Former mixed martial artist Gina Carano was born in Dallas, Texas, April 16, 1982. She is an American actress, television personality, and fitness model.
Gina Carano was a pioneer in women’s mixed martial arts who took her talents to Hollywood. She began her martial arts training in Muay Thai and moved into competitive MMA. She has competed in Strikeforce and EliteXC. She became the “Face of Women’s MMA” and she was ranked 5th on a list of the “Top 10 Influential Women” of 2008. In August 2009, Gina Carano fought Cris Cyborg in Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg. This was the first time two women headlined a major MMA event and at the time it was the highest rated fight in Showtime history. Carano compiled a competitive record of 12-1-1 in Muay Thai and a 7-1 in women’s MMA.
Outside the ring, Carano served as a mentor to aspiring fighters in the 2007 Oxygen reality series Fight Girls and performed as ‘Crush’ in the revamped television series American Gladiators before her breakout performance in Steven Soderbergh’s film Haywire (2011), where she held her own against the stars including Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Bill Paxton and Antonio Banderas. Gina’s ability to make the action look realistic helped her performance earn a Critics Choice Award Nomination for Best Actress in an action film. Her next role would be in Fast & Furious 6 (2013) opposite Dwayne Johnson and Michelle Rodriguez and then she co-starred alongside Robert DeNiro, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Dave Bautista in Heist (2015) followed by the role of Angel Dust in the smash hit Deadpool (2016).
Gina was seen in the film Daughter of the Wolf (2019), starring opposite Richard Dreyfuss and she was Angel Dust in Deadpool (2016). She is also in Jason Mewes dark comedy Madness in the Method (2019).
Gina can be seen in the film My Son Hunter (2022).
Carano is the daughter of professional football player Glenn Carano who played for the Dallas Cowboys and was the backup quarterback to Roger Staubach.
Gina became the first recipient of ActionFest’s Chuck Norris (Best Female Action Star) Award, given to the female action star of the year. Gina received the 2017 Artemis Action Warrior Award for her contributions to the female action genre and women’s MMA. The award was presented to her by Action legend Zoe Bell.
