Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez
Mayte Michelle "Michelle" Rodríguez, is an American actress, screenwriter, and DJ. She got her breakout role as a troubled boxer in the independent film Girlfight, which was met with critical acclaim and earned her several awards, including the Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award for Best Debut Performance. The following year, she starred as Letty Ortiz in the blockbuster film The Fast and the Furious, reprising her role in its sequels, Fast & Furious, Fast & Furious 6and Furious 7...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth12 July 1978
CitySan Antonio, TX
CountryUnited States of America
The only place that I'd be worried about being typecast is the independent film world.
Basically I was a rebel growing up. I got kicked out of six schools. But I don't think that it makes you less of an intellect. You know, if you ever crave knowledge, there's always a library.
I think empathy is a beautiful thing. I think that's the power of film though. We have one of the most powerful, one of the greatest communicative tools known to man.
I was in Jersey when the whole World Trade Center thing happened and I felt powerless. So, I went to Hawaii and did a surf movie. It's kind of fluffy.
I thought about making movies. It hit me when I was about 14, 15 years old.
I use to watch like maybe three or four movies, five days out of the week. I was a movie buff, but I really didn't know what it was like behind the scenes, or the whole political process of it.
I just never felt like I belonged anywhere. I always had a stick with a little knapsack attached.
I do have a delicate side.
I wanted to express myself. I wanted to be creative and I didn't want to worry about someone bossing me around in the process. You have to struggle no matter where you are to get to where you're going, so I'm like, working it honey!
I had older brothers who would pick on me, and injustice always boiled my blood.
I wanted to write a film and I thought the best way to do so was to train myself within the field... It was just like a cycle of people trying to make it, not making it, doing extra work, and it was pretty depressing in the end.
There was a lot of drama in school because, well, people have problems at home and they take it out on their friends in school. Trying to impress people, they became bullies. I hated it because I know what it's like to be picked on, and I never liked not fitting in, especially moving around so much as a kid because I was an Army brat. My dad was in the Army.
When I was about, I'd say, 18 or 19 years old, I wanted to be a part of the CIA just because they know those intimate secrets... So I was just always into knowing. I like to know things.
I knew nothing about the independent film industry. I didn't know much about the industry itself. All I knew was how to watch movies, how to enjoy them, how to hate them, how not to like them.