Interviews – Gina Carano on her status, Haywire, her next movie, new stunt training, & more

 

How did you handle the mixed reactions?
Yeah, people love it or they hate it pretty much. Everybody is their own critic. It’s a film that I think people love or they hate and they look at what it is or they don’t like it at all. I don’t care. People have loved or hated me my whole life too so you just take the good and the bad and you just balance it out.

We heard you called Channing Tatum a pussy on the set. Do you normally have a potty mouth?
[Laughs] Sometimes. It depends on what part of my life I’m in, I’ll have a potty mouth. Depends on what’s happening.

How are you getting ready for In the Blood and its exotic locations?
It’s going to be shot in Puerto Rico. It’s [doubling for] Colombia. I’m really excited about that. I actually moved to L.A. and have been training with the stunt team. Getting in shape is such an amazing thing for me right now.

What is that character’s fighting style?
I think she’s more just like she grew up in a very interesting atmosphere and she’s just ruthless, just kind of street fighting ruthless, does whatever to get the job done. Just ruthless street fighting. It’s not going to be like Haywire, she was a trained contractor so you expect these nice moves to come out of her. I think it’s going to be a little more street fight.

Haywire was developed for you. Is this more of a character you’re stepping into the role when it already existed?
You know what’s really interesting about Haywire is it was written for me but it ended up being nothing like me. Actually, me and my friend were reading this script and he was like, “Holy sh*t, Gina, this was made for you.” He was like, “Somebody must have written this with you in mind.” I love her. I love this character in this role. She’s awesome. Her name’s Ava. Sometimes you kind of fall asleep when you’re reading these scripts, you know. It was a script that I just kept on page turning and page turning and I couldn’t put it down.

John Stockwell’s done a lot of tropical action. Will we see you in a bikini? 
[Laughs] I don’t know, I’ll have to wait and see. I’m definitely training to get into a bikini right now so we will definitely wait and see.

Would it be hard to fight in a bikini without any padding?
No, I didn’t wear any padding on Haywire. One thing about being blessed about coming from MMA is you really put your body through the whole grind. When I enjoy doing something, I don’t mind if it hurts.

Do you know what the big fights will be in In the Blood?
We haven’t gotten into the fights yet so I’m pretty much just training and learning a lot of cool sh*t at the stunt gym right now and then we’ll start going the choreography here in the next couple weeks I think. That’s a good question. I’m looking forward to it too.

What strikes you as cool sh*t when you’ve trained so much already?
Well, like right now I’m learning basic kicks and things that I have always looked at and been like, “There’s no way I can do that.” And now I’m doing it and I’m like, “Wow, okay.” So you just have to learn the steps, like a dance. You just have to learn the steps to making that move happen. I’m like oh sh*t, I wish I could have been open minded enough when I was fighting to learn these moves because I wouldn’t be afraid to throw ‘em. So it’s really cool to go into a gym where my passion is mixed martial arts but now I get to use it so creatively. And it’s pretty much all fascinating to me right now because in the past I come from a Muay Thai background. It was always so straightforward and get the job done type of stuff. Now I get to go in and learn all sorts of different types of martial arts. Its’ really opened my mind and refreshed my love for martial arts in general.

If you go back to fighting could you use more of what you’ve learned in movies?

Oh yeah. I know that sounds maybe ridiculous probably to some people, but I’m throwing spinning back kicks and all sorts of stuff. Walking into the stunt gym, you’ve got nothing but the most passionate people about mixed martial arts just using these martial arts to make fight scenes look great. They don’t have a limit on oh, I’m just a Muay Thai fighter, I’m just a Jujitsu fighter. No, they’re thinking so over the top so it’s really been kind of a super refreshing thing for me to see because one of the biggest elements in fighting is being creative. That’s one thing that I might have been lacking in my cage fighting is being creative and remembering to be fresh and creative.

You haven’t announced whether or not you’re retiring from MMA yet, have you?
No, I haven’t. I think it’s really nice for me to get into this new career. I know I can’t make a living fighting, nor would I want to make a living fighting for the rest of my life. Plus it’s been a decade now. I don’t know if you’ve been reporting or doing something for 10 years, but after you do it long enough and you find something else to put your energy towards, it’s just like starting over but it’s fresh and you have the energy all of a sudden to do it.

