Mixed martial arts pin-up Gina Carano was not at her best when she first met moviemaker Steven Sodberbergh about the lead role in his new movie Haywire - because she had just been at the wrong end of a pounding in the ring.
The director requested a meeting with the fighter and it took place shortly after her first MMA defeat.
Carano explains, "I had a black eye. I got punched above my eyebrow and the bruise was coming down into my eye... and my agent called me and he said, 'There's a director that would love to meet you.'
"I was like, 'I don't think you really want me to meet anybody right now, I kinda look like a monster.'
"We had a four-hour lunch and at the end of it, he offered me the job."
Carano co-stars with Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender and Michael Douglas in the pared-down tale of a girl out to take revenge when a heist goes horribly wrong and she realises she's on the wrong end of an international sting.
Haywire is in UK cinemas now. Here are some pictures of the amazingly skilled Carano in action: