‘Drastic change’ needed to end practice of ‘wigging’ on British film sets
“Drastic change” is needed to end the “backwards” British stunt industry’s use of men in wigs pretending to be women, according to leading female stunt experts.
“From my point of view, it’s heartbreaking,” says stunt co-ordinator Tiger Lilli Rudge talking to Sky News at Space Studios in Manchester.
A stunt performer for 15 years, she now helps train other women with the skills needed to work in film and television, all too aware from her own experience that they will be fighting on multiple fronts.
“Women put in all the time and effort and are more than capable to do a job…and then you put a wig on a man,” she says.
Some stuntwomen say the industry remains a “boy’s club”
She adds: “The excuse that they use is that they had to use the man because there wasn’t a woman to do the job, and I can tell you that that is absolutely rubbish because I know hundreds of women that are capable car drivers, bikers, whatever, there’s so much talent out there.”
Decades ago back when male-centred action films were more en vogue, the practice of “wigging” used to be quite common. Today it is largely frowned upon.
It is a term, used within the industry, to describe the process of a wig being put on a stuntman so that they can double as a female character for some of the more dangerous action scenes.
On Amazon Prime’s big-budget spy show Citadel, as you might expect, all the primary cast have their own assigned stunt doubles who are gender and race-appropriate.
But Sky News obtained photos of a stunt driver wearing a wig and given heavy make-up to pass as female.
Tiger Rudge, stunt co-ordinator
Filmed just a couple of months ago, it is understood it happened after an incident with the original female driver meant they turned to a last-minute replacement – and a man happened to be the only person available quickly with the right set of skills.
To some female stunt performers and drivers, this explanation is familiar – there just aren’t enough women in the trade – but we’ve been told even those with the prerequisite skills are not often being booked because, they say, the stunt world remains a “boys club”.
Read more from Sky News:
What makes a Christmas number one?
Selena Gomez announces engagement
Cineworld to shut six more cinemas
“It’s very backwards,” Ms Rudge insists. “America is much better…we are massively behind here and I think it needs drastic change.”
She says: “The opportunities for women are much lesser so… they have to get all these skills, the bikes, the cars, the horses, yet when it comes down to hiring they’re not getting an opportunity.
“Anything with a weapon, anything with danger, it will automatically go to men….there is a stereotype with women for some reason that they aren’t as good as men.”
A recent study carried out by academic Dr Laura Crossley – a film lecturer from Bournemouth University – found that despite an increase in female action roles women still struggle to get into core stunt teams.
Dr Laura Crossley
“The overwhelming evidence is that it’s very difficult for women to progress to the roles of the stunt directors and stunt coordinators,” Dr Crossley explains.
“They tend to be the people who will determine who gets brought onto the stunt teams and predominantly they are men.”
She adds: “I don’t think it’s necessarily something that’s being done that’s mendacious or that it’s deliberately trying to freeze women out, I think there’s just this ongoing culture… because stunt workers have existed in this sort of shadowy area for quite a long time… they just don’t tend to get that kind of transparency.
“It is jobs for the boys… if a stunt woman is brought in, she isn’t always part of the core team, she might just be brought in for a scene and then if there’s something else that arises along the way and she’s no longer around, the stunt director probably turns to his core crew and just goes ‘okay, you’re up, you’re going to do it’.”
In 2024, she argues, it’s hard to justify that a man in a wig is the only option.
“This is something that we knew was happening in the 60s and 70s, to a certain extent, but I didn’t realise it had carried on for so long….it should absolutely be industry standard that men cannot double for women and white stunt workers cannot double for people of colour,” she says.
Given the nature of closed film and television sets, it is hard to say for certain how often men double for women.
In relation to the photos we obtained from the set of Citadel Season 2, Sky News understands Amazon MGM endeavour to find gender and ethnic-specific stunt doubles and that stuntmen dressing as women happens only with the rarest of exceptions.
But Ms Rudge argues it shouldn’t be happening at all.
She said: “This comes from the top – production need to acknowledge female stunt coordinators, female coordinators will acknowledge women….unless there is more hiring of women, this isn’t going to change.”
Emilia Perez leads the nominations for this year’s Oscars – and has broken the record for the most nominated non-English language film in the history of the awards.
The Spanish-language musical, which tells the story of a Mexican cartel boss who undergoes gender affirmation surgery, stars Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez and Karla Sofia Gascon – who is the first transgender woman to be nominated in an acting category.
It has 13 Oscar nominations in total, including best picture – breaking the record of 10 nods for a foreign language film set by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2001, and equalled by Roma in 2019.
Adrien Brody and British star Felicity Jones are both nominated for The Brutalist. Pic: Universal Pictures
Post-war epic The Brutalist and the blockbuster musical adaptation Wicked follow with 10 nominations each, while papal thriller Conclave and Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown have eight.
All are up for best picture, alongside Anora, Dune: Part Two, I’m Still Here, Nickel Boys and The Substance.
In the acting categories, Gascon is up for best actress against Wicked star Cynthia Erivo, Anora newcomer Mikey Madison, and Golden Globe winners Demi Moore and Fernanda Torres, for their performances in The Substance and I’m Still Here respectively.
The Substance star Demi Moore follows her Golden Globes win with an Oscar nomination. Pic: Mubi
Timothee Chalamet’s portrayal of Dylan in A Complete Unknown has earned him a nomination for best actor, alongside Sebastian Stan, who is shortlisted for his performance as a younger Donald Trump in The Apprentice.
Adrien Brody, who plays a Hungarian architect attempting to build a life in the US after the Second World War in The Brutalist, is also in the running, alongside British star Ralph Fiennes, for Conclave, and Colman Domingo, for the true story prison drama Sing Sing.
Ariana Grande (left) as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in Wicked. Pic: PA
In the supporting actor category, Golden Globe winner Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) is up against his former Succession co-star Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice), along with Yura Borisov (Anora), Edward Norton, (A Complete Unknown) and Guy Pearce (The Brutalist).
US pop singer Ariana Grande gets her first Oscar nomination in the best supporting actress category, for her performance as Glinda the good witch alongside British star Erivo’s green-skinned Elphaba in the box-office smash Wicked. She is up against British star Felicity Jones (The Brutalist), Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), Isabella Rossellini (Conclave), and Saldana for Emilia Perez.
The shortlist for best director includes Sean Baker (Anora), Brady Corbet (The Brutalist), Coralie Fargeat (The Substance), Jacques Audiard (Emilia Perez) and James Mangold (A Complete Unknown).
This year’s nominations announcement was originally scheduled to take place on 17 January, but was pushed back twice due to the wildfires which have devastated Los Angeles since the start of the year.
Winners will be announced at the star-studded Academy Awards ceremony, which is due to be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday 2 March.
Comedian and TV personality Conan O’Brien is this year’s host.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports10 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway