Find out how Zandara Kennedy is changing the stunt performing industry.
This talented and badass stunt performer is leading the way for other females in a male-dominated field. As a child in Ottawa, Canada she wanted to perform with Cirque du Soleil. Zandara did far more. She is now the stunt coordinator of CW’s hit series “Nandy Drew” and choreographs all of the action. Audiences know her from “Monster Trucks,” “Deadpool 2,” “and “Dark Phoenix.” Meet Zandara Kennedy!
Colleen Bement: “Nancy Drew” has been renewed for a second season and fans are jazzed! Tell us what life is like on that set as the head of the stunt department?
Zandara Kennedy: “Nancy Drew” is a really fun set – I really enjoy working with the cast, and the writers are always coming up with interesting stories for us to figure out how to tell visually.
Behind the scenes, it’s really rewarding to develop the action pieces in collaboration with the writers, director and whichever other departments are implicated, in order to help realize the creative vision and tell the story.
Onset, the cast are all physically competent, up for action, and are incredible troopers when it comes to working in the Vancouver weather, so we try to build action that allows us to showcase that and give them a chance to perform the action as much as possible. I have also been involved in developing many of the Dead Lucy elements and that’s been really fun and required lots of creativity.
CB: What would you say to encourage more women to enter the male-dominated field of stunt work?
ZK: We’re getting to a time where productions are beginning to really value women’s perspectives in all aspects of the production process as more than just ‘as good as’ a man’s perspective.
More than hiring women to meet a quota, women are being hired for the specific insight and experience they bring to the table that their male counterpart might not.
Our attitudes, our reactions, and instincts are shaped by the world that we have interacted with, and as more storytelling is involving women in more than just supporting or love interest-type roles, the insight that we bring to the table can be an incredible asset.
Additionally, many generations of stunt women and stunt performers of color have paved the way and pushed to have diversity on film sets in non-descript roles, and the most appropriate doubles for a performer, both in terms of ethnicity and gender.
It’s up to us to step up and continually push our skill sets to the next level as the opportunities available to us grow.
CB: It would take me an hour to change a tire, and you can swap an axle in a 350z in under 10 minutes? I watched your badass driving skills on your IMDB video and my jaw dropped. Tell us how you found your love for cars.
ZK: Thanks so much for your support! I was a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to motorsports, I always liked cars but didn’t have anyone around me that was into engines or motorsports – I got my driver’s license as soon as I possibly could and had been driving for a few years before that, but I didn’t really fall in love with driving until I took my first stunt driving course 16 years ago. After that, I really started investing in my driving skills, buying cars to practice stunt driving and practicing wherever and whenever I could.
That desire to improve took me from stunt driving schools to race and rally schools before I found drifting – once I took up drifting and started attending open tracks and competitions, my mechanical skills had to grow as well, because the wear and tear is very high on drift cars, especially when you crash.
This season I snapped more than a dozen axles on my drift car. The first time it happened, my drifting coach, Taka Aono, handed me the tools I needed and pointed out what needed to come off and supervised me to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid or dangerous. It took me at least an hour. I snapped another axle the next day, so the lesson was pretty fresh in my mind and it went much faster.
I’m really thankful to work with people that empower me to learn and grow, even if sometimes the last thing I want to be doing is fixing my car, again!
CB: What is your dream car? Mine’s a ’58 Corvette Convertible.
ZK: I’ve always loved the late 60s/early 70s Corvette stingrays, and when I was younger I really wanted a 50’s hearse – I was a big fan of Harold and Maude. Now, I’d like to build an electric drift car, maybe put a Tesla motor in a 350z – reduce some of my carbon footprint.
Q: You designed and installed 4 Ikea kitchens? Where did you get that creativity and ingenuity?
I’d call it a mixture of bravado and cheapness!
Seriously, though, the first time I did it, I was one of several people renovating a house, and each person involved in the process brought something to the table. My skill set was an unusually thorough knowledge of Ikea from my history working in Set Dec and an ability to underestimate how much time and work anything will take.
I learned a lot from that experience, and a big part of that education was realizing that most of the process is a lot more intimidating than it is difficult, though I am still very far from being a master carpenter.
I don’t want to sound like an IKEA commercial, but between their online design program and their vague word-free instructional diagrams with the genderless naked person, the whole process is relatively painless – the hardest parts are accurately measuring the space and making sure that you mount the cabinet rails in such a way that they won’t fall out of the wall.
CB: What do you do to unwind?
ZK: I’m still trying to figure that one out – lately I’ve been trying to spend more time in nature with my dogs, but between work on set and planning my drifting race season in between, that doesn’t happen as frequently as I’d like.
Written by Colleen Bement
