While Star Wars drama is usually tied to fans' opinions about certain projects within the franchise, the Disney-owned pop culture phenom was at the center of a very different form of controversy earlier in 2021 after firing The Mandalorian star Gina Carano for problematic social media posts. That decision reportedly came as a huge shock to Carano, as well as the fanbase, and development was eventually halted on the planned spinoff Rangers of the New Republic, in which Carano's Cara Dune was expected to serve as a lead character. So with all that mess, one might not think Disney would be embracing the use of Carano in For Your Consideration Emmy campaigning, and yet...
It looks like Disney+ opted to set up four of its Mandalorian stars for Emmy campaigns on the acting front, with Gina Carano joined in that respect by Pablo Pascal (as lead actor), Giancarlo Esposito (supporting) and Temuera Morrison (supporting). But while it's not all that unusual for actors to submit their own names and performances for Emmy consideration, as it was done in recent years past by Game of Thrones stars such as Gwendoline Christie, it's a bit more odd for a project to promote an FYC campaign for an actor without even telling them that it's happening.
It appears as if that's the case with Gina Carano's Emmy promotions, however. A rep for Carano told Vanity Fair this:
It was added by Disney unbeknownst to us.
This isn't exactly a situation where Disney is quietly pushing a Gina Carano-flavored promotional campaign out by the dead of night, with only silence and darkness as its guideposts. The mega-studio has been running ads of all kinds, with some featuring Carano's Cara Dune quite heavily. But apparently no one from Disney's side has reached out to Carano herself about any of it.
Considering how surprisingly well The Mandalorian did gearing up for the 2020 Primetime Emmys, landing the coveted nom for Best Drama Series on top of all the creative-based nominations, it's perhaps not altogether surprising that Disney is putting all of its cards on the table this time around, to see if it can stock the field with even more Star Wars franchise vets. It's unknown, however, whether or not the voting community will agree with the idea that Gina Carano pulled off some of the best acting in all of television with Mandalorian Season 2.
Strangely enough, Gina Carano recently shared some sci-fi imagery on social media that had many fans believing that she would be returning to the Star Wars universe in some way, even though the imagery itself was not franchise-related. The extremely public fallout between Disney and the actress makes it seem extremely unlikely that such a reconnection will ever take place, but the fact that the company is still touting Carano's performance for awards consideration makes it seem like someone there still finds value in the Carano connection.
At this point, we can only wait and see what happens with Disney's Emmy love, and whether or not Gina Carano will be part of the nominations when they're announced later this year. In the meantime, fans can find her and the rest of The Mandalorian's crew in the first two seasons streaming now on Disney+ while waiting for the 2021 Summer TV season's biggest hits.
