Time for your unsubstantiated “Wonder Woman movie” rumor of the day: Gina Carano, the MMA fighter who is getting excellent buzz for her first starring role in Steven Soderbergh‘s Haywire, has said that she would love to play Wonder Woman if they made a movie about her — and she’s not the only one who would like to see her in such a role. That might be really awesome, but is this movie even happening? (Um, can it now?)
While Haywire only opens today, Carano’s first real turn as a lead actor is making people wonder what else she might be able to conquer on the silver screen. Besides her clear ability to kick major ass as a mixed martial artist, critics are praising her tackling the ever-important skill of acting. Roger Ebert, in his Haywire review, says Carano “can hold her own” starring alongside such heavyweights — no fighting pun intended — as Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Channing Tatum, and Michael Fassbender. (Wow, what a sausage-fest. But that’s another post altogether.) He also compares her martial arts stunt skills to that of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. And that is nothing to sneeze at.
So, considering all of that, Carano would probably make an awesome Wonder Woman if someone was making a Wonder Woman movie. Sure, her only other entertainment experience is as “Crush” on NBC‘s American Gladiator and a mentor on Oxygen‘s Fight Girls, plus a role in the straight-to-DVD movie Blood and Bone. To cast her in such an iconic role might be on the risky side. But now that there is someone who would be ready, willing, and able — and possibly nearly perfect — to play the superheroine, will there be more serious talk about a movie? Carano spoke with Vulture and dropped her own hint:
“We even had a Wonder Woman reference in the film … One of the cops said something to me like, ‘Oh, chill out, Wonder Woman.’ And I thought that was so funny. I said to Steven, ‘You know there’s a little rumor about me and Wonder Woman.’ And he said mischievously, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.'”
It’s all speculation and rumor, and people have been talking about a Wonder Woman movie for years. The latest rumor involves Drive director, Nicholas Winding Refn, with whom Carano is pretty familiar, as well as how to make a good superhero movie:
… I was like, “I recognize this [music] from somewhere, but where?” And then later I realized it was Cliff Martinez, who had done the score for like 50 Soderbergh movies. So I was like, “Cool.” I was into it. I would definitely be into working with [Refn]. … If they could do a superhero movie in a more realistic fashion where you could actually believe in it, I would be up for that. It could still be playful, but that’s what I’m representing — the fighting would be real. More than anything, I would want Wonder Woman to be believable, you know?
Gina Carano then cleared her throat and “casually” walked away while “casually” whistling so as to appear “totally casual” before heading into the ring to punch someone in the face.
Published: Jan 20, 2012 01:59 pm