Michelle Rodriguez Biography

Michelle Rodriguez is an American actress who gained fame for portraying Letty Ortiz in the Fast & Furious franchise. She launched her career in 2000 portraying a troubled boxer in Girlfight, winning her the Best Debut Performance Award at the Independent Spirit Awards and Gotham Awards.

Michelle Rodriguez Age

Rodriguez was born Mayte Michelle Rodriguez on July 12, 1978, in San Antonio, Texas. She is 46 years old as of 2024. Rodriguez celebrates her birthday on July 12th.

Michelle Rodriguez Height

Rodriguez stands at an approximate height of 5 feet and 5 inches.

Michelle Rodriguez Family

Rodriguez was born to Carmen Milady Pared Espinal and Rafael Rodriguez. Her mother is Dominican while her father is Puerto Rican. She and her mother relocated to the Dominican Republic when she was 8 years old, living there till she turned 11 years old. She then moved to Puerto Rico, living there until she turned 17, and eventually settled in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Rodriguez has ten siblings and half-siblings including older twin brothers named Raul and Omar.. She grew up partly at her devoutly religious maternal grandmother’s and was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, her mother’s religion. She has however departed from the faith.

Michelle Rodriguez Husband

Rodriguez is very private about her personal life therefore it is not known if she is in any relationship. She enjoys tactical gun training, DJing, and skydiving.

Michelle Rodriguez Relationships

In 2001, Rodriguez was in a relationship with her Fast & Furious co-star, Vin Diesel. Before that, she dated a Muslim boyfriend but later broke off the engagement in early 2000 because she refused the religious requests he made of her.

Michelle Rodriguez Net Worth

Rodriguez has an estimated net worth ranging between $20 Million – $30 Million which she has earned through being an actress.

Michelle Rodriguez Girlfight

Rodriguez launched her career in 2000 portraying troubled boxer Diana Guzman in Girlfight, winning her the Best Debut Performance Award at the Independent Spirit Awards and Gotham Awards in 2001. She also won nominations at the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, ALMA Awards, Black Reel Awards, and Online Film Critics Society Awards. After competing against 350 applicants, she won the role of Diana Guzman.

Diana is a distressed high school student in Brooklyn. Frustrated with her unhappy home life, she has a hot temper that always lands her in trouble at school, occasionally fighting with other students. She starts to channel her hostility by training to become a boxer despite the criticism of her father, prospective trainers, and competitors.

Michelle Rodriguez Fast and Furious

Rodriguez gained fame for portraying Letty Ortiz in the Fast & Furious franchise. Letty is the love interest of Dominic Toretto and an adept street racer and mechanic. In The Fast and the Furious, Letty is concerned about Dominic’s carjacking scheme but backs him up despite her concerns. After their criminal activities are exposed, she is forced to flee the country. Her performance in The Fast and the Furious won her a nomination for the ALMA Best Actress in Film Award in 2002. In Los Bandoleros, she traces Dom and their reignite their romance, ultimately leading to their marriage.

In Fast & Furious, Letty is presumed dead after a drug lord’s henchman “kills” her while working undercover to clear charges against Dom. Her performance in the film won her a 2009 nomination for the ALMA Actress in a Film Award. The following installment sees her dealing with amnesia after surviving the explosion that was meant to kill her. She also works as a part of the skilled mercenary organization led by Owen Shaw. Her performance in the installment won her a Teen Choice Choice Summer Movie Star: Female Award nomination in 2013. According to IMDB, she received a salary of $5,000,000 for her appearance in Fast & Furious 6 (2013).

Furious 7 sees her working through her amnesia and trying to find out who she is on her own. She hits her head while fighting, triggering her memories to come back. Her performance in this installment on her nominations for Teen Choice Choice Movie Actress: Action Award and People’s Choice Favorite Action Movie Actress Award. She also won the Golden Angel for Best Leading Actress of the Year at the Chinese American Film Festival in 2015.

In The Fate of the Furious, she tries to find out why Dom seemingly betrays them in Berlin while they are enjoying their honeymoon in Havana. The following installment shows her trying to adapt to a domestic life. Her performance in the film won her a nomination for Teen Choice Choice Movie Actress: Action Award.

Michelle Rodriguez Resident Evil

Rodriguez starred as Rain Ocampo in Resident Evil, reprising that role in Resident Evil: Retribution. Rain works as part of the elite security team known as the Special Tactics and Rescue Service (STARS). In this role, she is tasked with investigating the Umbrella Corporation’s secret laboratory beneath Raccoon City.

Michelle Rodriguez Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Rodriguez starred as Holga Kilgore in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. A barbarian from the Uthgardt Elk tribe, Holga is banished because of marrying Marlamin, a halfling. She works with Edgin Darvis to reclaim a magical artifact that could help them prove their innocence and reunite with Edgin’s daughter, Kira

Michelle Rodriguez Legal Issues

Rodriguez was apprehended for assault in March 2002 after she fought with her roommate. However, the charges were dropped after her roommate refused to press the claims in court. In November of the following year, she went to court for eight misdemeanor charges based on two driving events, including a hit and run and driving under the influence (DUI).

