Buffy The Vampire Slayer

A stunt wife and her stunt spouse escape crazy L.A. for the placidity of Lake County.

UMATILLA — She has kicked vampires alongside Buffy. He has made David Spade look good.

Jennifer Badger and her husband, David Martin, are a young movie/television stunt team based in rural Lake County.

Collectively they boast nearly 200 screen credits — from TV’s Surface and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to movies including Red Eye, Bad Boys II, Jeepers Creepers, Charlie’s Angels and Joe Dirt.

The switch from glitzy Los Angeles, where they initially made their reputations as screen daredevils, to the backwoods of Central Florida was not done without some hesitation.

"I remember driving through the area when I was doing Jeepers Creepers [filmed during 2000 in north Lake County] and thinking, who would live way out here?" Badger says.

Two years later she answered her own question.

She and Martin moved into a comfortable waterfront home on a large wooded estate where they hone their stunt-work skills privately and watch their 3-year-old son, Nicholas, grow up.

"We’re homebodies — we really didn’t fit into L.A.," Badger says. "It is so peaceful here after a day on the set. We love it."

She: From Farrah to Angelina

Badger is 28 and has been a full-time stuntwoman for 13 years. She has served as a stunt double for Eliza Dushku, Angelina Jolie, Courteney Cox, Farrah Fawcett and Drew Barrymore.

Her resume includes Red Eye (2005), The Punisher (2004), Bad Boys II (2003), Jeepers Creepers (2001), 15 Minutes (2001), Charlie’s Angels (2000) and Scream 3 (2000).

Badger’s television credentials include the new NBC series Surface as well as One Tree Hill, Dawson’s Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Baywatch.

A native of Central Florida — she was born in Bartow and grew up in Orlando — Badger was interested in acting as a career. But ever since a summer stint at Six Flags Over Georgia, she has been hooked on stunt work. The theme-park work helped her learn skills she then took to Hollywood.

There is a seemingly unlimited supply of beautiful women seeking fame and fortune in front of the camera as doubles or extras, but most shy away from taking a hard fall.

"Most of them don’t want to hit the ground," Badger says. "But I enjoy it."

Ilyanne Kichaven, national publicity director for the Screen Actors Guild, says that of the guild’s 120,000-plus members, only about 6,600 are classified as stunt workers. And they are predominantly male.

"It’s risky work," Kichaven says.

But for the few women who enjoy it, there is no shortage of work. Badger specializes in water stunts, but she also learned martial arts while on the Buffy set: "I’ve got some good moves," she says, "but if I was in a fight on the street, I’d get my butt kicked."

He: Dishwasher to ’Joe Dirt’

Martin is 31 and comes from Rhode Island.