Cassandra Ebner On Being A Television Stuntwoman

When Cassandra Ebner appeared on Game of Thrones <i/i>, playing one of the mystical Children of the Forest, she remained as in the dark regarding the grand trajectory of the show as viewers at home.

"They showed us a page of dialogue that they may or may not have wanted us to say. That was it", she recalls. "We didn't know what we were doing on the day. You're always on your toes on set. You don't know what's going to happen next".

As both actress and stuntwoman Ebner, 25, has a unique skill set - which is how she found herself bang in the middle of the world's biggest series. But it wasn't all glamorous, with the shoot in Belfast introducing her to the joys of Irish weather.

"As one of the Children of the Forest, I had to wear full body prosthetics. We were outside and it was cold. But the crew were amazing and the white walkers were terrifying... the prosthetics are incredible".

She may be a stuntwoman but Ebner, from Alberta and based in Vancouver, is no adrenaline junkie. The biggest payoff, she says, is a stunt executed safely and with precision. Which may be why, aside from a sprained ankle, she has avoided battle scars or chilling war stories.

"It's 100% true that there are people out there who do it because they are addicted to adrenaline", says Cassandra whose screen credits include Arrow, War For The Planet Of The Apes and World Of Warcraft . "There are also people who want to make a great performance and are willing to think about that instead of jumping in. Sometimes you require one of those skillsets, sometimes the other".

What she has accumulated is a huge international following, many of whom have been with her since her days as a blockbusting YouTube vlogger. This pre-existing fanbase meant it was an easy sell when she was pitching her upcoming comedy web series, Life XP.

She has literally and figuratively pulled herself up, too. As a teenager, Ebner was fascinated by World Of Warcraft. She wrote to the publisher, to let them know she was available should they ever plan a movie adaptation.

They replied with a terse letter to the effect that, were they ever to undertake such an endeavour, they would be sure to use professionals. Five years later Ebner, now indeed a professional, found herself on the set of the World Of Warcraft movie. Hey - she did it!

Proud to call herself a nerd, Ebner got her break on her aforementioned vlog - a typical post garnered hundreds of thousand of views. Along with the exposure, it provided a crash course in keeping it together for the cameras.

"I grew up playing video games with my dad and uncle. I was very much an internet kid. I saw how inspired people were by new technology. It's what led me to where I am now. People say, 'you're so comfortable in front of the camera'. Well, it's part of who I am".

Female stuntpeople are rare - but not as rare as when she started out, just a few years ago.

"People would say, 'what are you doing... you're going to be thrown on the ground and hit by cars?' It's still mostly guys. But there's a tonne more work for women than there used to be. There are leading women and female superheroes now."

Ebner is slight and doesn't look as if she was built for falling from a great height.

"I played rugby growing up. I'm tiny and, at rugby, I was up against some really big girls. I loved it - the camaraderie and the hitting the ground. I was also into Taekwondo and Parkour. People starting out were like, 'let's give her a try... let's let her prove herself".

She has two major up and coming projects Ð the aforementioned Life XP and a kick-ass supernatural adventure, Demon X. The former goes into production later this year; the latter will be available to watch online in the next several months.

"It's a bigger endeavour than I ever thought it would be", she says of shepherding Life XP to screen (she wrote the script while recuperating from that ankle injury). "But it's also been such a great experience".

She appreciates that breaking through with a new IP is harder than ever. There's so much good TV out there - more than at any other time.

"It's an age of amazing content", she says. "Your stuff has to stick out from the rest. I'm trying to make things I enjoy, things I would want to watch".

Demon X airs later this year. The trailer to Life XP can be watched online now.