmen wear dark makeup to double for actors of color — and other unfair practices, stunt drivers Olivia Summers, Dee Bryant, and Angela Meryl have started their own stunt driving team. According to its website, the Association of Women Drivers (AWD) “is the first and only all female stunt driving and performance driving team.”
Together, Summers, Bryant, and Meryl have done stunt driving in 500-plus commercials and 300-plus films and TV shows.
As she told Deadline, Summers decided to form the AWD after an exasperating conversation with a commercial producer last year. Following a production meeting, the producer said to Summers, “I didn’t realize there were female drivers. We just put a guy in a wig for a job.”
“I left the building and walked to my car,” Summers remembered. “My insides were burning with mixed emotions of frustration and defeat. I got in my car and the minute I turned the key I thought, ‘I am going to start an all-female drive team.’”
Wigging remains common in show business, despite SAG-AFTRA deeming the practice “not acceptable” two years ago. Meryl, who is Black, has personally witnessed paint-downs during her 25-year career. “It’s nothing new. It’s been happening for years,” she said.
As women, and as women of color, they hope that through the AWD they can make the stunt-driving profession a more inclusive, representative place.
“We’re professionals, we’re fun, and we get the shot done,” said Summers, whose mother is Indian and whose father is of German-Hungarian descent. She is known for doubling for Kristen Wiig in “Bridesmaids,” in the famous scene where Wiig’s character keeps driving — in increasingly ludicrous ways — by a police officer to get his attention.
Summers also doubled for Sarah Paulson in “Bird Box,” for which she drove a Jeep through a throng of oncoming cars, and took the helm of a Greyhound bus in “Dollface.”
“It’s time for change, and for women and people of color to be given a seat at the table – and behind the wheel,” explained Bryant, whose mother is Latina and father is Black. “We want to create visibility for talented women stunt drivers, who are often ignored or shunned in our business.” She added, “We also intend to create a format for the next generation of women stunt drivers.”
Bryant has doubled for the likes of Angela Bassett (“9-1-1”) and Gabrielle Union (“LA’s Finest). Her other credits include “Dolemite Is My Name” and “Fear the Walking Dead.”
“I love that our group is diverse,” Meryl said of the AWD. “It’s all about women supporting women.” She continued, “We all have skills in many different areas. It’s great to be part of something inclusive.”
Meryl’s jobs have included crashing an ambulance into another ambulance on “Grey’s Anatomy” and skidding a vehicle to the edge of a cliff for “All American.”
Julie Ann Johnson, one of the first female stunt coordinators in Hollywood, has spent her career calling out sexist practices, including wigging, the pay disparity, and the lack of women in top stunt positions. A limited series based on her book, “The Stuntwoman,” is in the works at Keshet Studios.
