Buffalo, NY - If you have seen blockbuster movies such as Black Panther or The Woman King, you have seen Jénel Stevens ’04, MS ’05 in action. You just may not have known it. Stay tuned because we are sure to see a lot more of her on the big screen and on TV.
Stevens has become the entertainment industry’s go-to stunt woman, coordinator and choreographer, and has worked as a stunt double for Hollywood stars such as Viola Davis, Issa Rae, Gabrielle Union and British actress Jameela Jamil. Perhaps more importantly, Stevens is opening doors for other female stunt performers, especially Black women and women of color, who may not have even been aware that stunt work can turn into a career.
Remarkably, Stevens has only been in the field since 2015 yet her resume reads like a seasoned veteran. Before movies, her early work included television shows including Madam Secretary, Bull and Orange is the New Black. And she continues to add to her credits.
“I never thought about stunt work until a personal trainer I knew in New York City suggested I should put together a resume and apply for some casting calls,” Stevens explains. “I soon realized with my background in sports, martial arts and fitness, I’d been training all along to be a stunt performer. And it’s fair to say, I am a quick study.”
Growing up in Long Island, NY, Stevens played softball, tennis and football, and took karate and taekwondo lessons. She began to play organized basketball in high school and this quick study soon attracted the attention of Canisius, which recruited her in 2000. Stevens played all four years and is one of the most decorated female student-athletes in Canisius history. A three-time All-MAAC honoree, she was the 2003-04 MAAC Player of the Year and also shared the league's Defensive Player of the Year honors that season. The first two-time Canisius Female Athlete of the Year, she graduated as the fourth-leading scorer with 1,590 points and the third-best rebounder in program history with 876 rebounds.
“In my freshman year, I was motivated by a coach who didn’t think I could play Division 1 basketball,” Stevens recalls. “That just drove me to really work hard and I promised myself I would leave it all on the court, every game.”
Stevens also earned MAAC All-Academic Honors as she studied for her degree in business management. While earning her master’s degree in sport administration, Stevens served as an assistant coach for two years at Canisius and helped lead the 2005 MAAC women's basketball championship team. She was inducted into the Canisius College Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
Intending to take a shot at playing professional basketball, Stevens attended a pro basketball camp until an injury sidelined her. She returned to New York City and became a personal trainer, fitness coach and nutrition counselor, ultimately starting her own personal training business. At the same time, Stevens began to take on modeling and acting roles for various productions in New York. Once Stevens began stunt work, the action intensified.
Her career has taken Stevens around the world and her stunts have included everything from fight scenes to a swan dive from atop a yacht 30 feet into the ocean. Stevens stresses that every stunt is a team effort and includes a stunt coordinator, rigging coordinator and others, with safety of the performer being the first priority. What the audience sees as a few seconds of action can actually take days of rehearsing carefully choreographed moves.
Last year, The Hollywood Reporter named Stevens stunt person of the year following her work on The Woman King. She says the same mental fortitude and physical agility that brought her success on the basketball court comes into play on the TV and movie sets as she continues to take her stunt performances to the next level. Stevens hints that in an upcoming role, she is the fight coordinator and stunt double for actress Danai Gurira, who plays Michonne on the spinoff of the Walking Dead drama series, titled The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Jenel will also play a stunt/acting role in Shadow Force, an action thriller from director Joe Carnahan, currently in production. She plays a highly skilled assassin named Anino and joins a cast including Kerry Washington and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
“I am doing the work I do because I have always kept an open mind,” Stevens concludes. “There are so many avenues a person can take and young women should know that stunt performance is a viable career opportunity.”
