Kim-Maree Penn is a bodyguard to visiting VIPs, a stunt actress and runs Signal 8 Security. The tall Australian, who also models, was 1988 world karate champion in kumite (fighting) and is undefeated in any martial arts competition.
At 26, she has appeared in more than 20 films starring opposite Jackie Chan, Dolph Lundgren and Leon Lai.
As a bodyguard she has worked for a host of celebrities including Cindy Crawford, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. What's on your mind? New laws came into force this week to regulate the security industry. Bouncers and bodyguards will now have to have a permit.
It's a good thing because there's a lot of guys who think just because they stand in the gym and pump iron they can do security work.
You will now have to do a training course and pass a test so you will only get guys standing on the door who have some common sense instead of psychopaths who are just big and want to beat people up - and there are plenty of them. How did you become a bodyguard? Because of my martial arts I was the stunt double in the Dolph Lundgren movie The Punisher. I was then asked to do action movies over here.
I had just started a degree in biomedical science and I thought, 'Do I want to look down a microscope for the rest of my life or do something different?' When I moved here I met so many guys who did martial arts I thought, 'Why not get them together and do security.' We started with the opening of Planet Hollywood. Do female bodyguards have an advantage over men? In America and Europe more and more women are being employed as bodyguards.
Women come across as less threatening so you don't aggravate the situation. You look more like you're part of the entourage. You have a lower profile.