Athlete extraordinaire Ronda Rousey may have won her way into the spotlight thanks to her victories as an MMA fighter, but she’s definitely not limiting her projects to knocking out opponents in the ring. Rousey has had a very big couple of years, and 2016 could be the time that she begins to dominate the small screen. Lifetime has officially announced that Ronda Rousey will be bringing her talents to the network.
Ronda Rousey has signed a Lifetime movie deal comprised of three pictures, according to Deadline. The news came when Lifetime announced its development slate for 2016 – 2017. Details about what her three movies will entail are still vague, but the stories are set to reflect Rousey’s strong feelings about empowerment.
Normally, a network signing an athlete on for a multi-picture deal might seem somewhat risky. Sure, the Rock has pulled off a movie and television career, but he’s the exception rather than the rule. Still, Ronda Rousey has accumulated enough experience as an actress that it’s not hard to see why Lifetime would take a leap of faith to capitalize off of her popularity and passion.
Ronda Rousey made her feature film debut in 2014 with The Expendables 3, and 2015 saw her back on the big screen with Furious 7 and Entourage. Her roles in Expendables and Furious featured a great deal of action, and she actually played herself in Entourage. She will also star in a reboot of Road House--that will undoubtedly involve her destroying plenty of opponents--and a biopic of her own life. It should be interesting to see if her Lifetime movies see her depart from playing action-heavy roles and/or herself.
Of course, if Ronda Rousey has her way, she’ll be hitting the big screen in a much bigger role than anything she’s secured so far. She has expressed interest in playing Marvel heroine Ms. Marvel. Given what she would look like as Ms. Marvel, it’s hard not to root for her to get the part. If Marvel doesn’t work out for her, Arrow star Stephen Amell would totally be on board with Rousey showing up in Star City.
Her credits on television in a non-fighting capacity are far more scant, although she did have a memorable hosting gig on Saturday Night Live earlier this year. Hopefully, she’ll be able to combine what experience she’s accumulated in film to what she’s learn for television for some killer Lifetime roles.
There has been some speculation that Ronda Rousey’s projects in the entertainment industry have distracted her from her fighting career (and may have contributed to her big loss against Holly Holm late last year). We’ll likely never find out whether or not Rousey considers broadening her horizons to be a factor in her loss – unless she keeps on producing biopics, that is – but we can get a fix of her talents as well as her passions when she makes her big Lifetime debut.
There’s no saying at this point when Ronda Rousey will head to Lifetime, so be sure to check out our summer TV premiere schedule to see what you can watch in the meantime.
