Cara Michelle
Michelle Rodriguez is an American actress, screenwriter and disc jockey. Michelle got her breakout role in the independent film Girlfight (2000), which was met with critical acclaim for her performance and earned her several awards. The following year, she made her Hollywood debut starring as Letty Ortiz in the blockbuster films The Fast and the Furious, Fast & Furious, and Fast & Furious 6.
During her career, she has appeared in a number of successful action-themed films, playing tough, independent roles in films including Blue Crush, S.W.A.T., Battle: Los Angeles and Avatar. She is also known for
her reprising roles in action-
comedy films Machete and Machete
Kills, and as Rain Ocampo in the
science-fiction franchise Resident
Evil and Resident Evil: Retribution.
Entertainment Weekly article
described Michelle as "arguably the
most iconic actress in the action
genre,and one of the most visible
Latinas in Hollywood"
Michelle was in San Antonio, Texas. Her mother, Carmen Milady Rodriguez, is a native of the Dominican Republic, and her father, Rafael Rodriguez, is a Puerto Rican who served in the United States Army. Michelle moved to the Dominican Republic with her mother when she was 8 years old and lived there until the age of 11 for 3 years. Later, she moved to Puerto Rico until the age of 17 and finally settled in Jersey City, New Jersey. She dropped out of high school but later earned her GED; in total, she was expelled from 5 schools.
Michelle has 10 siblings and half-siblings. She was partly raised by her devoutly religious maternal grandmother, and was brought up a Jehovah's Witness (her mother's religion), although she has since abandoned the faith. Her DNA test performed by the TV program Finding Your Roots, found that her ancestry is 72.4% European, 21.3% African, and 6.3% Native American.
35
American Actress
Los Angeles, CA