Michelle Rodriguez Biography

Summary

"Mayte Michelle Rodríguez" (born July 12, 1978), better known as "Michelle Rodríguez", is an American actress, known for her role in the television series "Lost" and films "The Fast and the Furious", "S.W.A.T.", and "Resident Evil".

Biography

Early life

Rodríguez was born in San Antonio, Texas, the daughter of Carmen Milady (née Pared), a native of the Dominican Republic, and Rafael Rodríguez, a Puerto Rican who served in the military. She has a total of ten half-siblings or siblings. She was raised by her devoutly religious maternal grandmother and was brought up in her mother's Jehovah's Witnesses religion. Rodríguez moved to the Dominican Republic with her mother when she was eight and lived in Puerto Rico when she was 11, later settling in Jersey City, New Jersey. She dropped out of high school at age 17 and later earned her GED.

Career

Rodríguez won her first role, in the low-budget 2000 independent film, "Girlfight", after attending her first audition, having run across an ad for an open casting call. She beat 350 other applicants for the starring part of Diana Guzman, a troubled teen who decides to channel her aggression by training to become a boxer. Rodríguez's performance was recognized by both critics and audiences. Despite major industry buzz of a possible Academy Award nomination, she did not receive the Oscar nod. Rodríguez did however accumulate several other significant awards and nominations for the role in independent circles, including major acting accolades from the National Board of Review, Deauville Film Festival, Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards, Las Vegas Film Critics Sierra Awards, and many others. The film itself took home top prizes at both the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals.

Subsequently, she has had notable roles in other successful movies, including "S.W.A.T.", "The Fast and the Furious" and "Resident Evil". In 2002, she was ranked #77 in "Stuff" magazine's '102 Sexiest Women In The World?, and #34 in "Maxim's" '100 Sexiest Women'. That same year, Rodríguez portrayed Eden in the surfer girlpower flick "Blue Crush".

In 2004, Rodríguez lent her voice to the video game "Halo 2", playing one of the Marines. She also currently provides the voice of Liz Ricarro in the Cartoon Network series "IGPX". From 2005 to 2006, she played tough cop Ana Lucia Cortez on the television series "Lost" during the show's second season (the character's first appearance was a flashback on season 1's finale, "Exodus: Part 1").

In 2006, Rodríguez was featured in her own episode of G4's show "Icons". "Battle in Seattle", her latest film, is due for release in December 2007, and she is currently in New Zealand filming James Cameron's upcoming highly anticipated scifi adventure "Avatar", due out in May 2009.

Personal life

In early 2000, Rodríguez broke off a near engagement to a Muslim boyfriend, citing opposition to religious requirements he demanded of her, which included covering herself completely. In 2001, Rodríguez then dated her "The Fast and the Furious" co-star, Vin Diesel. In 2006, she expressed a romantic interest in Irish actor and "S.W.A.T." co-star, Colin Farrell. In July 2006, Rodriguez told UK's "Cosmopolitan" magazine that she was not gay, but had 'experimented with both sexes'. In November of 2006, her openly bisexual "Bloodrayne" co-star Kristanna Loken's comments to "The Advocate" were widely interpreted and reported by the media as an admission that the two were in a relationship. Asked about the relationship in April 2007, Kristanna Loken said, 'We're great friends. She'll always remain a great, close friend of mine. I'll always love Michelle'.

Most recently, Rodriguez was linked to Kylie Minogue's ex Olivier Martinez after the two were seen dining at Chateau Marmont. Rodríguez reportedly spent the night at his hotel room, and the two have been spotted together several times over the course of the last 4 years.

"Curve" controversy

In June 2007, "Curve" ran a cover widely considered to be trailing an interview in which Rodríguez would out herself. In reality, Rodríguez never actually did an interview with the magazine and therefore in response, used her blog to accuse the magazine of falsely attempting to 'out' her. On her official website she said the following:

Asked about the "Curve" issue, Rodriguez told E! Online,

In the July/August 2007 issue of "Curve", editors responded to this criticism by stating: The editors stated that the misunderstanding arose when Perez Hilton posted in his blog that she had come out in "Curve" after seeing her on the cover and assuming it was a coming out story. The "Curve" website did initially describe her as a 'bi bad girl' on the magazine's cover, but later removed their 'bi' label in reprints. Rodríguez has never denied being bisexual.

Legal troubles

In March 2002, Rodríguez was arrested for assault after getting into a fight with her roommate. The charges were later dropped after the roommate declined to press the allegations in court.

In November 2003, Rodriguez went to court to face eight misdemeanor charges based on two driving incidents including a hit and run and DUI. In June 2004, Rodríguez pleaded no contest in Los Angeles to three of the charges: hit and run,, and driving with a suspended license. She went to jail for 48 hours, performed at the morgues of two hospitals, completed a three-month alcohol program, and was placed on for three years.In 2005, while filming "Lost" in , Rodríguez was pulled over by police multiple times; she was cited for driving 83 mph in a 55 mph zone on on November 1, and was fined $357, paid a $300 fine for driving 90 mph in a 35 mph zone on October 20, was fined $197 for going 80 mph in a 50 mph zone on . On , , Rodríguez and her "Lost" co-star, were separately pulled over and arrested for driving under the influence. Rodríguez pleaded not guilty when arraigned, but on the day of her trial in April 2006, she pleaded guilty to one charge of driving under the influence. She chose to pay a $500 fine and spend five days in jail instead of doing 21.78 hours of community service. Rodríguez cited her high doses of allergy-relieving steroids as part of the reason for her erratic behaviour. The fact that her and Watros' characters were killed off (appropriately enough, in an episode titled '') led some fans to believe that it was a result of the arrests, however Rodriguez and producers said their exit from the show had been planned before the season began and the arrests were just coincidental. Her hiatus from movie roles from 2003 to 2007 also led fans to believe she was being temporarily for her legal troubles.Because the Kailua incident was a violation of her Los Angeles probation, Rodríguez was sentenced to 260 days in jail, a 30 day alcohol rehabilitation program and another 30 days of community service, including work for , by a judge in Los Angeles on , 2006. Because of overcrowding, she was released from jail on the same day she entered it. As of June 2006, she will still have to serve the community service. She wrote about the experience on her blog.In however, Rodríguez allegedly violated her probation by not completing her community service and not following an alcohol education program. It was reported that Rodriguez originally submitted a document stating she performed community service on , , but later admitted she was actually in New York City that day. Her lawyer claimed it was a clerical error.On , , following a hearing, she was sentenced to 180 days jail time after agreeing to admit to violating her probation, stemming from her earlier charges. The judge in the case ordered that Rodríguez not be granted a , early release or home confinement and must remain in jail for the entire 180 days. ==Filmography==* "" (2000) * "3 A.M." (2001)* "" (2001) * "" (2002)* "" (2002) * "" (2003)* "" (2004) *"" (Voice, 2005)* "" (2005) * "" (2005)* "" (2006) * "" (24 episodes, 2005-2006)* "" (Documentary, 2007)* "" (2007) * "" (2009) === Video games ===* "" (Voice. 2003)* "" aka "Driver" (Voice, 2004)* "" (Voice, 2004)==References====External links==* (Michelle Rodriguez) - Official Website*** (Michelle Latina) - Fansite in Spanish=== Interviews ===* (In-depth Video Interview (September 20, 2007)) * (Collection of Transcribed Magazine Interviews (2000-2006)) * (Interview, 10/00, BeatBoxBetty) * (Interview, 9/29/2000, CNN) * (Collection of snippets on Rodriguez's background)