Michelle Lee: John Wick wouldn’t fight the way he did without the stunt team

The stuntwoman and actor talks about her background in martial arts, why we need to recognise stunt actors more and the joy of being part of the new ‘Star Wars’ series

“I think Hollywood could take notice of the stunt community more,” says actor and professional stuntwoman, Michelle Lee, who plays the role of an assassin in the Brad Pitt and Joey King-starring Bullet Train, which is all set to be aired on &flix this weekend.

Talking about the role, the 44-year-old actor, on a video call from California where she is based, says that it is a “super fun role, small but cool. I play a nurse who takes on an assassin.” In many ways, it is similar to the sort of characters she has always essayed, whether as Ada Wong in Resident Evil 6, Mileena in the second season of Mortal Kombat or as Corinne Wan in Marvel’s Venom, roles that employ her stunt and martial art background to the fullest.

In this interview, she talks about the genesis of her stunt career, how Hollywood is more accepting of actors of colour and why stunt actors should be given a slot in the Academy Awards.

I was born in Long Beach and grew up in South Bay, Torrance area. Growing up in LA, meant you had a lot of friends who were actors. As a kid, I got headshots because all my other friends had them and they all auditioned. That was a thing you do in LA; it was very common. I was extremely shy so my mum put me in acting classes. I really fell in love with the freedom - to have fun, express yourself, not have any kind of rules, just kind of play. That is where I discovered acting and fell in love with it as a kid. It was at the back of my head for years.

My next love was martial arts; I discovered it while watching a Wushu performance. The Beijing Wushu team came to Oakland or St Francisco, I don’t remember now. I watched a performance and I was like ‘Oh my god, what is this? I must learn it.’ When I went to LA to pursue acting, martial arts fell into the work since you bring something to the table. But of course, there were so many other things I had to learn.

Oh, definitely. I have seen a huge change both in the number of people of colour and the type of roles for people of colour. It used to be very surface—one line and you have nothing to do with the story. There is (today) more background and story behind them.

There is always room to grow. If you think about it, how many shows have an all-Asian cast? Very few in the last 20 years. Things like that can definitely improve;with everyone else’s support in writing good content, finding talented performers and taking a chance on performers of colour.