Dee Harrop: Girlie Action

Rachel Weisz may have been the star of 'The Mummy Returns', but it's Dee from Dagenham doing the back flips. Jonathan Thompson meets the British stuntwomen who keep Hollywood's leading ladies in business

As the warrior princesses lock daggers, a twin gasp goes up – one from the excited crowd gathered in the Pharaoh's luxurious palace, and the other from an auditorium in 21st-century Los Angeles.

Nefertiri, the Pharaoh's daughter, is being attacked by her father's bride-to-be, the wicked Anck-su-namun. As her enemy advances, Nefertiri spins aside, cartwheeling across the throne room before somersaulting onto a tiny ledge. Grabbing an axe mounted on the wall, she flips backwards, lands on the floor and joins battle again. But this time, it's not her future mother-in-law she's facing, it's her sister. And they're not from ancient Egypt, but from Dagenham in Essex.

The Mummy Returns is the first film in which 22-year-old twin sisters Dee and Carly Harrop perform as stunt doubles (standing in for Rachel Weisz and Patricia Velazquez). As the Pharaoh's palace vanishes and the lights go up at the World Stunt Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Dee's nomination for the film is announced – her second of the night. "I just can't believe we're here," she grins. The siblings' star-struck demeanour is understandable: prior to landing the job on The Mummy Returns, they were studying at Middlesex University and cheerleading for West Ham in their spare time.

But they're not the only new kids on the block. This is just the second outing for these annual awards. Which is surprising, when you consider that the stunt industry is almost as old as the silver screen it serves and the movie business would arguably be lost without it. (Imagine the insurance costs if Tom Cruise had to do all his own stunts.) So what's taken Hollywood so long to recognise the men and women, who, let's face it, put the action into action movies? A celebrity culture with stars unwilling to draw attention away from their own performances, complemented by the anonymity at the very heart of the stunt profession, both had their parts to play. However, the crucial missing piece – until now – was a cohesive international body to organise official recognition for the industry.

All that changed last year when the Taurus Foundation was set up by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the CEO of energy drinks company Red Bull. A charitable organisation, the foundation was set up primarily to provide for stunt performers who have suffered debilitating injuries in the line of work, but has also striven to raise the profile of what it describes as "the unsung heroes of cinema" – most notably with this ceremony.

It may not have the cachet of the Academy Awards, but the acting industry, at least, is keen to pay homage: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Charlton Heston, Michelle Rodriguez and Billy Bob Thornton are all present here tonight. Even Bruce Willis makes a tribute via satellite. "Stunt men and stunt women are the true heroes of cinema," he says, a picture of action-hero toughness in his military togs (he's broken off mid-shoot on his latest film to broadcast the message). "They do all the hard work, the really dangerous work, and scaredy-cats like us get all the glory."

There's no arguing with that: while your typical action fan could probably reel off all of Willis's lines in Die Hard, few – if any – could name the person who actually crashed through the glass window of the tower block (it was Kenny Bates, in case you're wondering). The World Stunt Awards is an attempt to redress the balance.

There are three British nominees in total, and all are women. Nikki Berwick, 23, from Kingham in Surrey, has also been nominated for her work on The Mummy Returns. Berwick, a martial arts specialist, was involved in many of the film's combat scenes, but couldn't make it to the ceremony. However, the third member of the group and arguably the most famous stuntwoman in Britain, is here, and larger than life.

Thirty-two-year-old Liverpudlian Eunice Huthart has been nominated for her work as Angelina Jolie's stunt double on Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

Huthart, who is currently living in Los Angeles while filming Terminator 3, has been in the business for eight years. Her big break came after she was spotted competing on the television show Gladiators. Shortly after winning the series, she successfully auditioned to be Famke Janssen's body double in Goldeneye.

"I was straight in at the deep end," she says. "One minute I was serving burgers in McDonald's, and the next I was wrestling Pierce Brosnan in a sauna."

And Huthart's career has gone from strength to strength. She doubled for Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element ("I had to write her name down to remember it."), Uma Thurman in The Avengers ("Those leather cat-suits were worth about £10,000 each, and I must have destroyed loads."), and Catherine Zeta Jones in Entrapment.

It is for the scene in Tomb Raider where Lara Croft fights off intruders while swinging from the ceiling, that Huthart has been nominated tonight. "I had to fill out a bit for that film," laughs Huthart. "Lara Croft is very curvy, so I had to wear these things like chicken fillets in my bra. I could never get used to the size – I kept knocking things over."

Huthart has doubled for Jolie on several occasions over the years, and the pair have become good friends. "Angelina's a big Liverpool fan now", says Huthart with some pride. "I wouldn't be friends with her otherwise. We were in Vancouver filming last May, and I got her up at about 6am to watch the FA Cup final against Arsenal."

The Taurus award for "Best Stunt by a Stuntwoman" is finally announced, and both Dee and Eunice are beaten by Debbie Evans, an American veteran of the stunt circuit with 24 years' experience. Evans, a mother of three, wins the award for her driving in The Fast and the Furious, in which she doubles for Michelle Rodriguez. It is her second award of the night and it's presented, fittingly, by Rodriguez herself. "These people definitely deserve more credit," she says. "I've heard some really horrible stories in the business. The golden rule used to be 'Lie about doing your own stunts.' It was like, 'So what if a person breaks their leg doing your stunt? Lie about it.' That's ... wrong. They deserve the credit. And that's why I'm here."

Among the British stunt stars mingling at the after-show party are members of the Armstrong family, one of the most famous dynasties in the business. Legend has it that an Armstrong has worked on every single Bond film, with as many as eight of the clan involved in the last outing, The World is Not Enough.

Nina Armstrong, 22, is among the third generation of the family to choose a career in stunt work, but, as she admits, things were very different when her grandfather, George Leech, began doubling for Sean Connery in the first 007 films.

"Technology has progressed so much," she says. "When my father and grandfather were doing things, it was a bit more of a stunt. They were taking really hard hits: jumping off huge heights into ... cardboard boxes and mattresses, whereas now we have airbags and Fan Descenders. CGI is also becoming a much bigger factor, and I think that will put a lot of stunt people out of business in the future."

While Nina's fears are shared by a number of her peers at the event, others point to more positive developments in the industry. The World Stunt Awards, which will be televised in over 100 countries, is finally beginning to attract the public's attention. But, as Huthart points out, there's still a long way to go before this elite division of the film industry achieves the status it deserves.

"Without doubt, these awards are important," she says. "But what I'm waiting for is the day when stunt sequences get Academy Awards. Make-up and special effects already get them, but stunt performers are always getting left behind." The time is surely ripe for the Oscars to add another gong to its list. But one wonders whether the film-star ego could cope with such a public acknowledgment that they didn't do all the hard work.

The World Stunt Awards will be broadcast on Channel 5 this summer