Monthly Archives: April 2012
Gina Carano – more at ActionFest 2012, also featuring Cung Le & JJ Perry (*updated 4-20-12)
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Chick Norris Award winner Gina Carano, speaks about authenticity in action films & more:
– in a ReelzChannel video (Reelz.com)
– in an interview with The Action Flick Chick –MTV (MTV.com, ActionFlickChick.com)
– with JJ Perry & Cung Le, giving ten ways to make better action films (Movies.com)
Then, Fight Director of the Year JJ Perry, expounds on his craft, as well as past & current projects. (ActionFest.com, Craveonline.com)
Let’s begin with how you became an MMA fighter.
I was just kind of going to college because that was what everybody around me told me to do. I didn’t have any passion and trying to find myself. I was dating a guy at the time who loved Bruce Lee. One night we were all hanging out drinking 40s, and he was like, “You know what? I’m gonna be done with this life. I’m gonna lose you if I don’t improve my life.” So he went the next day to Master Toddy’s Muay Thai. I would go and watch him. Finally, the Thai master to me, “Oh baby, you need to lose weight. You fat.” And I was like, “Oh God, like, okay.” I signed up for lessons with him, and five months later I found myself in San Francisco in a little tiny gym, kind of like a “Fight Club”-type of scenario. And I was fighting. Ever since I did that, I was just kind of addicted to it.
Do you have go-to badass move?
I was in a fight in high school, and I overhand-righted this girl because she started attacking me at a basketball game. My first ever fight! I’ve had professional fighters come up to me and ask me about my overhand-right. It just came so naturally. (…continued)
(credit jr)
Interview & pics: Gina Carano further in depth on next movie, Wonder Woman, female action stars and more
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FilmSchoolRejects.com spoke with Gina Carano, the recipient and inspiration for The Chick Norris Best Female Action Star Award, at ActionFest 2012.
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us.
Not a problem. Film School Rejects, that’s an incredible name.
Thank you very much, we do the best we can. That’s kind of how we operate, we appreciate films as if we went to film school and yet all managed to get kicked out before graduation.
I like that.
I wanted to talk to you a little bit about making the transition from MMA to film. Specifically, did you find it difficult to work within scripted fight sequences after coming from something as visceral and in the moment as mixed martial arts?
Actually I found it, in a way, enlightening and freeing. It allowed me to do what I love to do without worrying about having to have a fight at the end of those two months of training. Instead it was more like choreography for a dance, but still letting me do what I love, and that was a ton of fun for me. It was a way for me to explore my passion without getting hurt or having to hurt someone else. It was beautiful actually. When you’re fighting in gyms, you have to spar all the time. Sometimes you’re better than your sparring partner, sometimes you’re worse, but you have to use a certain amount of control. I took that same mentality, “I’m not trying to hurt this person, I’m trying to work with this person.” It was an easy transition actually. (continued …)
(credit: swinjen, M1, & EoinA)
ActionFest 2012 Fan Experience With Gina Carano
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The stunt show started at about 2PM, at about 2:20PM I noticed Gina her mom were there and lots of people noticed and got excited saying that’s Gina Carano with the hat and leather jacket…………( for the record I was hoping she would be in her trademark leather jacket :)…………Cung Le joined Gina and her mom in the roped off area with all the stunt men, actors, event people etc.
The stunt show was still going strong at 3PM but Gina walked inside with the director her manager and some event people, I figured the stunt show was just running a little late and they would wait for Gina’s introduction and the movie but after 5 minutes i went and and just missed Gina’s intro to the movie True Romance and was very disappointed :(….she looked really shy and embarrassed you could tell she hated public speaking (which I can totally relate to :)……she had her usual cute smile and high tailed it out of there with her mom, I was sitting at the end of the second row because I wanted to be up front for the panel on fighting in film that Gina, Cung Le and JJ Perry were doing and Gina walked right next to me and looked very nervous and embarrassed so I gave her a big smile and said I missed your introduction ( I don’t think she heard what I said though because she was nervous, but she smiled back as she met her mom and walked out.
Next came the fight panel with Gina, Cung Le and JJ Perry…….Gina was very cute but nervous, she hated talking about her self or criticizing other people or things…..but was very comfortable with Cung Le and JJ and talking about things she was passionate about……she talked about her new movie a little said she is training now and filming starts in June, they really got along well, they were passing questions off to each other and high fiving each other and fist bumping. JJ Perry did a little more talking than Gina or Cung Le but they all were very cool and interesting and had good things to say. they showed scenes of Gina and JJ doing all the fight scenes from Haywire. Cung and JJ went without a microphone, Gina tried to do the same but several people from the crowd yelled they couldn’t hear her so […]
