Action-packed US Premieres for Bell

Auckland-born actress and stuntwoman Zoë Bell’s self-produced action/horror film Raze premiered at New York’s TriBeca Film Festival on 21 April. As well, Bell stars in Oblivion, alongside Tom Cruise, which also premiered last week. “The one action sequence I did involved Cruise so that definitely sets [Oblivion] apart [from other stunt work],” Bell said. “Tom Cruise saves my life.” In Raze, in which Bell stars, the story centres around 50 women abducted and forced to fight for their survival for the pleasure of sadistic wealthy socialites. On entertainment site Crave Online Bell said that the fighting style in the film is “sheer desperation”. Bell told TriBeca, “I wanted to show the audience how emotionally difficult it is for women to fight.” Bell is 34. Her first stunt work was doubling for Lucy Lawless on Xena: Warrior Princess.