Gina Carano bio, career path, boyfriend, age, height, net worth 2025

Biography of Gina Carano

Gina Carano is a renowned Mixed Martial Arts fighter turned actress, starring in films like "Haywire", "In the Blood", "Deadpool", and "The Mandalorian," plus appearing on "American Gladiators".

Childhood and Adolescence

Gina is the middle child of American football player Glenn Carano and housewife Dana Cason. In addition to Gina, the family has two other daughters. Gina was born in Texas, but soon moved to Los Angeles when her mother relocated there with her daughters after the divorce.

Gina grew up as a total daredevil, playing with the boys in the yard, riding horses, and from a young age could stand up for herself and her sisters. At school, she played football, volleyball, and even became a state champion as part of the youth basketball team.

After graduating from Trinity Christian High School, she enrolled in the University of Nevada's psychology department. However, after her fourth year, she had to drop out due to serious financial problems in her family.

Sports Career

Hard to believe, but in her youth, Gina was overweight and deeply insecure about her appearance. Her boyfriend Kevin Ross, a professional Thai boxer, suggested she try Eastern martial arts and brought her to a Muay Thai gym. Gina immediately liked this sport, where she could rely entirely on herself. She quickly got into training mode and made a big statement at a tournament in San Francisco.

In three years, Carano had fourteen professional fights, twelve of which ended in her favor. Soon, MMA agents noticed the talented athlete and offered her a fight against Leticia Pestova. The fight ended with a decisive victory for Carano, who knocked out her formidable opponent in the first forty seconds.

Gina Carano VS Leticia Pestova

Successful fights with Rosie Sexton, Elena Maxwell, Kaitlin Young, and other famous athletes followed, victories that made Gina famous worldwide. Gina earned the nickname "Conviction", and her unique fighting style combined with natural beauty won over Thai boxing fans everywhere.

Gina Carano best moments

In the summer of 2009, Carano had a fight with the Brazilian, Cristina Santos, which would mark the end of Gina's sports career. She suffered a technical knockout, losing to an opponent for the first time in her MMA career. For that fight, Gina earned one hundred thousand dollars (a record fee at the time) and decided to leave professional sports to focus on her film career – by that time she already had experience filming in the show "American Gladiators".

Acting Career

Right after her dramatic loss to the Brazilian fighter, Soderbergh's assistant reached out to Carano with an offer to star in the movie "Haywire". Despite still having an unhealed bruise under her eye, Gina went to the auditions and quickly landed the lead role of special agent Mallory Kane. Carano's co-stars included Ewan McGregor and Michael Fassbender. The actress was pleased with her debut – in 2013, she even scored a Critics' Choice Award nomination for best actress in an action movie, though she lost to Jennifer Lawrence.

Gina Carano in Haywire

Over the following years, Carano appeared in numerous films, including "Fast & Furious 6" (2013) with Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson, "Heist" (2015) with Robert De Niro, "Kickboxer: Vengeance" (2016) with Jean-Claude Van Damme. In 2016, Gina took on the role of mutant Angel Dust in the hit Marvel action-comedy "Deadpool" starring Ryan Reynolds in the lead role.

Carano has also made her mark on television, appearing in two seasons of "American Gladiators" and serving as a coach on the reality show "Fight Girls". She was featured in the documentary "Ring Girls" (2006), and her photos have graced the pages of MAXIM magazine. She also served as the inspiration for the character of secret Soviet agent Natasha Volkova in the popular video game Red Alert 3.

In 2017, Gina Carano returned to leading roles in the sci-fi action film "Scorched Earth", playing a bounty hunter. In 2018, she starred in Jason Mewes' comedy "Madness in the Method", where Mewes teamed up once again with Kevin Smith.

"The Mandalorian"

Gina Carano landed the role of rebel Cara Dune in "The Mandalorian" series set in the "Star Wars" universe. Director Jon Favreau could only envision the MMA star in this role, and she delivered. Following the series' success, Disney even planned a spin-off centered around Gina's character.

However, that spin-off never happened due to Carano's controversial stance. She refused to support the Black Lives Matter movement and mocked LGBT activists' use of pronouns like "he/she/it." Gina posted "boop/bop/beep" in her profile (mimicking Star Wars droid sounds), which offended trans activists.

The final straw was her criticism of the presidential election: Carano questioned whether Joe Biden won fairly.

We need to clean up the election process so we are not left feeling the way we do today. Put laws in place that protect us against voter fraud.

This sparked a Twitter campaign with the hashtag #FireGinaCarano, and media reports suggested Disney pressured the actress to apologize, but Carano refused to back down. Ultimately, Disney fired Gina from "The Mandalorian." The official reason was a tweet where Carano compared Nazi Germany to modern America:

Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors.... even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don't realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?

Carano's firing prompted many fans to cancel their Disney+ subscriptions. Gina was ready for this outcome and didn't mourn losing Cara Dune, instead announcing a new film backed by conservative outlet The Daily Wire. "We can't be 'canceled' if we don't allow it," Gina summarized.

Gina Carano's Personal Life

After her breakup with Kevin Ross, who introduced her to Eastern martial arts, Gina started dating another martial arts expert, Kit Cope. This romance ended even quicker, and worse, her ex allegedly blackmailed her for months, threatening to release intimate videos.

After this ordeal, Carano took a break from dating until she met actor Henry Cavill in 2012. But this relationship was also short-lived and didn't bring the athlete lasting happiness.

Gina felt she was choosing men who weren't her equal, which she saw as the main reason her relationships failed. Perhaps this was the reason why in 2017 she returned to her ex-boyfriend Kevin Ross.

Gina Carano Now

Gina Carano made her comeback in July 2022 with the thriller "Terror on the Prairie." Playing American pioneer Hattie marked her first role since her controversial exit from "The Mandalorian." She also landed a key role in "My Son Hunter," a biographical film about Joe Biden's son.

Photos: Gina Carano