Gina Carano decided to quit the Disney+ original series “The Mandalorian”.
The Daily Wire’s new Western, “Terror on the Prairie”, stars the former MMA fighter, Hattie McAllister. She is a pioneer mother who protects her children from outlaws while her husband UFC champion Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone is away. The 40-year-old also serves as a producer.
Carano was publicly fired after the film was called “closure”. There were many online petitions for her firing. In February 2021, Lucasfilm declared that Carano would not be joining the “Star Wars” spinoff casting. Carano had previously compared the Holocaust experience with the U.S. political climate.
Social media backlash against her comments about the coronavirus and gender pronouns as well as election fraud was strong.
A spokesperson for Lucasfilm stated Carano was no longer employed by Lucasfilm and that she had no plans to hire her in the future.
The statement stated that “Nevertheless her social media posts degrading people based on their cultural or religious identity are unacceptable and abhorrent.”
Carano is optimistic about her future.
Question: What did you love about Hattie McAllister?
Carano: I’ve always wanted to do a period piece and be put in a dress, right? *laughs*. My favorite movie when I was growing up was “Pride and Prejudice.” I love those kinds of movies. And I’ve always wanted to have a horse in a movie. So when that script came across, I was like, “Well, this checks a lot of those boxes for me.”
Question: Westerns are making a huge comeback in Hollywood. Why is it so popular?
Carano: It’s because people often see a ton of CGI (computer-generated images). It’s nature. Our set was in Montana, which is its own character. The costumes are stripped down. There’s nothing super flashy about them. It’s what you would have worn being out in the elements. And maybe Westerns are popular right now because people are sick and tired of watching TV where everything is like Skittles. It’s all these huge, big, bright colors, CGI, and superheroes. Westerns are the complete opposite. And I think people are craving something real now.
“When I was canceled, I felt like everything was turned against me. Everything that I loved was just against me. I was fighting for my name.”
Question: Do you remember saying that this movie was like “closure” to a particularly difficult event in your life? “Becoming Hattie allowed me to voice all that I felt loudly. What did you mean?
Carano: When I was canceled, I felt like everything was turned against me. Everything that I loved was just against me. I was fighting for my name. I just felt like everything was stripped from me. But Hattie, she’s out there with her family. She’s trying to be a supportive wife, but she’s removed from her home and it’s hard. Everything has been stripped from her. The elements have turned against her. She and her husband aren’t in the best place. They’re arguing back and forth and the baby’s crying.
Question: Is cancel culture too extreme? Some people think it’s too extreme. Some people think it’s too extreme. Others believe it is necessary because it holds people accountable.
Carano: I feel like canceling culture is extremely dangerous. I think it starts putting us on the line of kind of like a social credit score. And … corporations are going to win that battle. They’re going to win the social credit score. They’re going to win the popularity battle because they have access to manipulating even the data, but they have access to manipulating the masses, whereas that robs the individual.
My case was not worthy of a cancel culture.
“I feel like cancel culture is extremely dangerous. I think it starts putting us on the line of kind of like a social credit score.”
People should not be forced to make mistakes.
Question: Was it surprising to receive support during this time?
Carano: The support I received was overwhelming. I didn’t expect anything like it. I was surrounded by many people who were interested in the truth, not only the headlines. I thought, “Gosh! I’m not controversial at any time. “It was simply something I felt needed to be addressed about certain issues in recent years.
It is not acceptable to give up your rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression because you are an actor on the basketball court. I could see others holding their breath, not speaking, and I felt sick.
It was not something I wanted to do.
Question: How were your public firings?
Carano: I didn’t cope with it immediately. When I shot this movie, it was a nice distraction for me because I was able to act, I was able to play Hattie, and I was able to let a lot of that stuff out through my character. I’m my best self when I work … When I’m working, I just feel like everything is aligning right in my life. I was able to let it out through that and that felt great. But then the movie ended, it wasn’t until around Christmas that … it hit me, how real it is, how painful that was, and how I needed to really address it in myself so that I could get past it and not have to deal with bitterness in my life.
It’s up to you how to handle it.
Question: What message do viewers want to take away when they see this film?
Carano: The message I hope people get is that art is free. Unions are created to protect people, and Hollywood’s there to give us the best of the best, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the unions are protecting you. It doesn’t mean that Hollywood is in control of the best of the best. I do hope they see this movie as a start to having other artists and creators realize that the sky’s the limit. You don’t have to be pigeonholed or sell your soul to do what you love. If you’re doing what you love, it should replenish you.
“In my case, I don’t think that anything I did deserved cancel culture.”
Question: It’s been reported that some “Star Wars” fans have called out Disney for defending Moses Ingram after she received hateful messages on social media after they fired you. Do you have a comment?
Carano: I think people … saw what happened in my circumstance, and they were really offended … I think that sometimes corporations stir up things and people to keep the division going instead of bringing people together. And, sometimes, I think these corporations, they’re telling us all to get on our knees and apologize, [but] they’re not leading by example. There’s been no apology. They just wait.
Some people may be trying to say to others “Hey, everyone wants to apologize?” Start by being open to all people, regardless of their beliefs or skin color. ”
This is my opinion. They want the truth.
Question: How do you feel since the movie is done?
Carano: I hope everybody … I don’t think our leaders are really going to show us how to behave or act right. So I hope that we can all be encouraging to each other and lift each other up because this country is truly, and the world is truly going to be in a lot of pain … There’s got to be a different way to show people what true light us. We’ve got to show people a different way.
Because there will be many hurting, I hope we can all work together to make this happen. It’s important to forget about our differences and reach an agreement to improve the nation’s morale, economy, and quality of life.
