pulled seasoned pro Yvette Ferguson out of retirement<\/a> at the age of 71.
<\/p>\nWhile many headlines surrounding the film have hinted at her incredible story, always told by one or both of the film\u2019s directors, Ferguson\u2019s voice has been missing from the film\u2019s success\u2014until now. Women\u2019s Health caught up with her to break down the stunt, what goes into being set on fire, and how she just might have nabbed a Guinness World Record in the process.
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Warning: The below video contains intense footage of Ferguson performing her fire stunt in the film.<\/p>\n
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Women’s Health: How did you get into the stunt world?<\/p>\n
Yvette Ferguson: <\/strong>My husband and I had moved out to Vancouver back in ’85, and he was a stunt coordinator at the time. There weren’t a lot of women doing stunts, and he came home from work one day and said, \u201cI need a woman to fall down stairs\u2014would you want to do it?\u201d We had three kids, and I wasn\u2019t sure. I said, \u201cWhat do the stairs look like?\u201d We drove out to this massive mansion, and the stairs were very short and quite cushiony. So I said, \u201cSure, I’ll do it.\u201d While I was there, there was an older [actress] who had to take a squib hit [a simulation of a gunshot in a film] and throw herself against the wall, and she didn’t want to do it. She said, \u201cThere’s a stunt girl\u2014she’ll do it.\u201d I had two stunts in two days, and then I was just busy after that. I always say my biggest stunt is finding a babysitter [Laughs].<\/p>\nWhen the Final Destination: Bloodlines stunt came to you, how long had you been in retirement? <\/p>\n
I never really thought of it as retirement\u2014I just thought I was getting older. I couldn’t do what the young girls were doing anymore. I mean, I’m not old, I’m older. There were times I would go out and do some [stunt] driving, because when you’re in a car, they just put a wig on you and you drive. But, for the most part, I just let it go. I had a family to raise, my husband was busy, and I thought my time was over. But as the kids got older, I thought, well, maybe I\u2019d like to do something else. I thought I’d do background acting for a while and just get out of the house. But then I’d say to my husband, \u201cI’m in really good shape. I don’t feel my age.\u201d <\/p>\n
I can run. I play pickleball. I play three or four hours a day every day and walk home. I never feel sore. It just gave me more energy, and I thought, \u201cI bet there are parts I could do at my age that other people can’t, because my gray hair really works.\u201d I’m older, so I can walk older and act older. I could get parts for older women tripping and falling. But when I put my name out there to stunt people, they ignored me. But then Simon [Burnett], the stunt coordinator from Final Destination, sent me an email and he asked me, \u201cI’ve got this gag [what stunt performers call a stunt]. They want someone older. You might fit it, but it’s a fire gag, and you’ll be on fire\u2013would you be interested in it?\u201d I had a ton of questions, of course, but I replied, \u201cYes, I absolutely would.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"warner](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/rev-1-fdb-fp-013-high-res-jpeg-2-6839f43133936.jpeg\" "\\"warner")
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Warner Bros.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s that day on set like? How do you mentally prepare for the fact that you\u2019re going to be set on fire?<\/p>\n
We started with rehearsals. They started me with a hand burn, just to show me. I remember thinking, \u201cHey, this doesn\u2019t hurt.\u201d My hand was lit up, completely in flames. Then they did a back burn, and I did a couple laps with my back on fire, and then they did the full thing and let me run through an explosion. So, I had kind of done it already. It was bigger on the day, of course\u2014It was so much fun. I walked into hair and makeup, and they were all rooting for me, too. They started playing [songs] like \u201cBurn Baby Burn\u201d and \u201cGreat Balls of Fire\u201d [Laughs]. They were so excited. They kind of got my day going, and after that, it was time for the burn.<\/p>\n
In the scene, I was running, I’d look behind, and then I’d keep running. That was all that was going through my head while they were preparing me: Slow down. You’re going to run, turn and look, turn back, he’s going to hit you in the back with the flamb\u00e9. I’m going to react, then I’m going to keep running. I’m going to scream my head off. I’m on fire. I was going to go to the end mark, lie down, and they would put me out. For the second part, they lit me up, and I ran, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t have my mouth open when these cannons went off, because I was totally engulfed in flame; it was a complete ball of fire. I was right in it. I remember feeling the heat. The brightness was gone, and I looked, and I could see flames all around me\u2014I knew I needed to go down so they could put me out. My whole dress was fired up in front and on the back. Then they put me out\u2014and we did it all in one take. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s been talk about you nabbing a Guinness World Record for the Oldest Woman Set on Fire on Camera. <\/p>\n
I still haven’t heard back from the Guinness World Records, but we think I probably have it. It takes a while. Colin [Decker, fire stunt coordinator] had put me forward, and that was going to be my gift from him. He was going to get me a plaque, but they\u2019re still looking. I’ve started the process all over, but I don’t think there’s anybody who\u2019ll beat me. <\/p>\n
More MoviesWhat\u2019s the reception been like for you? It\u2019s an instantly iconic kill. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s crazy! I can’t believe it. Somebody told me the other day, \u201cEnjoy it. It’s a fun ride.\u201d Like, who gets to do this at my age, right? Coming out of retirement… It\u2019s been great. I was in Toronto last week visiting my daughter\u2014she’s a stunt girl, too. She said, \u201cMom, let’s go see Final Destination.\u201d That’s my third time now. So, we’re sitting there, and I said to Becky, \u201cI should just stand up and say, Hey, I’m Mrs. Fuller!\u201d [Laughs]. <\/p>\n
I wasn’t going to do that, of course. But then, after the movie was done, the guy beside us said, \u201cI don’t know much about Final Destination. All I know is this elderly woman supposedly broke a record for being the oldest woman on fire.\u201d And I leaned over and I said, \u201cThat was me!\u201d<\/p>\n
This interview has been edited for content and clarity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Final Destination franchise is home to a litany of iconic deaths. From the generation-traumatizing log truck disaster…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[1380,62656,1331,77,1381,3943,62655,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-145546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-content-type-news","9":"tag-contentid-52967044-6606-4eae-8528-b9682f558835","10":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-locale-us","13":"tag-movies","14":"tag-shorttitle-she-was-retired-now-shes-being-set-on-fire","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114599823117532394","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"elegant](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/494888612-1053769006081876-575376109054166493-n-1-6839f3d0b1b9d.jpg\" "\\"elegant")
<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/494814818-1784360835483880-1011243790349160222-n-1-6839f3ff1fd73.jpg\" "\\"a")
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