The woman who died Monday during a motorcycle stunt on the set of "Deadpool 2" was Joi "SJ" Harris, a groundbreaking black road racer who, according to her website, got her Class M license in 2009 and didn't look back.
Race-licensed in May 2013, she said she began competing in 2014 and was the first African American woman to participate in an American Motorcycle Assn.-sanctioned road-racing event.
Harris' family confirmed the Brooklyn woman's identity on Monday to TMZ, which reported that the "Deadpool 2" stunt was her first movie gig. She's believed to have been a stunt double for Zazie Beetz's character, Domino.
The stunt, which witnesses told several outlets had been rehearsed successfully a number of times, went wrong around 8 a.m. Monday in Vancouver. Harris reportedly hit a curb and went airborne into a building window. An ambulance was called, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Because her character did not wear a helmet in the movie, Harris was not wearing a helmet, a source told Deadline Hollywood.
"EVERYTHING FOR A REASON #staythecourse," Harris had posted Friday on Facebook, listing her status as "feeling fantastic" in Vancouver.
Ryan Reynolds, director David Leitch and others expressed their condolences Monday, with the "Deadpool 2" star saying that while he was "devastated," he knew that "nothing can come close to the grief and inexplicable pain her family and loved ones must feel in this moment."
Harris wrote on her blog in July about the importance of learning from every crash what not to do the next time.
"In short when it comes to crashing, I've learned to accept that I am not the greatest rider that exists and that there is always something to learn when on track and pushing limits," she wrote. "Sometimes I'm going to eat it if I'm impatient. Everything takes time. Face your fears you never know what you can (be) missing out on."
