There’s a lot I love aboutCathy Yan’sBirds of Prey— after all, it did crackmy Top 10 of 2020. But narrowing it down to a single favorite moment is actually pretty easy. As much as I love the bold colors lighting up the screen in the police station, part two of the jailbreak sequence, the breakfast sandwich bit and then some, the Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) slide stunt in the third act of the movie is the runaway favorite.
Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) and Huntress wind up banding together at the abandoned amusement park to take on Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) and his army of goons. During the battle, we get an incredibly well executed stunt that involves Winstead’s Huntress getting a little stab happy while going down a slide. Not only is it a stuntwork feat for Winstead and the team, but the moment also involves an epic camera move from director of photographyMatthew Libatiquethat sends the intensity and aesthetic value of the moment through the roof.
While on a recent episode ofCollider Ladies Night, asking Winstead to detail what it was like pulling that off was an absolute must. She began by offering up her first impression of the choreography:
“Our stunt team, my stunt double Hayley [Wright], they showed it to me and it was one of those things I watched and I went, ‘Huh, that’s funny that you think I’m gonna do that because I have no idea how to do that and I don’t imagine I ever will.’ I just thought it was very cute that they thought that they were gonna teach me how to do it.”
Winstead’s doubts are understandable given how many complicated movements the stunt involves. Here’s how she broke it down:
“I go into the slide, I sort of spider jump myself up with my hands and legs in the sides of the slide and then Matty, our DP, slides down under me and then our stunt performer slides down under me and then I flip around and land on him and then stab him all the way down the slide. So that’s what they showed me and what I just thought was impossible to do and somehow, you practice it enough that you’re just able to do it.”
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The end result is flawless, but Winstead did admit there was some trial and error involved:
“We did have a couple takes where the DP and I full on crashed into each other and it was like everything just kind of went black at the end, because we really did shoot out a slide at the end of it. You just went flying out! [Laughs] So it was a bit of a dangerous one, but it was pretty exhilarating, especially when we got it right. It was really exciting.”
Eager to hear more from Winstead about a whole slew of titles includingSky High,10 Cloverfield Lane,Kateand more? Be sure to check out our uncut Collider Ladies Night conversation in podcast form below:
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