Vanessa Williams Says She Did Stunts for 'Shaft' While Pregnant

Dec 17, 2023

Vanessa Williams says she did her own stunts for the 2000 film "Shaft" while pregnant.

The iconic actor, now 60 years old, told Elle Magazine that she was at the beginning of her pregnancy with her fourth child, Sasha, when she filmed the John Singleton production, which also stars Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree.

"So I had to play this tough badass and had to do my own stunts," Williams told Elle. "The scariest moment was probably when I get shot and have to be propelled back into a pile of garbage knowing that I was with child."

She added that it was a very "strange period of time" for her because she had just gotten married for the second time, was pregnant, and was working with Jackson for the first time "on a tough schedule."

The action thriller — a sequel to the 1971 film of the same name — was filmed all over New York and at nighttime, Williams told Elle, making it a "tough shoot."