Kate Upton and Eryn Bulmer Barrett.

Image Credit: Instagram/Collections Canada

KAMLOOPS – At first blush, two-time Olympian and former Pan Am Games champion Eryn Bulmer Barrett and Sports Illustrated model Kate Upton might have very little in common.

With the exception of bathing suits – Upton’s considerably smaller – the two women seem worlds apart. But Bulmer Barrett turned out to be Upton’s exact match as stunt double for the actress-model in her upcoming film The Layover.

Bulmer Barrett was approached by two former teammates who currently work in the stunt business. They were looking for an Upton double to perform dives in the film. 

“I’m tall and I’m blonde and I fit the bill,” she says, adding that at 5'8", she was rare among typically smaller divers.

While she originally said no, worried about having been outside of the pool for so many years, she eventually agreed after some gentle coaxing from her friends.
The Layover, due out in 2016, features Kate Upton and True Detective’s Alexandra Daddario as two friends whose flight to Florida gets re-routed due to bad weather. Detoured to St. Louis, the two women become embroiled in a fight over the same man they met on the plane.

Bulmer Barrett’s film experience comprised of two weekends in Vancouver. The first was coordinated with the stunt coordinator and special effects department, where one day after the long-weekend was spent actually shooting. 

When asked about the stars, Bulmer Barrett had nothing but good things to say calling both women sweet, funny and down to earth.

“When you meet someone, and you see them on TV, maybe you think they’re going to be unapproachable,” she says, adding it was a pleasure to work with the actresses.

Bulmer Barrett says she got to stand side-by-side Upton and Daddario to teach them the motions of divers so they’d look the part.

While she’s not entirely clear how her scene fits in the film, she doesn’t want to give too much away, implying a comedic twist. She said the dives performed were very basic, something an Olympic diver could do in her sleep.

“It was really basic stuff, I didn’t have to throw myself off a building or a ten-metre platform or anything like that,” she says.

She laughed when asked if this would lead to bigger and better film opportunities.

“This was a completely random, unexpected opportunity. I’m super, super happy my friends thought of me and that I said yes,” she says.

Bulmer Barrett added that a career as a professional stunt woman was not in the cards. While still very active, she’s been retired from competitive diving for roughly a decade.

“That being said if I was asked again to do something similar I absolutely would, because it was really fun.”

To contact a reporter for this story, email Dana Reynolds at dreynolds@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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