Little, Broken, But Still Good

Shaina West aka. The Samurider is an Actor, Stunt Person, Martial Artist, Personal Trainer, Influencer and Brand Ambassador. She draws inspiration from her love of Japanese culture, martial arts, samurai, anime and motorbikes.

Some of the Amazons, like Kroes, auditioned, while the filmmakers plucked others from the athletic world — Brooke Ence, an American Crossfit champion, and Madeleine Vall Beijner, a Swedish professional fighter, among them. “I got an e-mail asking if I could do fighting on film,” Beijner recalls. “I said, ‘Well, yes, I can fight, and I think I can fight in a movie. So yes, I’ll do it!’ ” 

Months before the cameras started rolling, the women gathered in London for weeks of training. Not only did they go through basic strength training to look properly Amazonian, but they also spent hours each day practicing swordplay, horseback riding and stunt choreography. “The trainers said they wanted us to look like the female version of 300,” Beijner says. For several of the athletes, many of whom compete in individual sports, it was a refreshing change of pace to feel like part of an all-female team. “It really is cool to see this whole training area, and there’s not one male figure in sight,” Ence adds. “It’s just women wrestling other women, kickboxing, doing pull-ups and practicing with spears — just a lot of stuff that in the real world is very male-dominated.” 

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Once they all donned their Amazon armor and took to the beach for the big Themysciran battle scenes, Ence says she was surprised by how easy it was to tap into her inner warrior, especially when surrounded by a whole horde of fellow soldiers. “The first day we were on-set with all of our swords and shields, it felt like a different type of power,” she says. “And we looked awesome.” She wasn’t the only one who got swept up by all the swords and stunts: Kroes recalls a day when her young son visited her, and she greeted him in full battle regalia. “If I could just have that face framed as a picture on my wall,” she says. “I think I melted because he has never looked at me like that ever. He was just in full admiration of his mommy as a warrior.”