Michelle Rodriguez shockingly revealed why she was almost forced to quit the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise.
As the leading-alpha-female lead in the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise, Michelle Rodriguez is somewhat of a role model. Known for a bad bitch personality and tough girl attitude, she certainly is one of Hollywood’s most outspoken actresses. In a recent interview, the ‘Furious 7’ actress revealed her personal thoughts on the film industry’s treatment of women and the lack of female business leaders in the entertainment industry.
Criticism of female stereotypical roles
In an interview with NJ.com, the actress spoke out against the cliches women are usually forced to play in movies and on TV.
Well, I don’t know how well-intentioned it was! But you know, here’s the thing – I have such a strong sense of self, there are certain lines I just won’t cross. I’m really picky about the parts I choose. I can’t be the slut. I cannot be just the girlfriend. I can’t be the girl who gets empowered because she’s been raped. I can’t be the girl who gets empowered and then dies.
As a result, she made a promise not to play stereotypical roles regardless of what happens.
So I just said to myself, look, you’re going to just have to create your own archetype, doesn’t matter if you go broke doing it. And I almost did go broke, twice! But people finally got it: OK, Michelle is not malleable, you’re not going to influence her by shining fame and money at her, and they stopped offering me that sort of stuff. But you know, it’s a Catch-22. It’s helped me and it’s screwed me. I’ve stuck to my guns and I’m proud and people get it. But I also haven’t carried a movie since “Girlfight.”
Michelle Rodriguez nearly left the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise.
The biggest issue came in 2001. The actress was written in to play a love triangle between Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, to which she hated. For Michelle Rodriguez, this was not the type of character she wanted to be known for, as a result she threatened to quit the franchise.
In an interview with the Daily Beast she explains what happened:
“It was more of a Point Break idea,” she says of the initial Fast and the Furiousstory. “They just followed the format without thinking about the reality of it. Is it realistic for a Latin girl who’s with the alpha-est of the alpha males to cheat on him with the cute boy? I had to put my foot down.”
“I basically cried and said, I’m going to quit and, ‘Don’t sue me, please—I’m sorry, but I can’t do this in front of millions of people,’” she continued. “My whole point in being an actress is that I thought I got to live a dream. And I don’t dream about being a slut! Do you?!”
Thanks to her opinionated attitude producers changed the plot behind the movie.
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