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Michelle Rodriguez is an American actress, screenwriter and DJ, known for her role as Letty Ortiz in the blockbuster film series “Fast & Furious.” She is famous for her tough characters in her movies. Here are 47 facts about the actress -
- Rodriguez’s very first lead role as Diana Guzman in “Girlfight,” earned her several awards and nominations including major acting accolades from the National Board of Review, Deauville Film Festival, Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards, Las Vegas Film Critics Sierra Awards, and many others.
- She had been working as an extra in movies like “Summer of Sam” and “Cradle Will Rock,” since the year 1999.
- She has been consistently portraying tough and tomboyish characters, since her film debut with “Girlfight,” and she does not mind that typecasting.
- She once said that she was typecast the minute she took the role as Guzman in “Girlfight,” and that she only wants to someone she respects and considers interesting or fun. “I'm here to entertain people and make a statement about female empowerment and strength, and that's what I've done for the last 10 years.”
- She has been on the various lists of “World’s Sexiest Women,” including the Maxim’s and FHM’s.
- She was described as "arguably the most iconic actress in the action genre, as well as one of the most visible Latinas in Hollywood," in an Entertainment Weekly article.
- Mayte Michelle Rodriguez was born on July 12, 1978, in San Antonio, Texas.
- Her father Rafael Rodriguez, was a Puerto Rican, while her mother Carmen Milady Pared Espinal, is a native of the Dominican Republic. Her father served in the U. S. Army.
- She has ten siblings and half-siblings, including her twin brothers – Omar Rodriguz and Raul Rodriguez.
- Following her parents’ separation, she lived with her mother in Dominican Republic from the age of 8 till 11. After which she resided in Puerto Rico until the age of 17.
- She had been expelled from a total of five schools. She even dropped out of high school at the age of 16 and earned her GED later.
- Before choosing the career in acting, she went to business school with the aim of becoming a screenwriter and director.
- It is reported that she even has two concepts already - a “Jumanji-meets-Goonies” family film with an environmental twist, and a potential American remake of the 1997 German screenplay “Bandits.”
- She was raised a Jehovah's Witness from the age of 7. She was not allowed to watch any movies as a child.
- Her mother is not happy with her chosen career path and even told her that she was “part of the devil’s tool.”
- After moving from Puerto Rico to Jersey City, New Jersey, she attended her first audition, an open casting call, for “Girlfight,” in which she portrayed the character of Diana Guzman, a troubled teen who decides to channel her aggression by training to become a boxer. She beat out 350 other girls for the role.
- Before she landed the role, she was put in the ring for three weeks' training with the director watching her. She was so broke that they had to give her money to buy train ticket every day to the auditions.
- Director Karyn Kusama, described Rodriguez's audition as "a disaster," but still offered her the role as the director "could not find anyone who could come close to her in physical power."
- Rodriguez trained at Gleason's Gym five to six days a week for four months in preparation for filming. In the mean time, she also took acting courses.
- Her performance in the movie was well received by critics, even comparing her to Marlon Brando. David Denby of The New Yorker called her "a powerhouse star who could go a long way," while The New York Times’s A. O. Scott characterized her as "a powerful, extraordinarily gifted young actress ... Remember the name."
- She won the Ralph Lauren Acting Award at the Deauville American Film Festival, Breakthrough Award from the Gotham Awards, Best Debut Performance from the Independent Spirit Awards, and Breakthrough Performance – Female from the National Board of Review Awards.
- It was reported that she broke off her engagement with a Muslim boyfriend, due to her opposition to religious requests he made.
- Her next audition was for the role of Letty Ortiz in the 2001 movie “The Fast and the Furious,” starring opposite Vin Diesel and Paul Walker.
- She did not have a driver’s license or even the learner’s permits before she got the role. She had to obtain the driving license during her training for the car chase sequences.
- She was dating Diesel during the filming of the movie in her real life, just as the duo dated on screen.
- She played the role of Rain Ocampo in the movie “Resident Evil.” Prior to the movie, she had informed her agent that if anyone ever wrote a script about “Resident Evil” that she wanted to be a part of it.
- She along with James Purefoy and Milla Jovovich were the first of the cast to be signed.
- According to the original plot, Jovovich’s character and Rodriguez character were supposed to be the leaders of the commando team sent to prevent the viral outbreak from spreading to the entire world. However, the details were later changed.
- She played the role of Chris Sanchez in the movie “S.W.A.T,” alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, LL Cool J, Olivier Martinez and Jeremy Renner.
- She reportedly dated her co-star Martinez, but the duo did not confirm it.
- She gave her voice to a number of characters in video games like “True Crime: Streets of LA,” “Driv3r,” “Halo 2,” “Avatar: The Game,” and “Call of Duty: Black Ops II.”
- In the year 2002, she was cast as Eden in the movie “Blue Crush,” the story of three friends with the same passion of surfing on Hawaii's famed North Shore.
- She performed all her own jet ski stunts in the entire movie, including the scene in which she tows Kate Bosworth's stunt double out to the biggest waves.
- She was considered for the role of Christine Thayer in the 2004 movie “Crash,” which went to Thandie Newton.
- In November 2006, her bisexual “Bloodrayne” co-star Kristanna Loken made some comment that was interpreted to be an admission for being in relationship with Rodriguez. However, both the actress never confirmed the relationship.
- She reprised her role as Letty in the 2009 movie “Fast & Furious,” in which she dies after the events of the opening scene.
- She starred in the James Cameron's high-budget sci-fi adventure film “Avatar,” in the role of Trudy Chacón. The movie became her most successful film to date.
- Cameron had wanted to work with Rodriguez since seeing her performance in her debut movie “Girlfight.”
- She has also expressed interest to return as Chacón in the film's three sequels, which will be released each year starting from December 2017 to 2019.
- She returned to the “Resident Evil” series playing the good clone and bad clone of Rain Ocampo in “Resident Evil: Retribution.”
- This idea of cloning the soldiers might have possibly stemmed from Rodriguez comment made in an audio commentary of the original “Resident Evil” film that Colin Salmon should be brought back in a sequel as a clone.
- She has actually played three characters in the movie, with the third being a zombie doppelganger. However, the scene was cut in the editing process along with other scenes.
- She reprised her role as Letty in the 2013 movie “Fast & Furious 6,” as well as in the 2015 movie “Furious 7.”
- She has been performing as a disc jockey since 2009 internationally at film premiere after-parties as well as nightclubs.
- She is often seen singing karaoke alongside Lindsay Lohan, Bo Barrett, Emile Hirsch and Nicole Richie at Beverly Hills hot spot "Guys".
- In a May 2014 interview, she described herself as bisexual and said “Bi, yeah, I fall under the B category of LGBT.”
- She has spent a total of 26 days in jail for four separate incidents, the majority of which involve driving in some capacity.
