Who is she: Gina Carano?
Gina Joy Carano (born April 16, 1982) is an American actress, television personality, fitness model, and a former mixed martial artist. Carano appeared as Crush, a Gladiator on American Gladiators. She has been referred to as the “Face of Women’s MMA.” Carano was formerly the third best 145 lb (66 kg) female fighter in the world, according to the Unified Women’s MMA Rankings. Carano starred in the 2011 action film, Haywire, and is in the 2013 film Fast & Furious 6.Gina Carano is one tough cookie. You’ve seen her kicking ass and taking names on the MMA circuit and also on NBC’s American Gladiators as “Crush.”
Gina Carano might be tough, but that doesn’t mean she’s not beautiful. As one of Google and Yahoo’s most searched people, guys are eager to see and learn more about her. Why wouldn’t they? Gina Carano’s tight and toned 5’8″ frame has curves and muscles in the right places, and her piercing gaze commands our attention. The entertainment media is giving Gina Carano some quality recognition, as well. She’s been featured in Maxim and was chosen by Big Biz Magazine as the Hottest Woman in America.Not one to be big-headed, Gina Carano hasn’t let her sex appeal change her grounded personality. For years, she considered herself a tomboy rather than an attractive beauty. She’s also very close to her family, having helped her sister, Casey, kick a serious drug habit. Gina Carano’s strong personality only makes her that much more endearing.
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Carano starred in the cult film Ring Girls. Based on true events, Ring Girls is a fast-paced story about five American women from Las Vegas who take on the ultimate challenge of fighting the best female Muay Thai fighters in the world.
Along with Lisa King, Carano served as a mentor to aspiring female fighters in the Oxygen reality series Fight Girls. She appeared as “Crush” on the NBC show American Gladiators, in which she starred in the workout video of the show along with Monica Carlson (Jet), Jennifer Widerstrom (Phoenix), Michael O’Hearn (Titan), Tanoai Reed (Toa) and Don “Hollywood” Yates (Wolf). The DVD was released on December 16, 2008. She is featured in the Michael Jai White film Blood and Bone.She has appeared in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 as Natasha,[38] a purchasable hero unit, portraying the Soviet sniper/commando in various cutscenes. In September 2009, Carano landed the leading role in the spy thriller movie Haywire, directed by Steven Soderbergh. Christy Lemire of The Associated Press stated: “Carano’s dialogue delivery may seem a bit stiff — and she has acknowledged that Soderbergh made some tweaks to her voice in post-production — but she has tremendous presence: an intriguing mix of muscular power and eye-catching femininity”. In February 2012, Carano was cast in In the Blood, an action thriller being directed by John Stockwell (Into the Blue, Blue Crush).
The film has been described as being in the vein of Taken, In the Blood is set in motion when a husband disappears while vacationing in the Caribbean with his wife, played by Carano. The grieving wife passionately and recklessly pursues the men whom she believes kidnapped and killed him. Stockwell stated, “This role will showcase not only Gina’s fighting skills, but also her acting abilities as her character struggles to [rein] in her violent past”. Carano co-starred in Fast & Furious 6 (2013), as a member of Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Special Agent Luke Hobbs’ (Dwayne Johnson) team.In September 2012, Carano signed on as the lead in an all-female ensemble action film described as the female version of The Expendables. Producer Adi Shankar said, “I don’t know how I’m supposed to make a movie that is supposed to be the female version of The Expendables without Gina Carano in it. It would be like making Twix without caramel or Jamba Juice without jamba”.
She was profiled in a feature story for the ESPN series E:60. She was voted “Hottest Woman In America” by Big Biz Magazine in the Spring 2008 issue. On May 13, 2008, “Gina Carano” was the fastest-rising search on Google and third most searched person on Yahoo!. She was ranked as #5 on the “Top Ten Influential Women of 2008” list on Yahoo! In May 2009, it was announced that Carano was ranked #16 in Maxim’s Hot 100 list.In April 2012, Carano became the first recipient of the Chuck Norris (Best Female Action Star) Award, given by ActionFest to the female action star of the year.She is one of the cover athletes along with Serena Williams for the October 19, 2009 edition of ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue.She was a nominee for the 2013 Critics Choice Awards for best actress in an action movie for Haywire.
