Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Can Gina Carano act?

Well, that's the million dollar question. I'm sure everyone knows by now that women's MMA superstar Gina Carano has signed to star in a major motion picture. Last week, I was busy with other stuff like the JEWELS show and I didn't see much point in trying to report this as breaking news because Variety was all over it. But a couple of people asked me if it's true and if I'm going to write about it. Who knew? So I'm going to recap the story and give it a little perspective. Gina Carano has signed to star in the film Knockout. The film will be directed by Steven Soderbergh who has a new film premiering called The Informant starring Matt Damon. Soderbergh will produce with Relativity Media owner Ryan Kavanagh and Lionsgate signed to distribute the film on Sunday. It is scheduled to begin shooting in February and could be in theaters by the end of 2010. Despite the title, Knockout is not an MMA film but is a spy thriller. The title seems to confuse some fans so I'd like to see them change it. The film was written by Lem Dobbs who also wrote the Soderbergh film The Limey starring Terence Stamp. If you haven't seen it, it's well worth your time.






So it's not exactly new for pro wrestlers and MMA fighters to try acting. But Gina is the star of this film and that makes a huge difference. That's a lot of pressure. If she was doing a B movie for some hack, that would be one thing. But Stephen Soderbergh got Julia Roberts an Oscar for Erin Brockovich. Not that I expect Gina to get an Oscar. But she's in good hands. He's an outstanding director. She has two fights at $125K per fight left on her Strikeforce contract so I expect her to return. Who knows? Maybe she won't like the film business. Strikeforce owner Scott Coker has said nothing which doesn't surprise me. He just went through the same thing with Cung Le and Coker doesn't seem like a screamer anyway. When Quentin "Rampage" Jackson recently signed to be in the A-Team film, UFC manager Dana White went nuts and isn't talking to Jackson. So there are always going to be those who think Gina Carano is abandoning MMA for greener pastures. So I'm going to say the same thing I said when Dwayne Johnson got into acting while he was still in the WWE. Gina Carano would have been a fool to turn down this opportunity. She should take advantage of it.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:24 AM

    I agree. Her acting career is in the best hands. Steven is an expert at working with non-actors and getting excellent performances out of them. The best thing is for her to be natural and not try to act, but imagine how she'd respond if the stuff in the script happened to her in real life, then just respond. Acting doesn't have to be rocket science, but many people mind trip themselves about it. Steven is good at getting people to relax and "inhabit" a role.

    I'm glad she still has fights on her contract with Strikeforce. I know all of us would like to see her continue with fighting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Steven Soderbergh is one of the best directors out there, he wouldn't have just thrown any actor into the role without careful consideration. Gina is in excellent hands. And from what i've read, she will be working with some experienced actors (chances are George Clooney or Matt Damon, Steven's two favorites) so she will have some good company with her.

    I am also glad that she still has a couple of fights on her contract, I just hope it doesn't take too long for us to see her fight again. With any luck it we will see her fight once more before she starts filming.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't expect a male star in this film. They want Gina to be the star and guys like Clooney and Damon would distract from that. And Soderbergh isn't partners with Clooney anymore. I expect character actors like Ray Winstone or Luis Guzman, guys like that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. She is very clearly an attractive and talented woman, but I dont really see her making much of a career in in acting. I think she should stick to fighting for now and later try to use that as a springboard.

    ReplyDelete