Gina Joy Carano is an American actress and former mixed martial artist. She competed in EliteXC and Strikeforce from 2006 to 2009. Carano retired from competition after her first professional MMA defeat to Cyborg.
Transitioning from the ring to the screen, Carano landed her first major role as the lead of the action film Haywire (2011), which was followed by appearances in Fast & Furious 6 (2013) and Deadpool (2016).
In 2018, she was cast in The Mandalorian, Lucasfilm’s first live-action Star Wars television series. She portrayed the character Cara Dune with a first appearance in the fourth episode of the first season titled “Chapter 4: Sanctuary”. Carano initially believed she would be playing the role of a female Wookiee, and was surprised to “find that she was one of the few people that you were actually going to see her face. She played the role in seasons 1 and 2.
Lucasfilm announced in February 2021 that Carano would not appear in future Star Wars projects following a series of controversial posts she made to social media, stating “… her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable. The same day she was dropped by the United Talent Agency.
Last week, it was reported that Gina Carano, former actress is suing Disney and Lucasfilm for discrimination and wrongful termination from The Mandalorian. Carano was fired by Lucasfilm for what the company called “abhorrent and unacceptable” on social networks.
Although she found a job at the Daily Wire and appeared in a few other projects, Carano still feels she was wrongly let down.
With financial support from X’s owner Elon Musk, Carano is suing Disney and Lucasfilm for discrimination and wrongful termination, alleging that she was fired for expressing a positive opinion and social media.
Carano said in a statement alongside the lawsuit filing. “I am honored that my case has been chosen to be supported by the company that has been one of the last glimmers of hope for free speech in the world.”
Carano is currently seeking a court order that would force Lucasfilm to recast her in the series and pay at least $75,000, plus punitive damages.
However, given that Carano is a demanding employee, she will likely have to fight an uphill battle to recover damages.
In this case, Disney felt that Carano’s letter was infringing on its brand and chose to move on from the actor.
