Aussie Woman Stuntie Car Flipping Fight Magician
Some people don’t figure out what they want to do for a living until well into their late teens or even adulthood. That was never a problem for Mel Eckert, a female stunt performer based out of Sydney, Australia. Growing up in South Australia, Mel was bitten by the athletic bug at a mere 3-years-old when she caught a glimpse of the Olympic games on television. Living in a rural area could have easily put a damper on her gymnastic dreams. The nearest training facility was a 90-minute drive away, yet her parents were supportive enough to make the trip three times a week so Mel could take lessons.
She continued to train and compete at a national level until she was 12 when she realized that she had lost her love for gymnastics. The onset of tendonitis, caused by her years of training, certainly didn’t help keep that fire lit. Her heart was still in athletics, though, and she pivoted to Taekwondo, benefiting from the strength and flexibility that she had fostered through gymnastics.
It wasn’t until she saw Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior, the 2003 martial arts film starring Tony Jaa, that everything clicked into place. She asked her mother who a “stunt performer” was and what they did on a movie set. Her mother explained that stunt performers perform all the fights, flips, falls, and other physical feats that the main actors aren’t trained to do themselves. With her daughter expressing interest in stunt work, Mel’s mother called an acting agent, who directed them to Adelaide-based trainer Nino Pilla. Pilla ran the Nino Pilla International Academy of Martial Arts, which offered multiple classes in a variety of martial arts as well as a training course for stunt performers. Mel took every class he offered, including running the stunt course, while still training in Taekwondo. She loved every minute of it, cementing her decision to become a stuntwoman.
In 2007, Mel earned her black belt in Taekwondo. Focusing on the stunt training that Pilla offered, she would perform stunt training in the morning, go to school during the day, and then bus back into the city for her nighttime martial arts courses. She attended every workshop she could, soaking up training from instructors like Dan Inosanto, Jean Jacques Machado, and Arjan Chai.
When she was fifteen, she landed her first-ever job as a stunt performer, working on a music video for the Australian hip-hop band Hilltop Hoods. Her first official, paid stunt job came shortly after, portraying Holly Ninja on an episode of the action-comedy series Danger 5.
At the age of 18-years-old, she moved with her family to a rural town on New Zealand’s South Island. Knowing that the opportunities she was seeking were in Auckland, on the North Island, she saved up money and made the move. It was there that she landed her first major gig, doing stunt work on the Starz television series Ash vs Evil Dead, the critically-acclaimed follow-up to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead films starring Bruce Campbell.
For Mel, her time spent on Ash vs Evil Dead further confirmed that she had made the right career choice. It was a thrilling experience, not to mention an educational one. Afterward, she picked up various small jobs with different coordinators, all the while moonlighting as a gymnastics coach to make up for the on/off nature of the New Zealand film industry.
Things settled down in 2016 and Mel considered moving back to Australia to pursue work there. That was when she got wind of some potential stuntwork in Malaysia. The live show was focused on cars and motorcycles, and the coordinator of the show, who just happened to be Australian, was looking for a female stunt performer to sign a year contract. As part of the job, the performer would receive behind-the-wheel lessons in which they would learn how to drift cars. Mel applied for the job and two short weeks later she was on a plane, bound for a year of work in Malaysia.
The first order of business was teaching Mel how to not only drift cars but drive on two wheels. It took a few months of training and, by Mel’s own admission they were difficult skills to learn. Eventually, she got the hang of it and is now part of a very exclusive group of performers with that specific skill set.
The show opened in early 2017 and Mel was performing in 2 to 3 shows a day, 6 days a week.
Once her contract wrapped up, she moved back to Australia. Though she was done drifting cars in Malaysia, the skills she picked up presented several new opportunities. She was receiving offer after offer for various driving jobs. The stunt coordinators, who were always male, always said the same thing: stuntwomen were rarely up to the task when it came to driving gigs, so they would have to throw a wig on a stuntman.
The sad truth, Mel realized, is that she would have to fight twice as hard to make a different impression. It was notoriously difficult to find a female performer capable of stunt driving. Instead of trying to defend her capabilities, she simply let her performances speak for themselves, quickly becoming the go-to female driver for various coordinators.
