(Courtesy of NBCUniversal)
In an exclusive interview with Villain Media, Stunt Actress Heidi Germaine Schnappauf talks about the highly anticipated Season 4 premiere of Blindspot, starring Jaimie Alexander and Sullivan Stapleton. After the shocking events of Season 3, discover what Jaimie Alexander’s Stunt Double has to say about the the latest mystery tattoos that Jane Doe (Alexander) and Kurt Weller (Stapleton) have to solve!
As we previously mentioned, Jane Doe (Alexander) found herself mysteriously covered with bioluminescent tattoos. Jane’s only clues are covered all her tattooed body. With the help of her husband, Kurt Weller (Stapleton), and the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group, Jane has to figure what these mysterious tattoos mean before a major disaster occurs.
Before “Hella Duplicitous” premieres on NBC Friday, October 12th,2018 at 8pm, Schnappauf opens up about playing Jaimie Alexander’s Stunt Double! Discover the behind-the-scenes tidbits about what takes place while filming an intense action sequence on Blindspot!
[Spoilers Ahead! Please catch up with what happened on Blindspot from our Season 3 recaps.]
Villain Media: Tell me how you became a stunt person.
Heidi Germaine Schnappauf: I actually started off doing martial arts as a kid. About five years old, I started doing karate in Pennsylvania. I studied martial arts all throughout grade school, middle school, and high school. In high school, I ended up getting into theater. Went to college, at NYU for theater, and realized I could use those martial arts skills in films, helping out my friends, and found out what a stunt performer was. I realized I did all that stuff since I was a kid! Cops and robbers! Fall down the stairs! Fight scenes with my friends! It made sense to me!
Out of college, I went to stunt school, honed my skills, and and learned what it actually meant, what it was. I feel in love with it! It was everything I wanted to do, rolled up into one. For thirteen years, I’ve been doing it.
VM: Tell me about working with Jaimie Alexander?
HGS: Jaimie is the best experience as a stunt double I have ever had! She’s extremely kind, first of all. She’s willing to do everything to make it look good. Even if it means doing a certain move, allowing me to do a certain move, taking a harder hit, or starting a move and she’ll finish it; vice versa. She’s always very appreciative of her stunt double, which is awesome! But more than that, she’s really about creating good work and making it he best it an be. In that aspect as well, she’s just amazing to work with!
Just our typical Saturday night at @swordclassNYC 🙂 https://t.co/jG4lwlgQrS
— Heidi G Schnappauf (@StuntgirlHeidi) October 7, 2018
ViM: Is it it a challenge to do a stunt, where viewers tend to focus more on picking out the cuts between you and Jaimie Alexander ?
HGS: Looking back on our work, from the beginning, we aim to make it a seamless transition. That you’re more interested in the story, not trying to figure out, which is a stunt double and which is the actor. It’s just one character. That’s one of the amazing parts of doubling her. She’s probably one of the nicest people I’ve met in my life! She’s really talented and on top of being able to do the physical stuff, she’s doing all these emotional scenes. She’s woking these super long hours acting, trying to find time to rehearse, and trying to make the action look good too.
VM: What do you think fans will be excited about with the Season 4 premiere?
HGS: Oh! I don’t think it’s a spoiler! We’re in Japan! That’s pretty exciting! It opens up with an action-packed sequence! It was super amazing to me to be able to participate in and go to Japan. So much happens in the premiere! So much happens! You’re really taken in for a ride! Both action-wise and story-wise, every storyline gets you interested! I think the premiere leaves you wanting more of everything, of all the stories!
Heidi Germaine Schnappauf
Blindspot Season 4 premiere event at Sword Class NYC, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018 in New York, N.Y. (Photo Credit: Jason DeCrow /2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)
VM: Tell me how working on Blindspot changed you as a stunt performer?
HGS: Oh geez! First of all, the story keeps getting better! With the stunts I’m doing, I’m always challenging myself. With every fight scene, our coordinators and our writers try to find something: it’s not always the same. They bring in something different. It’s really changed me in stretching my physical prowess. I’m learning new skills, refining older skills. In the beginning of the season, there’s a sword fight in Japan. Right off the bat, I’m flying to Japan, a couple of weeks before our crew gets there. I’m working with the Japanese stunt team on this amazing sword fight to get their style down. It’s definitely changed me from day one!
And I get to travel! I never traveled before Blindspot! I never left the country! Personally, it’s changed me that way too. Not just as stunt performer, but as a human. I got to go to South Africa for Season 3, Japan already for Season 4. There’s a lot going on, we’re midway through shooting. And it just keeps getting better! And all the action!
VM: What are you working on now!?
HGS: Where are we? We’re halfway through filming. We’re on Episode 9. I’m not allowed to say what we‘re working on. Right now, I’ll tell ya I’m working on a really intense fight scene that has me beating myself up! That’s all I’m going to say! [Laughs]
In the aftermath of the Season 3 finale, Weller and the rest of his FBI team learn that Jane is slowly dying from the poison, but they don’t know Remi is back. One of the symptoms of the poisoning — hallucinations — has her seeing Roman [Luke Mitchell], who indulges Remi’s darkest desires.
[Writer’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Links are highlighted in bold.]
Season 4 of Blindspot premieres on NBC Friday, October 12th, 2018 at 8pm.