Tell about yourself and your background! *
First I'd like to say thank you Hunter and Wally for this wonderful opportunity. In 1973 as a senior in high school I lost all of the hearing in my left ear just as I was one of three women in the United States to receive an athletic scholarship in gymnastics to Utah State University. They gave very few athletic scholarships in gymnastics to women back then. I majored in Health Education and minored in Theater. I reached champion college gymnast status as the number one advanced all around class one gymnast for USU, and stayed on top for three years being able to perform moves on balance beam and floor exercise made famous by Olympic gold medalist Olga Korbut. In 1976 I had a terrible fall off the balance beam that resulted in an ankle reconstruction surgery on my right ankle where a calf's tendon was inserted into my ankle in place of the ligaments. I moved home to Ventura, California to heal from my ankle surgery. in the summer of 1976, I was discovered by famous stuntman Paul Stader (as many famous stunt people were), and I started training at his stunt school to become a Hollywood stuntwoman. Within 6 months of training at Paul's school I got my Screen Actor's Guild Card (SAG).
What inspired you to become a stunt performer?
My gymnastics was a natural progression to becoming a stunt performer.
What is your greatest skill as a stunt performer, is there a stunt behind it?
My advanced all-around gymnastic talent, my specialty in high falls and high dives, my karate and stunt training for fight scenes, and my advanced certified scuba diver training. Yes, all of the 100 films and primetime TV shows I've appeared in showcase these talents.
What is the best part about being a stunt performer?
For me the best parts about being a stunt performer were the incredible physical challenges each job brought me in exercising great dexterity, astute timing, streamlined focus/ concentration, knowledge of versatility, quick thinking, flexibility, and 360 degree spatial awareness of my physical body. It was always rewarding to achieve perfectionism of grace in motion and movement while getting the stunt in one take. I also loved that as a stunt person you step in, do your stunt, and step out. It's a specialty, and a luxury to get paid so well for less time worked. It was awesome to portray so many famous women of the day, dress like them, walk like them, and mimic them in every way.
Tell your all-time favorite stunt story!
PUNCHED BACKWARD OFF A MOVING TRAIN BY EASTWOOD IN "THE GAUNTLET"(Partial excerpt from "Rolling with the Punches by a Hollywood Fall Girl" Briton Publishing 2022) In the summer of 1977, I packed my travel bags and headed for the dry air and sunny climate of the Arizona desert to film the stunt I’ve become most famous for within the industry, getting punched off a moving train by Clint Eastwood in his classic action thriller, "The Gauntlet." I landed the job after receiving a call from Clint’s stunt double and stunt coordinator, the great, Stuntman’s Hall of Fame stuntman and stunt coordinator, Buddy Van Horn. For my big scene, I stunt doubled for actress Samantha Doane (one of the tough biker gang chicks) after she says her famous line, “You wouldn’t hit a lady, would you?” Clint replies by slugging her (me) in the face. His punch sends me flying backwards with a half twist out of the train carriage onto the hard and hot desert floor, ending the train scene with an exclamation point! I also doubled for Samantha during the fight scene where they tie Clint up in the corner of the carriage. You see the back of me slugging Eastwood in the stomach and kicking him in the groin while he's tied up. For the backward leap with a half twist from the moving train carriage, all I had for protection was a small, young boy’s football girdle, and some knee pads strapped to my knees under a pair of seedy old blue Levi's (matching Samantha’s wardrobe). As Mr. Eastwood blocked out the scene for me, he positioned me to be standing with my back to the open train carriage. This meant I'd be exiting the carriage, blind, going off backward, and have to perform a half twist as I leave the carriage to position my body to travel in the direction the train was moving. This made this stunt ten x’s more difficult and dangerous. From the moment Clint throws the punch at my jaw, I was thrown into an awkward physical position that followed with a twisted movement throwing me high into midair. The scary part was, because the train was in motion, until I spun around and made the commitment to jump, I had no real idea of where I was going to land. I was warned by Buddy and Clint that I must make sure my body always moved in the same direction as the train or I could be thrown back under the train’s wheels and crushed to death. I watched in nervous anticipation as the props department prepared the ground for my crash landing. They removed as many rocks as they could, then they rolled in a small wheel barrel full of sand. They poured the sand around the general area I’d be landing in to help cushion my fall, but there were still a few cactus plants and smaller rocks in the area. I remember them tossing an old rusty Coke can and more cactus plants and tumbleweeds onto the sand to make it look more authentic. One thing you must bear in mind is, when your body leaves an object traveling at a speed like that, the gravitational pull carries you along with the object, even after you have left it. The train was traveling steadily at around five miles per hour, which may not sound like much, but it’s a whole lot more when you are the one who must make the leap and muscle your body into alignment from an awkward twisted position to align it with a huge, steel, iron horse. As I performed the half twist to align myself with