Nastia Liukin: Gold Medal Winner, Hollywood Starlet?

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 15, 2008

Olympic Gymnast Nastia LiukinAnyone around the FSR offices can tell you that over the past week, I have become completely entranced with the games of the 29th Olympiad. Whether it is the thrill of watching Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh beating the hell out of everyone on the beach volleyball courts to Michael Phelps and his ridiculous water-albatross act on his way to the medal podium, I have been tuned in and subsequently ignoring any movie news that has come my way.

And along that path, I discovered Nastia Liukin. You will remember her as the American gymnast who won the all-around gold medal last night in amazing fashion. Yes, I was watching the women’s gymnastics final, and it was glorious. So needless to say, I am now a fan of Ms. Liukin.

I am also a fan of Karina over at Spout, who made a few interesting observations about Nastia in an article posted this morning. She made mention of the fact that not only is Nastia an all-star gymnast, but she has also been seen in the film Stick It! What I found really interesting was Karina’s observation that Nastia struck her as possibly part ballerina, and part assassin. That clicked instantly in my mind — Nastia as a devious, sexy assassin posing as a gymnast. Hollywood, get on this. I know it’s a long way to go to tie the Olympics in with what we do around here, but bare with me, it’s Friday and there isn’t much else going on.

Alas, congrats to Nastia Liukin and fellow American Shawn Johnson on their gold-silver run last night in gymnastics. Also, for all of you at home, please feel free to enjoy Nastia’s performance in Stick It! below.


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Comment Policy: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Film School Rejects reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. We also reserve the right to modify any curse words in your comments and make you look like an idiot. Thank You!

  • Perv.
  • Troy
    i'd stick it.

    er.

    nvm.
  • I bet right now you're pretty upset you ignored my suggestion of including "Stick It!" on the Top 10 List of Movies to Get you into the Olympic Spirit. I know I'm pretty upset over it, still!
  • Carl Lee
    There is indeed something special about Nastia Liukin. There's an ongoing rise of gymnast turned actors, after about 24 their athlete careers are over. The pedophiles consider them too old to be any good at gymnastics. So what do we with the highly-skilled talent? Action Flicks!

    Cast them as (the new) Lara Croft (Allison Carroll) and wherever else their ass-ets are needed.
  • mack41
    The Olympics have been awesome! That 400 relay where America came back and beat the trash talking French swimmer was awesome, and Nastia's win over the 8 year old Chinese gymnasts was ridiculous. Anyone else think the Chinese gymnasts were not 16?
  • Not only do I not think that the Chinese gymnasts were 16, I know they weren't. Everyone does. The New York Times reported that at least two of them are under the age of 14.

    Neil, I am right there with you in terms of loving the Olympics. I wanted Shawn Johnson to win Gold, but Liukin was phenomenal. But Moira Kelly would so kick her ass. Or maybe I am just thinking of the Cutting Edge because D.B. Sweeney and I share the same last name.
  • Chey
    Olympians should stick to what they do best and what makes them popular in the first place. We all have our niche, and gymnastics is clearly Liukin's. I was drawn in by her unique combination of graceful skills and a determination to crush the competition. You don't see Michael Phelps running off to Hollywood. He will stay rich and popular because he will stay true to his sport. If Liukin does a movie, hopefully she still does gymnastics simultaneously. Otherwise she will be a no-name in four years just like that girl Patterson who won the overall gymnastics title four years ago and then quit and immediately launched a pseudo-singing gig that was painful to listen to. I am not interested in exceptional athletes making fools of themselves in the entertainment industry.
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