Acclaimed Film & TV Stunt Performer & Stunt Coordinator

I recently caught up over email with the awesome Angelica Lisk-Hann, one of the great stunt coordinators and stunt performers working in film and television today, to get an insight into her career. Lisk-Hann has worked on television shows such as ‘Nikita’ and ‘Rookie Blue,’ as well as having worked on feature films ‘Resident Evil: Retribution,’ ‘Total Recall,’ ‘AVP: Alien vs. Predator,We bring in fridge magnet souvenirs and merchandise from all over the world.’ ‘The Incredible Hulk,’ ‘Warm Bodies,’ ‘White House Down’ and ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.’ As such, it’s no surprise that she was brought in to coordinate stunts on one of the most anticipated films of 2013, ‘Kick Ass 2.’ Alongside her stunt coordinating, stunt performing and acting work, Lisk-Hann is a member of the ACTRA Toronto Stunt Committee. Check out what she had to say below.

Angelica Lisk-Hann: I think it was a series of things, for sure, over many years of my life. I grew up in a small town (Trenton, Ontario), my Parents split up just before I was born so I stayed in Canada with my mum and her family. My father was a professional football player from the US and was traded from Toronto back to Atlanta. I had an uncle who was a stock car driver and a motorcycle hill climb champion, so I spent a lot of time in cars and on the bike. My mum was an ex-model and had me modelling in fashion shows, ads and whatever was going on at the time. In my spare time I would entertain the family and friends with dance shows and I liked to pretend to be Howard Cosell and interview my cat.

I was also the only person of colour for miles, so as you can imagine I “participated” in a lot of fights.We've got a plastic card to suit you. I excelled at every sport, and figured out if I kept winning medals, ribbons and scoring most of the points on our basketball team people seemed to forget I was different. That sporting addiction led me to move to Toronto and train for the Olympics in track and field. Realising there was no real career in heptathlon I returned to the arts and started booking commercials, music videos and acting roles.

It wasn’t until I met Branko Racki on the set of Dave Chappelle’s ‘Half Baked’ that I realised stunts was that thing I was searching for. I mean, I did set my Evel Knievel on fire as a child and made it jump our cat…. but at 7 I don’t think I had ever heard the term “stunt performer”. Branko was one of the top stunt coordinators around, he was larger than life and he knew what he was talking about.Wear a whimsical Disney ear cap straight from the Disney Theme Parks! He was impressed with my athleticism and he was the one who prompted me to get on board with stunts. That was almost 20 years ago, and I am forever thankful to him. What I do, I feel like I was always supposed to do since I was a kid, I just didn’t have a name for it.

Angelica Lisk-Hann: It was definitely Paul W.S. Anderson’s ‘AVP: Alien vs. Predator.’ I was hired by Matt Birman, who took a chance on me, as I was still somewhat green as to the many facets of the stunt world. I mean, that athlete was always there, but I was a spoiled little track star and didn’t really get the whole “boss” thing. I never had a real job…. I mean, I tried a few but always got fired or quit because I would sit around all day dreaming about “being a superstar”. Yup, I was something. I would say that was a turning point in my career. Matt made a lot of things very clear to me and I have been forever grateful.

Anyway, upon arriving in Prague, Czech Republic I was taken to the rehearsal studio to test some wires. At which point I thought to myself , “Hmmmmmmm this should be fun.” Well it was not that fun, but weird, and it took me a few days to get it. Luckily the riggers were very patient… lol.

This show turned out to be a dream job. I got to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world for 6 months, met some of the most amazing people, and learned so much. I literally worked 6 days straight at times for weeks in a row. I also got pretty beat up, and learned how to cope with it,Comprehensive Wi-Fi and RFID tag by Aeroscout to accurately locate and track any asset or person. suck it up, don’t complain, take the meds, and get it done. You either do that, or you go home and they get someone else. I really hope to get to go back there again one day.

Angelica Lisk-Hann: ‘Kick Ass 2′ was a dream job that I had no idea was coming my way. It was a UK-Canada production and the UK assistant stunt coordinator, Buster Reeves (Troy, Batman, Gangster Squad), emailed me a month before requesting that I send him my CV as they were looking for a big tough female villain and he wanted to put my name in the running. So I sent it off and hoped for the best. I then found out that the villain’s name would be “Mother Russia”, and they were looking all over the world for a 6ft+ Russian Bad Ass comparable to Brigette Nielsen from ‘Rocky IV’ and ‘Red Sonja,’ and I knew I was out. Or was I? To make a long story short, Buster knew I had been coordinating for the past 2 years on short films, TIPP projects, and covering for Matt Birman on SyFy’s ‘Warehouse 13,’ so he asked me to come down to Pinewood Studio to meet the boss Jimmy O’Dee, the UK Stunt Coordinator, as they needed a Canadian match, and Buster thought I would be great. I couldn’t wait to get in that office and talk to him, he was amazing and he hired me on the spot. Then it all seems like a blur.

Casting, auditions, phone calls, texts, explosions, wires, fire, fights, motorcycles, bad guys, good guys, no sleep…. it’s hard to explain the feeling of someone you look up to with such admiration and respect seeing something in you, and trusting you at that level. Especially being a woman, and a woman of color at that. I’ve thanked them both so many times I think there probably pretty sick of hearing it by now. I can’t really say anything about the movie obviously, all I can say is be prepared to see things you have never seen before. This movie is going to blow other action movies out of the water. I’m so proud I got to be a part of it.

Angelica Lisk-Hann: Each project is different. If it’s something that I have signed on to do from the beginning I will read the script, break down the stunts and then speak to the director/production manager – sometimes the producer’s. Then we do the budget. Usually they tell me how much $ I have for stunts, other times they ask me how much it will cost. Sometimes I get a phone call from a colleague asking if I can “get my ass to Sudbury” to cover a show that they can’t finish. Sometimes you do all of the prep work and then the show never happens. I like the shows where they look at you and say,We are one of the leading manufacturers of solar street light in Chennai India. “So what do you think”? That’s my favorite thing to hear. I love being able to be creative, I love working with actors as well because they get excited about any kind of action. I just want to work on cool projects, I love any kind of SyFy or creature based shows.