Babes With Blades’ Jade Ang Jackman and Ayesha Hussain on ‘The Matrix’, Swordsmanship Heritage and Action Films for Femmes
Words: Sihaam Naik
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Even better - it’s the action-packed stunt woman duo Babes With Blades! Jade Ang Jackman and Ayesha Hussain are putting the women of stunt-heavy, high-octane action films at the forefront while breaking barriers on and off the screen. Between Jade’s masterful direction and Ayesha’s mastery of the blade - and whip, and basically anything dangerous - the two are carving out a niche space for overlooked talent in a genre dominated by mainstream narratives, i.e., cis white men with mommy issues. Babes With Blades is, in their own words, “all about the killer vibes”, a part film collective and part fight club that puts on screenings and panels on fashion, femininity and force.
As part of the BFI’s nationwide Art of Action season, they’re screening The Villainess (2017), a blistering Korean revenge thriller packed with stunning choreography and heart-stopping stunts — including the motorbike sequences that inspired John Wick: Chapter 3 (2019). Here, they chat to Polyester about their very own hero journey - from uncovering secret swordsmanship talents, to landing sword routines in a Miu Miu campaign.
How did you both start your journeys as stunt women and storytellers?
Jade Ang Jackman: I started studying Law with Anthropology at the London School of Economics and thought I’d attend the Criminal Bar. After watching a video that Yasiin Bey did about Guantanamo, I realised that video was where I wanted to work. My first proper media job was working at VICE, and my first proper shoot was with Nadya from Pussy Riot. Since then, I think I’ve always been drawn to stories of women breaking down barriers or rebelling against what was expected of them somehow.
Ayesha Hussain: I wanted to be a doctor but pursued a Classics & Political Philosophy degree. I picked it because I knew I could moonlight in my burgeoning interest in Circus Arts whilst completing it. This turned into a fairly illustrious career in marksmanship weapons (precision bullwhip and knife throwing) live shows. I did a heritage dive into my Indian Rajput side, and realised swordsmanship was in my blood. So, of course, I began training in this and was swept up into an action-acting role on a show called Brassic, where the stunt coordinator convinced me to start training in stunts, and here we are 5 years later.
Jade: One of my favourite stories about you, Ayesha, is you trying to work out how to spit fire in a carpark in South London. It was a perilous game of trial and error that led you to star in Marvel and swing swords for Miu Miu!
In your work, you prioritise the inclusion of diverse perspectives. What unique challenges do you face in ensuring these voices are heard, especially in a genre traditionally dominated by mainstream narratives?
Ayesha: I think not seeing anyone like me on screen growing up was a limiting factor in me not putting any stock into athletic training until my late twenties (when it was becoming my career), while this position of one of the inaugural voices/faces from my background (a woman of south Asian/MENA heritage) has its privileges it also puts an immense amount of pressure on personal success so that other similar voices/faces are taken seriously and can herald a new generation that doesn’t have to fight as hard for visibility.
Jade: In film, I’ve noticed that people tend to work with people they know and don’t want to take risks on newcomers. This tends to affect people whose parents aren’t in the industry negatively, aren’t based in London or aren’t white and male. Over the last few years, I’ve tried to meet people outside my immediate bubble, find the right people for the roles and pay people fairly.
The portrayal of gender in action films has often been rigid. How do you define strength in female characters and bring that to life in your movies?
Ayesha: I think eliminating a particular way a woman “has” to be and stopping the false dichotomy of softness vs. hardness will make characters more well-rounded and nuanced. For example, in at least the films we create, you won’t catch me with my hair down in a perfect blow-dry after an intense fight scene! Give the girl a scrunchy and let her fight in flats; she can still be glam if she wants but do not make that a prerequisite for visibility in action films for women.
Jade: I’ve never really thought about writing “strong” female characters. Even at Christmas, my mum was like I want a film with violence, drugs and cars. So, I kinda just started wondering where the women were in these adrenaline-filled worlds and then as I matured as a writer, I began to wonder how to bring depth to them.
“Our aim with Babes with Blades is to celebrate the action genre and spotlight the amazing contributions of women who might've been sidelined historically. As long as we've got some crazy stunts and stay true to our community, we’re part of the way there.”
Collaboration is at the heart of Babes with Blades. How do you ensure that each creative’s contribution, from costume design to choreography, enhances the final vision without compromising your core message?
Ayesha: Choreography-wise, Jade often suggests gnarly insane stunts until we reach a threshold.
Jade: I asked you to fall out of a window onto a horse/motorbike for our next project (laughs).
Ayesha: After deciding on the stunts, we involve people from our fantastic community of action gurus and other stunt performers like Jo Rolison (Warrior Nun (2020), The Witcher (2019), Into the Badlands(2015), who choreographed our fight scenes in SPLIT. Costume design again involves collaborating with our community of incredible designers and stylists and working with fashion houses with which we have pre-established relationships. For example, my outfit in SPLIT was entirely Miu Miu. Working to draw from our community before outsourcing where possible is key to not compromising our values, which, as you recognised, is the heart of BWB.
Jade: We have different individual goals as an action actor/stuntwoman and director duo. But, guided by trust (Ayesha threw a knife right next to my head whilst I filmed her on our second meeting), we’ve been encouraging each other to make the impossible possible. Film is inherently about collaboration, and we hope our ability to listen to each other also filters down our creative projects. Our aim with Babes with Blades is to celebrate the action genre and spotlight the amazing contributions of women who might've been sidelined historically. As long as we've got some crazy stunts and stay true to our community, we’re part of the way there.
What was the process behind picking The Villainess (2017) for your primary film screening at the Rio Cinema?
Jade: Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about gender inequality in South Korea, which sparked the creation of the 4B movement. In 2016, a woman was stabbed to death in a toilet in Seoul after being stalked. The case caused a national outcry, and many feminists began discussing the wide-ranging problems faced by women in South Korea. Around this time, I became interested in action as almost a way for women to take fictitious revenge and rage against this extreme sexual violence. So, that is the socio-political reason, and then Ayesha and I are both of Asian heritage (South and East Asian), so we want to celebrate action films with other diverse female leads. South Korean cinema is a favourite of mine, and the iconic stunts, especially the motorbike sequence and the first-person fight scenes, influenced John Wick 2, which not many people know about. Also, they train their stunt teams hard, so it made sense!
Action films are often criticised for their portrayal of violence. How do you balance the excitement of action and the responsibility of showing it with meaningful consequences?
Jade: Half the reason I don’t mess with some horror is that I hate torture porn! With violence in action, I use social power as a metric. An example of this is in our latest short, Split, made in collaboration with the Standard; the bartender smashes Ayesha on the head with a glass after she steals a drink. However, it wouldn’t have been appropriate for a white man to do that to a brown woman, especially in the context of the racist rioting that was happening in the UK this summer. Instead, we asked our friend, the hot girl chef of the moment, Rahel, to be our stone-cold Gemini fight-ender, which gives the whole scene a different tone.
In a genre that has often sidelined women, how do you feel the shifting representation of female and non-binary action heroes influences our stories?
Ayesha: One of the characters that was key in hooking me into the action genre was Trinity from The Matrix. Her portrayal is probably the first non-hyper-feminised and non-over-sexualised role that I have seen. Simultaneously, it was one of the pithiest, action-heavy roles. Therefore, I think finding ways to continue championing diversity in the presentation of female action-heavy characters with storylines that don’t always stem from sexual violence or murdered parents is key.
