Gina Carano first became famous as female MMA’s first superstar, but these days she’s best known for bringing her brand of visceral mixed martial arts action to the big screen in blockbuster movies like Fast And Furious 6.
Carano was brought on-board for the sixth instalment of the hugely successful movie franchise in 2013, and with one of the toughest actresses in Hollywood, Michelle Rodriguez, also on board, the stage was set for a memorable fight scene between the two.
While she’s by no means a natural actress, Carano certainly looks like a movie star, and had already proven in the Steven Soderbergh movie, ‘Haywire’ in 2011, that her years of combat sports experience gave her fight scenes an air of authenticity on-screen that set her apart from other female action stars.
While Rodriguez’s character brandishes knuckle dusters and implements rugged, street-fighting techniques like headbutts and biting during their fight, Carano can be seen utilizing the kind of moves you’d see from her in the cage, including a spinning back kick, elbows, knees, and even a show-stopping flying armbar submission.
Speaking of that eye-catching spinning kick, Carano sheepishly confessed during an interview with heavy.com that she actually hurt a stuntwoman while filming the scene.
I threw this spinning back kick against a stunt girl, Cybill, and she’s so awesome, and she’s just like ‘Give it to me,’ and I’m like, ‘Okay, I will.’ Just to make it look real. And it landed way harder than I anticipated and everyone was like, ‘Oohh!’ And you feel like a big a**hole when that happens. You don’t feel good about yourself. It’s not a big ego boost.
The daughter of a former Dallas Cowboy’s backup quarterback, Gina Carano initially began training in muay thai at the age of 21, recording a 12-1-1 record in the sport, while also becoming the first American woman to win a title in Thailand.
After that she moved on to mixed martial arts, where she’d become the face of female MMA years, before Ronda Rousey emerged on the scene, compiling a 7-1 record while fighting for the likes of EliteXC and Strikeforce.
Inevitably, Carano’s popularity eventually resulted in interest from Hollywood, leading to her being cast in major movies like ‘Haywire’ and ‘Fast And Furious 6.’
Since then she’s also found box-office success with a role in ‘Deadpool’ and is currently slated to appear in a reboot of the Kickboxer franchise and the indie apocalyptic thriller, ‘Scorched Earth’.