the massive train and launched myself off the carriage, my body, unexpectedly, popped high up into the air and I flew horizontally at the same speed the train was moving (carried against my will) along the side of it. All this happening within seconds prior to beginning my descent. While in mid-air, my arms, legs, and body flailed uncontrollably for what seemed like slow, terrifying minutes rather than the seconds it took to complete the fall. It was very frightening for me at that moment because there was nothing I could do but be pulled alongside of it. In those few seconds, I had to muster all my strength to force my body to keep moving in the direction of the train, and maintain my equilibrium. I was free falling and being hauled against my will, not only by the gravitation force field, but also the powerful train’s enormity that was determined to throw me back under it. It was very frightening. At the same time, I was also trying to keep a mindful eye on where I was going to land. The noise of the train and its gravitational pull had me feeling if I lost my hold at any moment I could be thrown back against the side of the carriage, or even worse, sucked under its rolling wheels and crushed to death. Once the gravitational and centrifugal force fields left, the pull of the train dissipated abruptly, and my body fell like a sack of potatoes, hitting the harsh Arizona floor with a force equal to the weight of my body times the speed of the object. The speed and impact caused me to flip, head over heels, wildly ten or fifteen times before slamming into a cactus of all things, which halted my roll. I was rattled and bruised, but miraculously came away without a scratch on my exposed arms and face. I went from incredible apprehension and fear to feeling like a complete champion in seconds! I had conquered the potentially deadly jump off the moving train and got to walk away without any broken or fractured bones, only a badly bruised left heel. When you watch the stunt in the film, you can see how close I came to landing on that rusty old Coke can (props threw in at the last minute), that could have cut me to Smithereens. The Coke can shows a reference point to the speed and distance I traveled alongside the train in mid-air before it dropped me like a flaming potato. My youth and inexperience making me ignorant to the damage it might have caused had I stepped on it or collided with my body on it upon landing. It would have most likely severed my foot. This was still the days of the hard tin Coke cans, not the easily crushable aluminum ones which became the mainstay not long after, but even hitting an aluminum can in this dangerous circumstance could have done serious slicing damage. I was unbaptized and was not religious back then but looking back I can see that a powerful angel on my shoulder was protecting me. Nothing will ever match the genuine excitement of a courageous 22-year-old stunt girl with little more than a pair of knee pads, a football girdle, and a lot of heart and spirit, taking a great and dangerous backward blind leap off a moving train, into the unknown, in the name of filmmaking.
What advice would you give other stunt performers?
Train with the focus of a monster and never quit. You can always improve. Challenge yourself continually to strive for perfection in every move. Learn to be ambidextrous doing everything on both sides, kicks, punches, lunges etc., I threw in front, back, layouts, twists. The more you can free yourself completely in space the greater you will become. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse some more. Take your time, start with the basics and perfect them. Learn to mimic the actor your doubling and keep your head away from camera. Take acting lessons because the best stunt people are also actors selling their stunt with a scream or gesture during their performances. Listen to direction and repeat what the director says so you are both on the same page. Ask questions if you don't understand what's happening in the scene. Hit your mark. Count out the steps needed and distance to hit your mark every time. Visualize like a champion. Sit by yourself and visualize what you need to do, see yourself in your mind's eye performing the stunt perfectly. When the director calls, "Action!" Take a deep breath, calm yourself, and think clearly going through each step you mapped out. Don't let your adrenaline cause you to run wild.
Anything else you'd like to tell the community about?
I'm the author of the 5-Star rated book, "The Illusive Craft of Acting: An Actor's Preparation Process" on Amazon. It's a short nonfiction book that will assist you in developing an actor's craft by learning actor preparation techniques that you can apply to your stunt work. Many consider me to be a Stanislavsky and Chekhov methods of acting specialist. The book will really inspire you. https://www.amazon.com/Illusive-Craft-Acting-Preparation-Process/dp/1655690000/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1FM47YJDXSUVL&keywords=the+illusive+craft+of+acting+marneen+l+fields&qid=1646023816&sprefix=The+Illusive+%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1
Please share your social media handles and how we can follow you!
http://www.imdb.me/marneenfields New website it's not finished, but has a lot, https://marneenlynnefields.com
Please include any links to stunt reels or videos you'd like to share!
Demo Reel on Vimeo https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/249715892
Demo Reel on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhBn8moqM9U
Time Express https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfF5J9H9PJc
Death Ray 2000 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQjlfQXIGBwMOWS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38Uv3jaTVqA
