Everyone knows Michelle Rodriguez as being the badass who stands in front of exploding cars, but she’s so much more than a tough girl actress.
The unconventional child from a staunchly religious home, the actress challenged everything she knew to pursue her goal of being a film writer.
Coming from an unstable childhood that caused her inner turmoil, the star decided to pave her own way.
Michelle Rodriguez was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. Her mother, Carmen, was a housewife, while her father, Rafael, worked as a U.S. Army soldier.
Her father’s job meant the family moved around every once in a while.
The actress lived in the Dominican Republic, and then moved to Puerto Rico shortly after. By the time she was eleven, Michelle had settled in New Jersey.
Rodriguez had a rough childhood. On top of having a financially unstable upbringing, she also had a terrifying experience being separated from her mom.
The 44-year-old revealed that she spent three years in foster care as a child.
The brunette never said what led to her being in foster care but admits she was lucky to be reunited with her family.
Michelle said that losing her sense of home was frightening, and she’ll never forget what it felt like not to belong. She wasn’t lying.
Every time the star talks about her younger years, the stories are characterized by how she struggled to conform.
The “Fast & Furious” star felt she never really fit into her mother’s staunch religious lifestyle.
The actress previously said that the experience of this religious upbringing had scarred her for life.
Michelle felt that she had to live different lives because her mother’s ideals contradicted her life outside the house.
The ‘Girlfight’ star used to go to church every day. Sometimes she would accompany her grandmother on evangelizing missions.
Even as an adult, her mother’s faith has caused a strain on their relationship. Michelle’s mother wasn’t very supportive of her daughter wanting to be an actress.
The brunette identifies as bisexual.
Her daughter’s sexuality was also a problem for Carmen, but she had to come to terms with everything in the end.
Although her mother has accepted her unconventional child, the actress doesn’t spend much time with her maternal family.
While her mother and maternal grandmother lived by the rules of their strict faith, her father was the complete opposite.
The ‘S.W.A.T.’ star describes her dad as the intellectual type.
Instead of encouraging religious studies, Rafael wanted his daughter to read and enhance her world knowledge.
"I was split in two, kind of like a brain," Michelle once said.
Home wasn’t the only place she felt like an outsider. The upheaval of all the moving around made Rodriguez feel like she didn’t fit in anywhere.
Michelle’s tough girl persona started developing in her childhood.
The star mentioned that her older brothers would sometimes bully her, and that’s where she learned to be tough and stand up for herself.
Even though we know her as a symbol of badassery, Rodriguez wasn’t known for being a tough girl before her Hollywood breakthrough.
Her image as a tough, badass action star began in 2000 with Michelle’s film debut in ‘Girlfight.’
The then 20-year-old played an underprivileged teenage boxer, and how she landed the role was iconic!
At the time, Rodriguez didn’t have much experience in acting. Before this lead role, she had only worked as an extra in a few late 90s films.
Her dream wasn’t to be an actress, but the brunette needed the money.
Michelle also needed to figure out how to pursue her goal of writing films.
The star figured the best solution would be to work her way up in the industry, so she decided to go for more prominent roles.
Shortly after, the aspiring writer came across an ad for the ‘Girlfight’ in a newspaper.
She had zero experience when she auditioned for the lead role, but her attitude was enough to secure the part.
That’s how the army brat who didn’t fit in was able to transform her life! However, as we said, acting isn’t her end goal.
The teenage Michelle was a dreamer, a writer, and kind of goofy.
Around 14 years old, the action star decided she wanted to write films.
“I could come up with better stories than this,” Rodriguez said, adding, “And I’ve wanted to write films ever since.”
Even though we know her for her skill in acting, Michelle isn’t a stranger to creative writing. She’s been writing for years!
Michelle confessed to fellow on-screen badass Milla Jovovich that she wrote some titillating short stories as a teen.
We sure hope she ends up following her dream of being a writer! Who wouldn’t want to hear the stories that come out of this brain?
Another reason Michelle would make a great film writer is that she is all for having better representation in Hollywood.
Did you know that she almost lost her role as ‘Letty Ortiz’ in the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise?
Rodriguez is not scared to voice her opinion on what it's like to be Latino in Tinseltown.
Primarily due to the lack of Hispanic actresses in the history of Hollywood, the 44-year-old said she feels a political weight.
“When I looked at Letty, I told them, ‘I get that this dynamic is based on ‘Point Break,’ but it doesn’t work now.
Thankfully, everything was smoothed over, and Vin Diesel had the producers change the script.
The actress also knows she has been typecast as a tough girl, which has made her career in the film industry rather tedious.
Rodriguez would love nothing more than to expand her acting horizons, but no genre other than action seems to come her way.
One time she spoke about her interest in starring as a romantic lead.
Being identified as a one-dimensional kind of person is tiring to Michelle.
The lack of diverse roles that she is offered, paired with her vision to make movies with more substantial female leads, drives Michelle to pursue writing and directing even more.
Since beginning her journey as an actress, Rodriguez has been using her job to learn about filmmaking.
She studies her directors and learns from them — what it takes to bring a story to life.
She once said her biggest inspiration is James Cameron because she admires his attention to detail.
Michelle Rodriguez is so much more than the tough girl that Hollywood paints her to be.
Beneath the muscle tees and vulgar language, she is imaginative, intellectual, beautiful, and funny, just to name a few characteristics.
Here’s to hoping her stories will reach the silver screen soon!