Why did Michelle Rodriguez almost quit the first Fast and Furious movie?

nothing “Fast and Furious” franchise. Without Michelle Rodriguez… However, the first entry into the property almost took place without her. The action star was still quite new to acting when she was cast as Letty Ortiz in 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, having made her screen debut in 2000 starring in the hit independent sports drama Girlfight. This means that “Fast and the Furious” was Rodriguez’s first foray into Hollywood, and she almost pulled out of the project due to some problems with the original script.

The issue? A story that saw Letty romantically torn between Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto and… Paul Walker Brian O’Conner. “‘Point Break’ was more than just an idea,” Rodriguez said. The daily monster In 2015. “They followed the format without thinking about what it was. Is it realistic for a Latin girl with an alpha male to cheat on him with the cute boy? I had to put my foot down.” “.

While she noticed the character’s problem early on, Rodriguez assumed she would have some leeway to negotiate on set, as was the case with the independent production of “Girlfight.” “I thought it was the same in Hollywood,” Rodriguez admitted to The Daily Beast. “I didn’t think it was a big deal.” Although this isn’t a major Hollywood production (especially for a supporting actor with no prior Hollywood credits), the film’s writers ended up turning Letty into the fiercely loyal fighter fans know and love, completely ruling out the love triangle plot.

It’s hard to imagine a version of the “Fast and Furious” movies where there was anything romantic between Letty and Brian. In the wake of Paul Walker’s death and Brian’s subsequent exit from the films, the relationship between Letty and Dom becomes the central relationship upon which the films build themselves. Their ride-or-die partnership is central to the entire premise of the franchise, and it’s admirable for that Rodriguez fought hard to improve her character in “Fast and Furious.”Because it may have lost its place in a major Hollywood blockbuster.

“It was a reality check for them to realize that the streets don’t work that way,” Rodriguez said. Entertainment Weekly In 2021. “You don’t just date a guy because he’s hot. There’s a hierarchy there. Could this hot guy get hit on by whoever you’re dating? If he can, don’t date him, so why would you want to lose the hierarchy in order to keep “It’s real, I had to teach them.”

In the end, the entire script ended up being reworked, and the film’s writers took Rodriguez’s recommendations into account when writing the new Letty film. “I cried and said, ‘I’m going to resign,’ and ‘Don’t sue me, please — I’m sorry, but I can’t do this in front of millions of people,'” the actor told The Daily Beast. So, Brian’s got a new romantic subplot involving Mia (Jordana Brewster). , Dom’s sister, and Letty has been Letty ever since.