Rodriguez pleaded no contest in Los Angeles to three of the charges in June 2004 i.e. Hit and run, drunken driving, and driving with a suspended license. Subsequently, she was jailed for 48 hours, did community service at two New York hospital morgues, and finished a three-month alcohol program. She was also put on probation for three years.

2005 to present;

While filming Lost in Hawaii in 2005, Honolulu police pulled Rodriguez over several times for speeding breaches, and on December 1 arrested her for DUI. The following year, she pleaded guilty to one charge of driving under the influence, paying a US$500 fine and spending five days in jail.

Rodriguez said that her erratic behavior was caused by her taking high doses of allergy-relieving steroids. Since the event breached her Los Angeles probation, she was convicted for a 30-day alcohol rehabilitation program, 60 days stay in jail, and another 30 days of community service. She was released from prison the same day she entered due to overcrowding.

Rodriguez reportedly breached her probation by not finishing her community service, her community service, and following an alcohol education program in September 2007. On October 10th, she was convicted to 180 days jail time after admitting to probation violation. Despite the expectation of her spending the full 180-day term in prison, she was freed 18 days later due to overcrowding. She finished her community service in January 2009.

Michelle Rodriguez Sexuality/Lesbian

In 2013, Rodriguez revealed that she had gone both ways when it comes to sexuality, stating that she does as she pleases and finds both men and women intriguing. She also revealed that she depicts herself as bisexual commenting “Bi, yeah, I fall under the B-category of LGBT.”

Michelle Rodriguez Ethnicity

Rodriguez’s mother is Dominican while her father is Puerto Rican, thus, she has Dominican and Puerto Rican roots. She appeared on the Finding Your Roots TV program where she underwent a DNA test. The results revealed that she has 72.4% European, 1.3% African, and 6.3% Native American ancestry. Moreover, she commented that her family had some racial conflict since her father had a light complexion while her mother had a darker complexion.

Michelle Rodriguez Education

Rodriguez studied at William L. Dickinson High School before dropping out and being expelled from five schools. She later attained her GED equivalency certificate. Rodriguez briefly pursued a degree at business school but later quit in an effort to pursue an acting career, dreaming of being a screenwriter and director.

Michelle Rodriguez Career

Rodriguez came across an ad for an open casting call, marking her first audition. There, she defeated 350 applicants and won the role of Diana Guzman in Girlfight. Diana is a distressed teen who channels her aggression by boxing training. For her performance in the film, she won multiple awards and nominations from the Independent Spirit Awards, the National Board of Review, the Deauville Film Festival, the Gotham Awards, and the Las Vegas Film Critics Sierra Awards.

Rodriguez has had roles in other successful films like The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil, Blue Crush, and S.W.A.T. She provided the voice-over for a marine in the video game, Halo 2. In 2006, she starred in  G4’s Icons. She starred as Ana Lucia Cortez in Lost from 2005 to 2006. She returned for a cameo appearance in the second episode of the show’s fifth season in 2009. The following year, she returned again in the penultimate episode of the series, What They Died For.

Rodriguez starred opposite Charlize Theron and Woody Harrelson in Battle in Seattle in 2007. Two years later, she starred in the fourth installment of The Fast and the Furious film series, Fast & Furious. Later that year, she appeared in James Cameron’s Avatar, marking her most successful film to date. That same year, she starred in  Trópico de Sangre based on the Dominican Republic’s historic Mirabal sisters.

2010 to present;

Rodriguez starred in Robert Rodriguez’s Machete in 2010. The next year, she starred in Battle: Los Angeles opposite Aaron Eckhart. She rejoined the cast of Resident Evil in 2012 where she portrayed the good clone and bad clone of Rain Ocampo. The following year, she recurred the role of Letty in  Fast & Furious 6 and Luz/Shé in Machete Kills. She also provided the voiceover for a role in DreamWorks Animation’s Turbo.

Rodriguez starred in Furious 7, The Assignment in 2016, and did a voiceover in Smurfs: The Lost Village. She recurred her role as Letty in The Fate of the Furious and starred opposite Viola Davis in Widows. In 2019, she starred in Alita: Battle Angel, reuniting her with director James Cameron. Besides acting, she started the production company, Cheshire Kat Productions. Cheshire Kat Productions produced the 2019 documentary, Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story.

Screenwriting

Rodriguez said that she began working on multiple projects as a screenwriter in 2013, including a drug drama, a family adventure film, and a female-set period piece.

Michelle Rodriguez Movies and TV Shows

Rodriguez has starred in several movies and TV shows during her career such as

• 3 A.M.
• Control
• Slavi’s Show
• Immortal Grand Prix
• BloodRayne
• The Breed
• Gardens of the Night
• InAPPropriate Comedy
• Germany’s Next Top Model
• Milton’s Secret
• Barmageddon
• She Dies Tomorrow