Face Shot: Sherry Boyd
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In the family blockbuster
Agent Cody Banks
, teen heartthrob Frankie Muniz powers-up a dual-rocket-propelled snowboard to escape a pair of evil henchmen. He hucks off a cliff, jumps a crevasse, and rips through a glade. The scene is-of course-an example of celluloid trickery. After all, Muniz is a bona fide dweeb. So who makes him look like such a badass? Stuntwoman-snowboarder Sherry Boyd, thank you very much.
A diminutive five-foot-one, Boyd, a two-time Canadian boardercross champ, is often chosen as a stunt double for children: Her on-screen credits include Air Bud, Most Valuable Primate, and Mr. Magoo. Not Oscar material, but Boyd, 35, doesn’t mind. She’s one of the few former pros who still earns a paycheck by straightlining chutes and catching big air.
These days, the Whistler, B.C., local helps others land similar roles. In 1999, Boyd founded Action Talent Inc., Canada’s first agency dedicated to managing the screen careers of extreme-sports athletes. Her timing couldn’t have been better. By 2001, ratings of the X Games were seeing double-digit increases among males age 12 to 34, and Fortune 500 companies were using adrenaline sports to push their products. “Before, no one cared that skiers were dropping 80-footers,” Boyd says. “Now, people see it during prime time.”
As a former Blackcomb employee, Boyd knows her fair share of rippers. Her roster is packed with more than 200 athletes, including freeskiing champ Jen Ashton and ski-flick star Dan Treadway. Her clients have climbed 10,000-year-old ice caves for Lexus and snowboarded through bowls of Cocoa Krispies.
Still, launching her stunt career wasn’t easy-and unlike in her days as a pro, Boyd’s usually not in the spotlight. “On the set of MVP, the chimps actually got star chairs,” she says. “I ended up in a trailer.”
[“Inside Sherry Boyd”]Extra Horny Terrestrial: “For Scary Movie, I had a small cameo as an alien that uses a mirror to look up Pamela Anderson’s skirt. I even got to make lewd gestures.”
Hot Rod: “I drive a mom car: a Volkswagen Passat.”
Primates on Board: “Even chimpanzees can snowboard. Quite well, I might add.”
Why is your Nickname “Punchy”? “When I was weight training and hit my guy friends, they could actually feel it. I don’t hit like a girl.”
