"Everything is feast or famine in this business — but right now it's a good time," says Nito Larioza, a singer/dancer/choreographer/stunt man whose sense of movement is all over the recently released movie "Catwoman."

The Pearl City High School graduate and former Wahiawa resident wouldn't confirm reports that he actually doubled for star Halle Berry in some action scenes. What is certain is that he was instrumental in developing the slinky, sexy, purr-fectly lethal fighting style that star Berry and her two official stunt doubles employ in the film.

Berry plays shy, sensitive Patience Philips, who is transformed into a sleek fighting machine with cat-like abilities.

Drawing on his background in dance, gymnastics and the Brazilian martial art capoeira, Larioza worked with choreographer Anne Fletcher, stunt coordinator Steve Davison, and fight coordinator Mike Gunther to devise a binding logic for how the ailurophilic superwoman should move through space, a theory and a set of applications that would give not just Berry but the entire movie a distinct artistic vibe.

Fletcher "had studied cats and their movements to get an idea of how to make Halle's physicality more 'catty,' " Larioza said. "They wanted that aspect, along with something feminine and sexy."

But it would take much trial, error and fine tuning to arrive at just the right way for a human being to, for example, land hands first instead of feet first.

Producers needed someone with an innate understanding of how bodies move, someone with a broad range of experiences who could help conceive and execute a fighting style distinct from the wushu-lite that has been de rigeur in Hollywood action movies for the past decade.

Nito Larioza gets into a Catwoman pose from the movie, which he helped choreograph.*Nito Larioza demonstrates one of his action moves. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

Larioza said he served as Fletcher's "guinea pig" as they experimented with different movements and he enacted the fight sequences for the initial stop-motion work.

Once that was done, Larioza worked with Berry and stunt doubles Angela Uyeda and Ruthy Inchaustegui for three months, helping them refine their movements for the camera.

"It was fun," Larioza said. "We broke the movements down into counts. Halle took those movements and gave them her own vibe and sexiness. It worked out really well."

Larioza said he's still new to the film industry, but his history of performing goes back to when he was 5 years old and doing hula and Filipino dance in Waikiki for "candy money."

"Those early experiences helped a lot," Larioza said. "In stunt work it's not enough to do the motions, you have to sell it. When I was performing in Waikiki, I learned not to be afraid. I was never afraid to make eye contact."

Larioza realized early on that his talents lay in his ability to mimic and master a range of physical movements. As a child, he excelled at gymnastics until a broken ankle derailed his progress. In high school, he used his dance and gymnastic talents to earn a spot on the cheerleading squad.

"People made fun of me, but I didn't care," he said.

Larioza said his first love is singing and dancing, and as a member of the New Generation (originally the Bad Boys Club), he his four bandmates did plenty of both, eventually signing on with Warner Bros. Records.

The group cashed in on the boy band craze of the late '90s, performing with TLC and the Backstreet Boys, but Larioza found himself increasingly dissatisfied with the politics of the recording industry. The New Generation broke up after six years.

"It left a bad taste in my mouth," he said. "There were things you didn't want to do, but you had to. It just wasn't fun anymore."

Still, Larioza had been keeping his options open, and he took every opportunity to expand his range as a performer, whether that meant taking small TV roles, touring the country as part of a Power Rangers show (he was the Blue Ranger) or dancing on Madonna's Drowned World Tour.

"I got a chance to do some choreography with Madonna and that gave me a lot of confidence," Larioza said. "I was encouraged to try to do it for a living, but at that point I still wanted to sing and dance."

Larioza's first break as a stunt man was a big one. Working with legendary Hong Kong stunt coordinator Andy Chang, Larioza performed in and helped to choreograph a memorable fight scene in the 2003 film "The Rundown," starring the Rock.

The scene, pitting the Rock against a pack of "Kontiki rebels" was nominated for a Taurus World Stunt Award and an MTV Movie Award for "Best Fight."

Next came a role in the straight-to-DVD sequel to "Bring it On," in which Larioza played a member of the Renegade's cheerleading squad.

Larioza tried out for a stunt double gig on "Spider-Man" but lost out to a friend. Still, he said the audition left him primed and ready for "Catwoman."

"I felt really good about it," he said. "I knew I rocked the audition. Then "Catwoman" came right around the corner and I knew I could get it. They wanted the same thing — something different from everything else."

Larioza's rise has caught the eye of established stunt men like Colin Fong, vice president of the Hawaii Stunt Association.

"Nito is fairly new, but he's done a lot of impressive things already," Fong said. "He's come a long way in a short time."

Fong said Larioza's background in dance is apparent in his work.

"Stunt work is an art form, like dance, and you have to sell the action," Fong said. "If you're not in balance or your movements are not powerful, the action won't look real. Nito does a good job in selling the action."

Larioza said all of his varied experiences have led him to what he believes will be his life's work. He intends to focus his creative energies on stunt work and hopes to one day work as a lead stunt coordinator on an major motion picture.

"I'm at an age where once you know what you're good at, you have to just take it and kill it," he said. "The more you scatter yourself, the harder it is to succeed. If you find that one thing and just go after it and kill it, the opportunities will happen."

As his work with "Catwoman" was winding down, Larioza was tapped to work on the soon-to-be-released "Catwoman" video game by EA, and the commercial that will accompany its rollout. He's also working on another video game involving the full roster of Marvel Comic superheroes.