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“Gina “Riley” Carano – The Main Event’

(video courtesy: shifted2u) by: Hey-Why-Her? .

Fast 6 preview clips – Gina “Riley” Carano vs Michelle “Letty” Rodriguez / Interrogating with Gisele * short behind the fight scene video clips * press interview along with Luke Evans *

                                                  (credit: EoinA & Hey-Why-her?)

Gina Carano aka DSS Agent Riley on the set of Fast and Furious 6 *updated 03-08

“I think it’ll be a very cool fight scene between two women,” says Carano, who plays Hobbs’s right-hand woman. Rodriguez is no mean screen fighter but going head-to-head with a real warrior means Carano has to pull some of her punches. “But every once in a while you have to give it a little something – and it helps out with the acting too,” Carano laughs. “Gina’s deadly,” growls Diesel barely concealing his delight. (IGN) credit: Swinjen & Hey-Why-Her       source: YahooMovies!, IGN.com, Machinima.com When did your transition from fighting to acting start? I always knew in my heart that if an opportunity was going to come, it was going to come, which it did through Steven Soderbergh. Ever since then, I’ve been like, just trust your heart a little bit more [laughs]… because those things do happen. He approached me after my last fight, which I had lost against Cyborg and I got a phone call that week, four days after the fight. My agent, you know how agents are, was like “you really need to take this meeting, he’s a director.” I was like I don’t want to see anyone. I still have a black eye, this is awful. We had lunch for four hours and asked if I wanted to do a movie and I was like, YES. Can you tell us about your character in the film? Yeah, her name’s Riley, which I think is a cool name. It’s only the second character in a movie I’ve ever had. She’s kind of a backup to The Rock. She’s on his team and is very loyal to him. She has some really cool twists and turns throughout the movie that I think the audience is going to be surprised by. Does she have a love interest? Ummm [laughs]… Let’s see. In her mind, always. You’ll have to wait and see. How has the training you’ve received in MMA translate to acting? Not just in the physical part of acting, but acting itself? It helps me so much because physical acting is often times just as important as verbal acting. I think what I bring to the table is just a natural sense of physicality, which I don’t really have to think about too much. Training to fight is a passion so when you have a passion, you get humbled. You get humbled when you go to … Continue reading →

Gina Carano Fan Experience: In This Corner…

                Growing up, I wasn’t an athlete. I always considered myself an average girl. It wasn’t until high-school that I found out that I loved entertaining people through dance and theatre classes.  It was the summer after I turned 17 and graduated. I auditioned for The Phoenix Suns Dance Squad. I remember practicing so hard to make it on the team. All of the girls were so beautiful; I started to lose confidence. Even though I had the skill, I didn’t shine in the audition. At that point in my life, I started to hate myself. I hated the way I looked and how short I was. Everything put me through a depression. A month later everything changed. Watching one of Gina Carano’s fights for the first time left me speechless. It was the StrikeForce Women’s Featherweight Title fight against Cris Cyborg. Even though she lost, she just seemed so superhuman to me. I was at loss for words. I just wanted to see more of her. I watched all I could until I was exhausted for school the next day. Every video I watched made me say, ” Gosh, I want to be like her.” She inspired me so much that I questioned myself thinking, “Why not… why not give it a shot?” Don’t get me wrong, I was terrified of fighting. I had never gotten into a fight or even hit anyone, and the next thing I know, I’m stepping foot into a Muay Thai Gym.  Just the sound of “Muay Thai” was intimidating. I didn’t know what to expect. The coach was a little man from Thailand. He gave me my first pair of pink boxing gloves and red Muay Thai shorts. After changing clothes, I remember looking in the mirror and thinking, “I can’t believe I’m here right now!” I then tried to pump myself up, thinking “Okay, be like Gina, be like Gina.” Walking out of the bathroom, the coach said, “Oh good, you look like a fighter now.” By the end of the class, I fell in love with it; I was so excited.  It lit a whole new fire inside me. The girl who had once hated herself now had confidence.  I wanted to learn everything, every: punch, kick, knee and elbow. I would then watch Gina’s training footage and try to mimic her combos by shadow boxing in the … Continue reading →

Official Fast and Furious 6 trailer – extended 1st look video & Superbowl spot

 @ginacarano: “flips and tricks with #fast6″ (click for full pic @ twitter) (credit: swinjen & AMC)

Gina Carano at Superbowl 47 weekend – pics & videos, interview with ESPN & USA Today (*updated 02-05)

