It’s not every day someone gets hit by a car and lives to tell the tale, but Sonja Wajih cannot be stopped. The stuntwoman known for her work in Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, Birds of Prey, Halloween Kills and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever just landed her first Emmy nomination for her work on ABC’s The Rookie, where she doubles for Jenna Dewan.
Below, the industry artisan speaks to Deadline about snagging her first Emmy nom, choosing a painstakingly tough line of work and the importance of recognizing stunts in Hollywood.
DEADLINE: How did you find your way to The Rookie?
SONJA WAJIH: As stunt performers, we get hired by referrals and word of mouth. A stunt coordinator will put out a job and say that they need a stunt performer who can do a certain action or who is a certain height or has a certain body shape to match the actor they are stepping in for. For this particular stunt, it was a car hit – meaning getting hit by a car. I had done two other car hits for another coordinator and that coordinator and The Rookie’s coordinator are friends, so I was referred to The Rookie doubling for Jenna Dewan, for this stunt sequence that is now nominated for the Emmy.
DEADLINE: Congrats on your first Emmy nomination. Talk about the importance of that for you.
WAJIH: It has been a whirlwind. It’s still surreal even to hear people say it back to me and congratulate me. I think there’s a shared sentiment with other nominees that you don’t think it’s going to happen until it happens. I was up in the pool of 73 entries for this particular category. There were a ton of talented people, a ton of great action that was submitted. You just never know. I was completely shocked, and it means the world to me. It’s very validating when you train so hard and devote so much time to your craft and athleticism. It’s been a journey. I’m a first-generation stunt person and stunt woman. There’s not a lot of women getting hit by cars written into scripts. So thanks to the writers who write this action in and give stunt women the opportunity to be badass.
DEADLINE: The Emmys started their stunt category in 2021. Now the Oscars will have their stunt design category in 2027. What is the consensus among you and your colleagues in the industry? Why do you think stunts are overlooked, but are finally getting their due?
WAJIH: I’m very excited about the Oscars finally opening a category for stunt performers, that being stunt design. It’ll be the stunt coordinator who would receive the award, but it’s a huge win for the stunt community to be recognized at the Oscars. I’ve asked a few of my friends about [the recent recognition] and some of them think that back in the day, when the job of stuntmen and stuntwomen was more simplistic, like cowboys, sort of just roughing it, we were almost viewed as the jocks or the athletes that we just put our bodies to work and then go home.
Whereas now, we are doing so much more. We have a seat at the table with the directors, the DPs, and the executive producers, and we are really creating and formulating what their vision is into putting that into fruition with human bodies. We’re now viewed as artists, more than just dumb jocks hitting the ground and doing all this crazy stuff. We really have skilled people doing camera work, engineers working the rigging machines, building these apparatuses that allow you to fly through the air at a hundred feet. It’s incredible work, and I think the perspective has shifted from just athletes to creative performing artists.
DEADLINE: What led you to become a stunt person?
WAJIH: I’ve always been a mover. All my life, I was a tomboy. I played soccer for 13 years in my youth. Then I got into dance and pursued it, but I always loved action. My biggest childhood stars that I looked up to were Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena: Warrior Princess and all these fierce badass women. I was also raised by a single mom who is badass in her own right. So, I think that drive to be fiercely independent and paired up with the physicality of what I naturally just liked to do as far as sports and dance really paired up. One thing led to another later in life. A dancer friend turned into a stunt guy, and he relayed back to me what he was doing; I really liked the idea of that. I was doing martial arts at the time, and all these elements basically equated to stunts. I also pursued TV hosting. So, this was like an element of entertainment that I wanted to pursue, paired with the physicality of that industry, in addition to it being highly competitive. It was just a perfect storm that led me to pursue stunts and not look back.
DEADLINE: What would you say is the toughest part of your job? What would surprise people to know outside of the industry?
WAJIH: The complexity. I mean, I’m a stuntwoman. It’s different for the stuntmen that are out there. I believe there’s a complexity with [our profession], it’s a male-driven industry. So, you have to be tough, but still soft. You have to have the durability and toughness of the actual physical work but also be able to remain soft and be around powerful people and be able to speak up about your safety and other people’s safety. Maybe that’s something that people might not really be thinking about. Also, sometimes I’m the only woman in the room. You don’t want to make yourself smaller; you need to speak up for what you think is going on. Or if you have any questions, or if you have a good idea that you want to bring to the table. It’s a very interesting balance that I think we’re all figuring out slowly but surely.
