Mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Gina Carano hit the red carpet, along with her co-stars Thursday night for the Los Angeles premiere of Haywire.
         
Directed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh, the action-thriller boasts a talented cast that includes Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas and Michael Douglas.
       
It also introduces mixed martial arts superstar Gina Carano as Mallory Kane, in a demanding lead role that has her performing her own high-adrenaline stunts.
        
"I saw her beating up a woman in a cage on television and thought, the only thing that is missing is that she is not beating up a male movie star," explained Soderbergh, on the genesis behind the casting of Carano. "How much more fun would that be," laughed the filmmaker.
        
Mallory Kane is a highly trained operative who works for a government security contractor in the dirtiest, most dangerous corners of the world. After successfully freeing a Chinese journalist held hostage, she is double crossed and left for dead by someone close to her in her own agency. Suddenly the target of skilled assassins who know her every move, Mallory must find the truth in order to stay alive.
       
"I think a lot of people don't know what goes into a making a film," said Carano, when asked to compare fighting to acting.
       
"It is so easy to judge from a television set, 'Oh, they did that great or they did that awful.' It is a lot more work than people get credit for. Fighting does have its own flavour too. But, both of them are on the opposite extremes of extremes."

Co-star Ewan McGregor added that the fighter turned actress is talented in both.

"It is almost like between the punches and the kicks, the way she re-adjust her body weight is totally the way of a fighter and it would be very hard to recreate that. I would like to think that I could do anything. But, there is something about that she is a fighter that is very interesting to watch," said McGregor.
       
Haywire opens on January 20th.