Michelle Rodriguez May Leave Fast And Furious Franchise
The leading lady in Fast and Furious has hinted about her departure from the film series. Michelle Rodriguez has posted an Instagram update which has set alarm bells ringing at Universal.
Michelle Rodriguez has been a part of the Fast and Furious series of action movies since the very beginning. That’s an 18-year old association spanning a number of films. Except three flicks, she has starred in every single one of the eight instalments that we have had so far. And now the actress has posted an update on Instagram coinciding with the digital release of The Fate of the Furious. You’ll find the update in its true form somewhere below as you scroll down and it has kind of made everyone from fans to studio execs nervous.
Apparently, Michelle Rodriguez isn’t that pleased with the roles that are being offered to female actors in the franchise. One can’t blame her for coming to that conclusion. While there are instances of some of the female characters having a lot to play around with in terms of screen time and the importance in the overall story arc, most of the time, women are reduced to eye candy in the street-racing-turned-heist-turned-spy-movie-turned-superhero-movie series.
But it’s kind of surprising to see Rodriguez raising concerns and issuing mild yet stern threats over this issue. Her character – Letty Ortiz – has always had a prominent role in all the films that she has ever appeared in the Fast & Furious series. From being the badass love interest of Vin Diesel’s Dom to the secondary antagonist (memory-wiped, of course), she has had a lot more luck and stuff to shift lanes to in terms of a character arc. Jordana Brewster wasn’t so lucky and Gal Gadot somehow managed to leave a better mark than the former. (And look where Gadot is now. She’s Wonder Woman, for heaven’s sake!)
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As much as we love Michelle Rodriguez, she hasn’t had much success outside the Fast and Furious franchise. Ok… she was in Avatar. But so was Sam Worthington.
Gina Carano wasn’t objectified. But she hadn’t got anything to do Furious 6 than putting up a good show in all her fight scenes. Same applies to Rhonda Rousey in Furious 7 too. Nathalie Emmanuel’s character – Ramsey – who joined the series in Furious 7 had an important part to play in the story. But even she got sidelined in Fast 8. Turns out Michelle Rodriguez was the only one who got some kind of a preference among the ladies as far “getting some love” is concerned across the franchise.
In the studio’s defence, they did rope in Charlize Theron as the baddie in The Fate of the Furious and he character was fleshed out pretty well. She was sharp, brutal, cold-hearted and in fact made the fearless and invincible Dominic Toretto dance to her tunes. They have also introduced Helen Mirren to the canvas, with her character getting more significance and screen time in the upcoming movies. Well, one has to admit the good things that studios do too.
Next: The Fate Of The Furious: 10 Most Insanely-Awesome Scenes
Anyway, this could be the actress reaching out to the studio, the producers and the directors on behalf of the rest of ladies. And that’s admirable in its own right. And at a time when a movie like Wonder Woman is coming out to reignite the discussion of presenting woman of both style and substance on the big screen, Michelle Rodriguez’s Instagram post couldn’t have been better-timed.