Before starring in the space opera Star Wars as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Cara Dune, Ewan McGregor and Gina Carano shared the screen in the 2011 action thriller, Haywire. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the film follows Mallory Kane (Carano), a spy caught in a web of deception as she fights to protect herself and her loved ones.
The movie, which marked Carano’s feature film debut, also became memorable for McGregor, who played her ex-boyfriend Kenneth. The actor once recounted an incident that happened during filming where he accidentally punched his co-star. However, the mishap ended up causing more harm to McGregor himself than to the former MMA star.
Ewan McGregor Accidentally Punched Gina Carano While Filming Haywire
Ewan McGregor starred alongside former The Mandalorian star Gina Carano in the action thriller Haywire. During an interview with E! News, the actor shared that he inadvertently injured himself, not while filming action sequences, but when he accidentally punched his co-star in the head.
“The only time I got hurt was when I punched Gina Carano in the head by accident,” he shared in a conversation with E! News. He further explained that he had a series of three punches, but the third one landed particularly hard on Carano’s head. He said,
“I had a series of three punches, but the third one…for one reason or another I connected really hard on the side of her head—She was the one who got straight up and said, ‘Are you OK?’ She was asking me if I was OK! But she was right because I almost broke my friggin’ hand!”
While he was concerned that he might have hurt Carano, McGregor later realized that he was the one who almost broke his hand due to the accidental punch. The Doctor Sleep star further recalled that the former MMA star took the punch like a champ and was absolutely fine.
Ewan McGregor Claimed Steven Soderbergh Wrote the Film Around Gina Carano
Gina Carano has shared that it was her MMA skills that caught filmmaker Steven Soderbergh’s attention. And her Haywire co-star Ewan McGregor also shared the same, while claiming that the filmmaker actually wrote the film around the former MMA star.
He shared that Soderbergh was “channel surfing one night, and he saw her coming to the ring and then fighting.” The Emmy-winning actor shared that the Ocean’s Thirteen director was impressed with her “fighting energy” and decided to write a movie around her.
“He thought she was such an incredible character, kind of her fighting energy, extreme and brutal, so he wrote a whole movie around her,” he said, as per Yahoo! Sports. Soderbergh then visited the Deadpool actress in Las Vegas with the proposal and started working on the film once she accepted his offer.
While the action thriller film Haywire received praise from critics for action sequences and direction, Gina Carano was unable to land positive remarks for her acting in the movie. “Carano is strong, fast, relentless. She’s not much of an actress yet,” a critic said referring to her acting skills.
Haywire is available to stream on Peacock TV.
