NEED TO KNOW
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Michelle Rodriguez opened up about how being raised a Jehovah’s Witness affected how she saw Hollywood when she was cast in The Fast and the Furious
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Rodriguez said she felt like she was in the ‘devil’s world,’ though she enjoyed the opportunity to perform stunts and action scenes
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The Fast and the Furious returned to theaters this weekend
Michelle Rodriguez had her own feelings to contend with when she was cast in The Fast and the Furious.
Rodriguez, 48, opened up about joining the 2001 film at the 25th anniversary screening of the film at the Directors’ Village Theater in Los Angeles on Aug. 17. The film starred the late Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner, an LAPD officer who tries to infiltrate a crew of hijackers. Vin Diesel played Dominic Toretto, the crew’s leader — and a professional street racer. Rodriguez starred as Dom’s girlfriend (and fellow crew member) Letty, and Jordana Brewster played his sister Mia Toretto, who falls in love with Brian.
The Fast and the Furious spawned a massive film franchise, with a 12th film, Fast Forever, expected in 2028. But before she was cast in the first installment, she had just made her film debut in the indie film Girlfight, about a troubled high school student who trains to be a boxer.
“I was just getting introduced to what it is to be an actor in New York,” the actress told PEOPLE exclusively. “And then I think Vin had seen Girlfight and he really liked the character and wanted that character to be his girlfriend in Fast.” She met with director Rob Cohen and was cast.
Michelle Rodriguez in ‘The Fast and the Furious’
Credit: Universal/Everett
Rodriguez had some culture shock after moving from her indie film to the set of The Fast and the Furious, but mostly, she said, because of her faith. “I came from a Jehovah’s Witness background at the time,” she said. “So it’s like none of this really means anything to me. And so you’re dealing with a kid who’s not affected. I’m already playing in the so-called devil’s world in my mind as a 20-year-old, obviously.”
Rodriguez said that because of that mindset, she “could give two s—s” about the movie, besides the fact that she was making “good” money, “more than I was making before.”
But some things brought her joy. Being on set, she said, “I really loved being able to get in a car, train, learn how to shoot guns, learn how to race cars. To me, that was the exciting thing. Doing things that you weren’t allowed to do in real life. Break windows, be violent, all that stuff.”
At the end of the 2001 film, Rodriguez’s Letty flees the country. She returned to the franchise in 2009’s Fast & Furious, the fourth film in the series; Letty and Dom rekindled their romance in the short film Los Bandoleros, which served as a prequel to the fourth movie.
Michelle Rodriguez at the Aug. 17 screening ‘The Fast and the Furious’ in Los Angeles
Credit: Michael Buckner/Variety
Walker died during production of the seventh film, 2015’s Furious 7, in 2013; he was 40. Rodriguez, Diesel and Brewster have remained close and added new members to their “family” on and off-screen, including Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris and Jason Statham, as well as Walker’s daughter Meadow Walker, who appeared at the anniversary screening Monday night with her father’s co-stars.
“That’s the bond, right? Of being alive,” Rodriguez told PEOPLE. “It’s like you meet people, your kind, and next thing you know, 25 years go by and you realize that they’re a big part of your life. And that’s how families are made. Not all of it is blood-related.”
Rodriguez was raised between Texas and the Dominican Republic before settling in Jersey City. She told Interview in 2015 that being a member of the religion made her “hate” school because what she learned in church about “the realities of the world” was different from what she learned in school. “Religion had a lot to do with it because I felt like everybody was always lying to me,” she said. She said she enjoys “vanity like the best of them,” but “can’t stick” to that lifestyle for long because “it’s empty and cold and soulless.”
Rodriguez’s other roles outside the Fast and Furious franchise include Lost, Widows and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
The Fast and the Furious returned to theaters Aug. 21 to celebrate the milestone anniversary.
Read the original article on People