Back in June, Michelle Rodriguez expressed that she may leave the ever-popular Fast & Furious franchise if the roles for the female characters are not given more significant roles in the story.
Now, Rodriguez is doubling-down on her sentiments regarding her fellow female co-stars and their significance onscreen with their male co-stars. While speaking to TMZ, the actress emphasized her stance:
“My path is about female empowerment, and if I’m feeling a little stagnant in that area in what I’m doing for a living, then I’m gonna have to move on. Evolve or die, baby. I hope they show some love to the women in the franchise. I’d like to see that. I’d like to see them talk to each other for a change, you know what I mean? I can count with one hand the times I’ve talked to the female actresses in the franchise, and I think that’s kinda sad.”
Rodriguez has been part of the Universal Pictures blockbuster franchise since the beginning. She appeared alongside co-stars Paul Walker, Vin Diesel and Jordana Brewster in The Fast and the Furious and she soon reprised her role as Letty Ortiz in the fourth film, Fast & Furious where she is believed to have been killed off.
During a mid-credits scene for Fast Five, it is teased that Letty is still alive and she returns for the action in Fast & Furious 6 as part of the central narrative of the story. Since her reunion with Dominic Toretto’s team, she has remained an important staple to their missions.
Although she has remained an integral player within the cast, Rodriguez makes some solid points regarding the need for better roles for the women in this series. Some of the series’ surviving characters include Brewster’s Mia, Nathalie Emmanuel’s Ramsey and most recently, Charlize Theron’s Cipher and Helen Mirren’s Magdalene Shaw. Actresses Gal Gadot and Elsa Pataky have also played important roles alongside Toretto’s team, but both characters have been killed off.
Hopefully, Fast & Furious 9 will answer Rodriguez’s wishes. Besides, this series has been lauded for featuring a diverse group of actors and actresses at the forefront. It is only fair that the actresses involved are given roles just as significant as their male counterparts.
Fast & Furious 9 will race into theaters on April 19, 2019.
Source: TMZ
