Wall Street Journal: “Whip It” Roller Derby Trainer Alex Cohen on Skating, Scrimmaging and Choosing the Best Derby Name

By day, Alex Cohen hosts "All Things Considered" for station KPCC in Los Angeles. By night, however, the former NPR reporter tears around an angled track as a rock 'em, sock 'em roller derby girl. A long-time champion of the sport, which was invented in Depression-era America and revived in Austin, Texas in 2000, Cohen was tapped by the producers of the upcoming derby film "Whip It" to teach its leading ladies how to authentically scrimmage and take a fall. She recently spoke to the Journal about how she became involved with the sport, working with "Whip It" star Ellen Page, and how she picked her derby name "Axles of Evil."

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Wall Street Journal: Roller Derby Stars in Drew Barrymore's Whip It

In "Whip It," the directorial debut of actress Drew Barrymore, actress Ellen Page plays the lead role of Bliss Cavendar, a small-town Texas teenager who ditches her polite pageant wear for a pair of knee pads and Reidell roller derby skates.

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NBC LA: Now This Is a Red Carpet

Getty ImagesWell, we're old-school; we still like to rent our wheels. But we're new-school when it comes to new tricks at premieres. Hollywood honchos, take note: We, the enjoyers of magazines and web sites, would not mind more surprises. Get the Derby Dolls skating at every premiere, or hire the monsters that showed up at the "Zombieland" premiere.

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