I might be a little different in that I do want to be a journalist forever but it’s also not life threatening.
Well, if you were writing for Crave for 10 years and you needed something different, maybe you’d want to go write somewhere else for your writer’s block. You know what I mean?

I understand the comparison, but I would also like Crave to know I’m very happy writing for them and I don’t plan on going anywhere.
[Laughs] Yeah.

With fighting, do you have to declare you’re in or retired? Can’t you just fight if you want and take a break if you want?
That’s the way I look at it. I don’t want to be one of those people that says, “Oh, I retire. Okay, I’m back. Oh, I retire. Okay, I’m back.” I’m just like okay, this is what I’m doing right now. Who knows what’s going to come after it? I really haven’t really gotten that far yet.

Do you enjoy watching movie fighting, or can you even when you have real fight knowledge?
You know, it’s funny. During Haywire I couldn’t watch any movies because I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is how movies are made.” It was such an eye opener. I asked Steven [Soderbergh], “Is this going to ruin movies for me forever?” He was like, “Pretty much, yeah.” But I found that after about six months, I didn’t watch movies for like six months after Haywire. Now I find that I enjoy them that much more because I do have a lot of knowledge about how they’re made now and I’m like wow, I have that much more of an appreciation for it. With the fighting, I pretty much look at a movie fight and I just think about what I would have done or what I could do. I kind of appreciate it and try to be creative with it instead of judge it too much.

Have you seen The Raid? (Click here for trailer) 
No, but my manager told me I need to see that. Is it pretty good?

It’s awesome. You’re discovering a new martial art on screen.
I definitely want to see that. I almost went to the premiere but I had to go to my sister’s birthday. Yeah, I wanted to see that. Cool.

Have they mentioned Haywire 2?
I would love to do a Haywire 2 but right now I’m really excited about In the Blood. I’m excited about her, the character and the vulnerability in that character so there’s lots of other things on the table but working with Steven was such an honor, of course I’d love to do that again.

Could Ava have more adventures after In the Blood?
We’ll have to find out. I’m not going to give any spoilers.

(Source: CraveOnline – Fred Topel) (credit: EoinA)

Are you excited about ActionFest? Seems like it’s just great that something like that exists.

 I know, just a bunch of good people I imagine. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m glad that they have it because you know they don’t give stunt awards out at the Emmys or Oscars. They don’t give the stunt awards out. I’m really surprised because those people are putting their lives on the line to make these films so it’s really nice to have an event for them.

Haywire wasn’t your first film, but your first lead so how does it feel to get Female Action Star of the Year?

I really consider this my first film to be honest. I did a glorified documentary which I didn’t really consider a film acting role, and then I did a fight in Blood and Bone so I really consider Haywire my first acting, so it’s fine to call it a debut. I’m really excited. I’m super honored. I just don’t even know. I don’t know how I get so blessed and put in these circumstances.

How did you deal with the reactions to Haywire, both the good and the bad?

It’s a love hate type film and that’s fine with me. It was a beautiful experience. Steven Soderbergh gave me an amazing opportunity. I think he’s a quite interesting talent but people either love or hate his work so I think that the film kind of shows that. I think that’s really neat and I think that’s what it has going positive for it.

Have they mentioned doing a Haywire 2?

No, I think that Steven, if it would have done incredibly well at the box office then he would have probably considered it but I think it just made its money back. So I think he’s looking at retiring in a couple of years and that was kind of like a special project for him to practice some action films. I don’t think he’ll be doing it again.

Soderbergh developed Haywire because he saw you fight. How did you land your second film, In the Blood?

It was a story, a script that I was reading. I remember what Ewan McGregor said one time. He said, “It all starts with the script. If you really feel the script, if you really attach yourself to the script and can see yourself in that script.” I didn’t know what he was talking about and then this script came along and I was like wow. So I called my manager and my agent and I was like, “Let’s do this. I like this one. I really like this one.” I think people are going to like it too.

How different is it from Mallory Kane?

I think that Steven was really smart. He gave me a character in Haywire that was just very straightforward, basic, stoic and there wasn’t a ton of emotion. It gave me a very safe role to start off on and that’s a beautiful thing that he gave me the opportunity with that character. But now this role, she’s a lot more like me.

You haven’t announced a return to fighting, but also haven’t committed to retiring. Can you leave it open and fight when you want to, make movies when you want to?