Although Mel’s career keeps reaching new heights, she’s still in the dojo regularly, maintaining and improving her martial arts abilities in Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Kali, and stunt-based fighting. Her stunt jobs are more demanding than ever, sometimes involving fight scenes that stretch out for several minutes in long, continuous takes. Her credits are getting more impressive by the day, with titles like Mortal Kombat, Fantasy Island, and even the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder on her resume.
That’s right! Mel is now (unofficially, perhaps?) part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and she’s just getting started.
Interview Questions
What styles of Martial Arts have you trained in? Do you have a favourite?
The first style of Martial Arts I learned was Taekwondo. I didn’t know it at the time, but it actually ended up being one of the best styles I could have started with as it is super beneficial to stunts. The very pretty and controlled kicks are what you want for fight scenes. Also, the patterns in Taekwondo really helped me train my memory for a set sequence. While I was training Taekwondo, I met Nino Pilla at the Nino Pilla International Academy of Martial Arts, who is a student of Dan Inosanto. Nino offered many different styles at his club including: Jeet Kune Do, Muay Thai, Filipino Kali, and Grappling/locks, he also does some Wing Chun based lessons. I trained all of the styles at Nino’s club. Currently I train a more kickboxing style, but I try and train all of the different styles as much as I can.
How did you get involved in stunts?
Nino was actually a big part of my introduction into stunts. He had worked in the US on a few movie projects and when he returned to Australia put together a course for basic stunt skills. I did a bunch of those courses and loved each one more than the last. It definitely set my mind that I wanted to be a stunt performer. I got graded under the Australian stunt grading system and the New Zealand grading system.
Do you have a favourite stunt or stunt job you’ve done so far?
In terms of stunt jobs, I would have to say Fantasy Island because it was my first international job, and in Fiji of all places! Most of my stunts on that job were running through the jungle, climbing waterfalls, and fighting on cliffs. It was a beautiful country, which definitely makes it memorable. I was working with crew from Australia, New Zealand, and USA, such a great mix of people.
My favourite stunt is usually anything involving wirework. You get to feel like you’re flying… until you hit the ground.
Have you had a stunt that has been particularly challenging? How did you overcome the obstacles?
Many stunts can be challenging, I guess that’s all part of why we are hired to do the job in the first place. There isn’t a particular stunt on a film job that comes to mind right now, but learning to two-wheel a car was rather challenging. Its quite a process. First you need to make sure you are lining up the car with the ramp perfectly every time to ensure you have a good set up. Once you are off the ramp and away, its literally a balancing act which takes time to feel. Then, practice practice practice!
How does one get into stunts, are there certain things you need to train in?
In terms of Australia there is a procedure set out with certain criteria you need to meet. It requires that you are deemed competent in several different areas, backed up by evidence and references from graded stunt members of MEAA. These areas are: body control (Martial Arts, Gymnastics, Dancing, Athletics etc etc), Vehicles, Water, Animals, Heights, and Fire. Most people who get into stunts come from some kind of physical background, so that usually already ticks one box. From there it’s seeking out other stunties in your area. Networking is a big one, it helps you find the right training, and gets people to start knowing who you are and what you can do. With the luxury of the internet now days its pretty easy to do a quick google search or Facebook search and find the help you need.
What would your advice be for aspiring stunt performers?
Keep training. Learn as many different things as you can, but make sure you enjoy them, don’t do things just for the sake of stunts (unless of course you need to for grading or a job). If you don’t love something, chances are you won’t get hired for it. Be really good at your thing. As I said earlier, networking. Get on Facebook and find groups or other stunties, start meeting people! In Australia you also need to go through the grading process to work as a stunt performer.
What is your favourite film?
Haha. Lethal Weapon, the series of the original movies. And almost anything with Jet Li, Donnie Yen, or Tony Jaa. Ong-bak was definitely a favourite and part of the reason I got into stunts.
Congratulations Mel Eckert, You’ve Got Talent.
Find her here; Instagram: @meleckert_25
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