By Michelle Edgar
Walking through Jessie Graff’s house in South Bay, visitors quickly realize they are not entering a traditional living room. There are wall-to-wall mats instead of furniture. Monkey bars stretch across the kitchen ceiling. A bench press sits where many would place a dining table. Exercise equipment, climbing structures and training spaces fill the home. That’s the life of a Hollywood stunt performer.
The American Ninja Warrior icon and Hollywood stunt performer Jessie Graff transformed her home into a space built around movement, revealing the hidden discipline behind superheroes, stunt work and a life designed around purpose. Most people build home gyms to avoid traffic, Graff built her home to keep moving.
Walk through Graff’s Redondo Beach house and visitors quickly realize they are not entering a traditional living room. There are wall to wall mats instead of plush furniture. Monkey bars stretch across the kitchen ceiling. A bench press sits where many would place a dining table. Exercise equipment, climbing structures and training spaces fill the home.
There is also one thing missing, a couch. “I don’t own couches or chairs,” Graff said with a laugh.
For Graff, best known for obstacle breaking performances on American Ninja Warrior and stunt work on Supergirl, the setup is less about spectacle and more about creating an environment that naturally encourages movement. “People talk about whatever healthy habits you want to have, you want to make those the most convenient choices for you – I built my house how I want to live,” she said.
For Graff, the home was never intended to become some public stunt training facility. Instead, it became an intentional extension of her life and work. “Do I want to walk into my living room and have a comfy couch and a big TV, or do I want to walk into the room and look around and think, ‘I could stretch, I could do gymnastics, I could do physical therapy’?” The answer she leaned towards, “All of the healthiest choices for me are the most obvious things to do.”
The environment itself reflects a passion that began almost as early as memory. “When I was three years old, I wanted to join the circus,” Graff said. “I’ve always loved being up in the air; flying, climbing, swinging.”
That fascination carried her through competitive gymnastics, where she reached Level 9 in high school, and later into collegiate pole vaulting, where she set state records before studying theater at the University of Nebraska.
The goal, she said simply, was always the same. “I wanted to be a superhero on TV.”
Moving to Los Angeles introduced Graff to a different kind of classroom. She trained with veteran stunt communities around the city, including legendary sessions at Bob Yerkes’ backyard workouts and late night training at Gymnastics Olympica in Van Nuys, a gathering place where stunt performers sharpened skills and built relationships.
Rather than relying on industry parties and traditional networking, Graff found connection through repetition and effort. “I thought that was a much better way of networking than going to bars,” she said.
People saw how hard she worked, how many times she would hit the ground and get back up again, and how quickly she learned. Before television appearances and Hollywood credits arrived, Graff said she already felt successful. “If I never make any money doing this, but I can be a bum on the beach and train with all these world class athletes doing the coolest things I’ve ever seen, the dream is already true.”
Nearly twenty years later, her approach to training has evolved. “I would say I’m more scientific now,” Graff said.
Today, training emphasizes strength, conditioning and injury prevention alongside maintaining stunt skills and preparing for the highly specialized demands of Ninja Warrior competition.
She has also recently found inspiration in another venture, a step in a different direction with an invention called Hero Heels. The shoe concept maintains the appearance of traditional high heels while functioning more like athletic footwear, using a fully compressible heel structure that allows users to spin, flip and move naturally. Currently produced by hand with a modern day cobbler, Graff hopes to eventually partner with an established footwear company rather than build an independent shoe business.
An early social media post introducing the idea generated nearly seven million views and thousands of requests despite only one prototype existing at the time. “The issue isn’t getting the word out, but manufacturing,” said Graff.
Underlying all of Graff’s pursuits is a philosophy that has guided her through stunts and life itself. Fear, she says, is not something to eliminate. It is something to understand. “Nerves and fear are really important survival instincts,” Graff said. When fear appears, she moves through a checklist. Is the environment safe? Is the equipment right? Is she prepared? Is there anything that needs adjustment?
Then she narrows her focus and added, “What are the actions I need to take? If my brain is too busy figuring out how to do it correctly, then I don’t have space in my brain to pay attention to fear,” said Graff.
Away from television cameras and stunt sets, Graff also teaches private lessons and small group classes through Los Angeles Ninja Academy in Culver City, where she limits classes to six students so she can work closely with participants.
Her favorite moments have little to do with physical achievement. “I think my favorite is when somebody is afraid to do things and I can teach them how to fall properly, how to keep themselves safe and gain the courage to try something that was scary.”
For someone who has spent a career climbing walls, flying through the air and bringing superheroes to life, perhaps that is the greatest stunt of all, along with teaching people how to believe they can do something they once thought impossible.