The new kick on the block

Don't pick a fight with Gina Carano

WATCH out, Angelina Jolie: there's a new female big screen action star in town and her name is Gina Carano, US entertainment magazine Us Weekly reports.

Featured in the stylish thriller Haywire, Carano kicks butt and takes names as gun-toting special-ops agent Mallory and goes mano a mano with the likes of Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor and Michael Fassbender.

But just who is this retired martial artist turned actress? Us Weekly uncovered some things you didn't know about 29-year-old Carano.

• She's not the person to cross in a dark alley. A retired mixed martial artist, Carano was once the No 3-ranked 65kg female fighter in the world;

• You may not know her name, but her face should look a little familiar. In 2005, Carano starred in the cult film Ring Girls, and three years later showed off her skills under the pseudonym Crush on US television's American Gladiators;
• Despite her background, she's actually somewhat of a girlie girl - at least as far as her film tastes are concerned. "I didn't really watch action films growing up. I grew up on stuff like Anne of Green Gables. My friends would come over and be like, 'No, Gina, not again!' And Pride and Prejudice. I wore those VHS cassettes out! I loved that story."; and

• She doesn't quite get her sex symbol status. "I want people to see me for who I am and not for how someone else is trying to promote me. I'm not just a fighter. I'm a lot more than that."