Yeah. If I want to do it I’ll do it and hopefully there’ll be a platform for me to do it on. So that’s why I really haven’t. For me, fighting is something that I do because I want to do it, not because I’m trying to support myself or for any other reason. It would just be nice to not have to do that. It’s been about 10 years and it’s really nice to put my energy into something different right now.

Is Hollywood glamour a new world for you?

No, I mean, I’ve been playing dress up with my Grandmama since I was about eight years old. She lived in Las Vegas when she was younger so she’s been going to Frank Sinatra shows, to everything. I love playing dress up. That’s the way I look at it.

I like that you call her grandmamma.

Grandmama, she’s actually my G-mama.

How much do you train in regular life when it’s not for a movie?

I was doing a lot of stuff that is kind of outdoorsy things. I was going hiking a lot in mountain trails in the Red Rock area. I was doing more things that fed my soul a little bit. Like I was getting outdoors and just really appreciating the beauty of not having everything I do physically have to be about not getting my head ripped off or taken off, or having to look a certain way. That’s actually been a really huge healing. After I got done with Haywire I just started doing a lot of hiking and a lot of a outdoors type stuff. It’s really kind of a healing thing to not always have to work out to have it be selfish, but to actually just do it because it’s something that you want to do.

How much sleep do you need to accommodate all your physical activity?

My sleep patterns are very interesting for some reason. I start waking up around eight o’clock PM at night. I’m very nocturnal.

That’s reassuring. If I go for a run, I sleep all afternoon the next day.

You must be running a long ways. How far are you running?

Only 4-5 miles, a normal amount.

Yeah. I don’t know. When I start going and when I start training, my body doesn’t want to stop. I’m a very extreme type person so it’s like when I start going, it’s like everything’s going in that direction. It’s hard for me to turn it off.

I feel bad. It seems there’s no point to working out if I sleep twice as much.

Well, actually a good sleep is better than no sleep. A good sleep is just as important as having a good workout. If you’re sleeping good, then you’re probably doing your body that much more good.

Do you use any protein shakes or supplements?

 I’ve been turned onto this new product and I wouldn’t just tell you this product, XM3. What it is, it’s all natural and it’s an appetite suppressant at night. It’s like a shot of energy but it’s not chemical, it’s all natural. It’s really been doing wonders for me. It’s a really good natural product that I find has been working for me and I’ve tried a lot of different products. This one makes me feel good. It’s not chemically.

I like PowerBar’s Tripple Threat peanut butter fusion. I eat one a day so I hope they’re good for me.

[Laughs] Well, you sound like you like to run though so you can probably handle that. I don’t know if it’d be good for somebody like me.

Was doing American Gladiators a good experience?

It was amazing. It was such a good experience and it was at a good time in my life where I maybe needed not to take myself so seriously. I remember before I got that call, I was just like I really need to get serious and start to hamper down on myself a bit. Then when I got that call, I was like, “No, I can’t do it.” I turned them down about four times and said, “No, I can’t.” Finally my good friend now who was one of the producers on it, he was like, “Just come out here and just try it.” I did and I’m glad I did because I met some beautiful people. At one point I was in El Segundo because that’s where we were staying when we were filming it and I was like, “I can’t believe I’m getting paid to do this.”

Was that like playing a character, Crush, or just being athletic?

Well, one of my prerequisites for doing the show was that I didn’t really have to play a character. I was like, “I’m not going to be this big bodybuilding type looking person. I’m not going to go over the top with my character. I’m just going to relax and if you guys want me to be a part of it then I’m just going to relax and do the athletic part of it.” I wasn’t really focused on character that much. I was almost wanting them to just let me be quiet and just get the job done, like the silent killer, but they wouldn’t let me do that. they wanted me to talk a few times. Unfortunately.

During the press for Haywire you seemed shy to talk about yourself. Are you shy?

Well, I think I’ve been pretty talkative. I think it depends on the person. I enjoy talking to you so I’ve probably been pretty talkative. But I think it always depends on the person. I think I’m good at feeling a person’s energy out so when the interviewer’s nervous then I get nervous. Or when a fan comes up to me and they’re nervous, then it makes me nervous. When somebody’s open and just wants to talk, then it’s okay. It’s a little bit easier. But to be honest, I don’t mind being a little bit shier. I don’t know, I might not be that confident cocky type but I can get into that when put in the right circumstance. I’d rather be myself until there’s a character involved that I need to be a certain way and then I need to do that.

(source: movies.com – Fred Topel)

 

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