It’s not your typical career choice to make a living from danger, but for Fleur van Eeden it was the perfect fit. This adventurous 33-year-old gave up a career in public relations for the chance to be set alight, jump onto moving carriages from horses and spend her days dueling in gunfights.⠀ In the hallway of a tall steel warehouse in Atlantic Studios, in Montague Gardens, Cape Town. Under the dim light she is surrounded by piles of timber and fake polystyrene rocks. Here, Van Eeden has found herself jumping from crypts made of foam and fighting villains in gigantic gilded tombs that glow golden and black.⠀ It is a brief behind-the-scenes glimpse into the daily life of an unusual career. Van Eeden is one of the top stuntwomen in South Africa and currently acting as a stunt double for the role of Lara Croft in the up-and-coming Tomb Raider movie starring Alicia Vikander; one the latest action blockbusters to have been filmed in the Mother City. ⠀ “If you told me 10 years ago that I was going to be Lara Croft’s stunt double, I would have never believed it. If my career was to end now, I ticked the biggest box,” says Van Eeden.⠀ “When they phoned me for the job I thought it was a joke…You don’t take anything too seriously until you are on the job because anything can happen. The film could disappear out of your country.” ⠀ What makes this career choice even more interesting is that Van Eeden came to it by It’s not your typical career choice to make a living from danger, but for Fleur van Eeden it was the perfect fit. This adventurous 33-year-old gave up a career in public relations for the chance to be set alight, jump onto moving carriages from horses and spend her days dueling in gunfights
