By: Makayla Dilliner
The roots of passion for the arts such as dancing can blossom into a fruitful career full of opportunity and success. For one Kalāheo alumna, Alicia Vela-Bailey, that notion rings true. Starting as a dancer from a young age, Bailey now works in the world of Hollywood as a stuntwoman for various movies. From Avatar to Wonder Woman, Transformers, Divergent, and Interstellar, Vela-Bailey has stunted some of the most prominent women in the industry such as Gal Gadot, Jennifer Lawerence, Zoe Saldanam, Charlize Theron, and Kate Beckinsale.
Starting in her first film, Vela-Bailey auditioned to double for Milla Jovovich in the movie "Ultraviolet”. Later spending four months in Hong Kong and two in Shanghai practicing stunts and martial arts for the movie. “It's the greatest, most fun job in the world. But I never wanted to do stunts, it never crossed my mind. I literally fell into it. ʻ I was asked to audition for a film because they said I would be a good body double for the actress,” she said in an interview with Vanity Fair.
“Everything snowballed from there. People would remember me working on various shows and they would hire me on other things.” It was later that she was chosen to audition for James Cameron's Oscar® winning blockbuster film Avatar in 2007. The well-known stunt woman spent three years of her career working on the film alongside Zoe Saldana as the protagonist Neytiri as well as other characters in the Navi universe. Her efforts in the film included her character as Ikran Clan Leader.
“Avatar was actually the third film I ever did. 3 years is a lot longer than most projects”. Also featured in Avatar 2, Vela-Bailey explained the process of how the groundbreaking films are created. “Even though we're playing these alien creatures, we actually are doing the action. This isnʻt all the work of computers, we are doing the action. There are millions of cameras everywhere to capture all of us performing. We also have reference cameras like normal filming cameras from all different angles. When Jim, (James Cameron), wants to go back and edit, he can use all these different angles that we have,” she explained.
Still, the renowned stuntwoman has proven that not all jobs as a stunt double are guaranteed to be 100 percent safe. Falls, jumps and combat scenes can all be intense– even some come with the risk of death. Doubling for Shailene Woodley on the set of Divergent, at first thinking a 66-foot fall would be wired, the plan escalated into a free fall.
“Eventually they wanted to do the fall for real. At first, they told me everything would be wired from a 40-foot fall- it changed to 60 and then all the way up to 66 feet. This was a bit nerve-wracking because, with the wire, you feel safe. But if you miss that airbag, you die”.
In recent years, Vela-Bailey has switched to being in front of the camera. Landing a role on ABC's hit show, "Marvel's Agents of Shield." With experience in the worlds of not only stunts but also acting, Vela-Bailey rose to be a fan favorite over the last 2 seasons as Alisha Whitley.
Also working in the genre of horror, Vela-Bailey has worked in the movies Anabelle and the Purge. Her style, work ethic, and talent grabbed the attention of director David Sandberg and renowned horror producer James Wan. After having trouble finding the right portrayal for the main antagonist, Diana in "Lights Out,” the pair were amazed by Vela-Bailey's audition. After being hired on the spot Vela-Baileyʻs performance as Diana caught the New York Times' Jeannette Catsoulis, saying "Lights Out delivers frights in old-school ways. Chief among these are the chilling exertions of Alicia Vela-Bailey, who portrays Diana with limber ingenuity. She imbues the spook with devilish intent. Whatever you do, don't blink."
Through her continued work in the film industry, Vela-Bailey continues to be a figure that students can aspire to and look up to. “Being a stunt woman is super cool. I feel you are just playing make-believe all day. I kind of feel like a kid. And yes there are dangers people do get hurt. But we are always ready. We have personnel there with medical backgrounds to make sure if anything does go wrong, everything is all good.
Each day on set is something different, you never know what you are going to do. One day flying, another day you fighting, another day you crashing through a window so it keeps you on your toes!”