Gina Carano promoting Under Armour gear at Superbowl 47 weekend in New Orleans:                 CLICK HERE for more candid pics.                              (credit: Paul877, swinjen, & Andrey)  ESPN’s Lynn Hoppes – “Fast & Furious 6″ is getting a lot of buzz. What was it like on the set for you?  Gina: “It was a great time watching all these people I grew up watching in movies my whole life. I got to see them in action and see all their different styles and personalities. It was interesting watching them either mesh together or not mesh together! It was really cool. Movies being made is a miracle.“ – You’ve been working a lot lately, with a handful of movies under your belt. I hear you have another one in the can as a starring role also coming out this year?  “That’s ‘In the Blood,’ about me tracking down my kidnapped husband. That was a quick shoot for director John Stockwell. It was one of the most extreme things I’ve done in my life. I had to zipline. I had never ziplined before. And the first time I’m doing it I have someone hanging on me swinging and screaming. It was the coolest and hardest thing I’ve ever done.” – You’ve starred in a few projects, but what’s the latest on the female version of “The “Expendables”? “There are several in development now and it’s all about getting the right people and who’s going to be first to the production. You have to get the right cast. It’s a competition right now.” Speaking of competition, do you ever think of getting back in the ring?  “I am always training, because I love it. But I would have to train specifically with a fight in my mind. That hasn’t entered my mind yet. I’m just preoccupied with my next project. I want to grow in this space. It’s really challenging for me. It’s attractive to me. Not like fighting isn’t. But it’s emotionally painful to act. You want to get better even after people smash you down. You want to be better than you were before.“  – Do you think you were ahead of your time? Now female mixed martial arts is really coming into its own with the arrival of superstar Ronda Rousey.  “I love … Continue reading →

Gina Carano’s nomination & appearance at the 18th Annual Critics Choice Awards

   START ^THIS VIDEO AT 01:08:11

In the Blood – movie: interviews, set pics and videos

                                        (credit: swinjen, Jchap2, mani & Andrey) 

Gina Carano Fan Experience: taking hard hits & still moving forward

“My entire life has been  one  long  battle.” My name is Chandra Vause. I am a 21 year old girl from South Africa. My entire life has been one long battle. I’ve had to fight for myself from an extremely young age as my father killed himself when I was 5 years old. My life hit a downward spiral. After living in many different homes and getting involved in drugs in my teen years, I have finally found myself and discovered that I am not my past or my circumstances. I have become a stronger person and I have Muay Thai and Gina Carano to thank for that. I have been practicing Muay Thai for 6 months now, during which time I have secured a future for myself by working hard as I was accepted into University to get my teaching degree in Language. I saw Gina Carano in  Fight Girls, and watching her gave me the strength I needed to pull myself out of the hole I was in. Gina’s genuine spirit and fighter’s heart is what pushed me to get my life on track again.  I had my first fight this past weekend (The SASCA Championships)  I fought a woman who has been practicing the sport for four years. I held out for three rounds going the distance, but was completely out of my league. Every time I hit that ring floor or had the wind knocked out of me, I kept thinking about what Gina would have done, so I stood up and took my beating. Proving my confidence was worth the worst hits of a black eye and bloody mouth. After I finish University, my dream is to become a professional Muay Thai fighter and meet Gina Carano. If I could say anything to Gina, it would be thank you. Thank you for inspiring me; you have no idea I exist but the impact you have made on my life is phenomenal. If I achieve none of my dreams, I know one wish came true, having a fighter’s heart. I know that every time that bell rings for the next round, I will keep trying. In life, I can hold my head high.  

Gina Carano’s early thoughts on Fast 6, The Rock, other co-stars and more

Gina Carano shares her early thoughts on Fast 6, her co-stars and recounts Haywire to top UK based film site - Filmoria.com  First of all, congratulations on your success in Haywire. How did you get involved in the role of Mallory Kane?                                      -Steven Soderbergh actually saw me fighting on CBS and then gave my management and agent a call. I’d just lost my first fight to Cyborg so I was just kinda depressed and he took the train up from LA and we had a four hour lunch. He asked if I wanted to do a movie and I was like, ‘yeah sure’ and then he went on to say he didn’t have a script, producers or actors confirmed and explained him and writer Lem Dobbs would get working on it. It was incredible how fast it moved. The script ended up being good for me as Mallory is nothing like me and then he (Soderbergh) had me train with a secret service guy for seven months instead of an acting coach. It must have been an overwhelming experience being touted by a top Hollywood director. How did you feel when you got the call and met up? -I’m from the fighting world so I didn’t really know who Steven Soderbergh was. I didn’t really know anyone’s names so I was very clueless on Hollywood. Since then, I have received the full education, believe me, and after it’s all said and done, I look back and can’t believe he did what he did and I couldn’t be more grateful.   (continued…) (James Thompson – @thommojo3)

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