Evincing a charismatic screen presence that recalled a female version of Marlon Brando, Michelle Rodriguez became an overnight star as Diana Guzman, a troubled high school senior who builds self-esteem and discovers her calling as a boxer in the affecting Sundance entry "Girlfight" (2000). After a somewhat peripatetic childhood that saw her family move from Texas to her mother's native Dominican Republic to her father's home of Puerto Rico, she and her family finally settled in Jersey City, New Jersey. Rodriguez dropped out of high school (eventually earning her GED) and passed her time landing extra work in movies filmed in NYC (like "Cradle Will Rock" and "Summer of Sam", both 1999). Answering an advertisement for an open casting to play a woman boxer, she almost didn't land her breakthrough role. Having Rollerbladed to the audition with a self-confessed "pessimistic attitude", Rodriguez failed to impress director Karyn Kusama with her audition. In fact, the filmmaker was dead set against hiring the aspiring actress whom she felt projected a lousy attitude. Kusama's producer and a casting agent intervened on Rodriguez's behalf and persuaded the director to reconsider and eventually Kusama relented. For her part, Rodriguez more than proved her mettle, delivering a star-making turn as the feisty, nude Diana.

Having become the "It Girl" of the indie world when "Girlfight" debuted at Sundance in 2000, Rodriguez watched her stock rise. No longer relegated to extra work, she was courted for major roles. Rodriguez followed up playing a tough cabby in the 2001 Sundance entry "3 A.M." (which aired on Showtime) and then co-starred as a driver in "The Fast and the Furious" (2001), about a rookie cop who infiltrates a race team suspected of participating in a jewel heist. The rising star then seen in in the action thriller "Resident Evil" (2002), a feature film based on the popular video game and as tough cookie surfer girl Eden in "Blue Crush" (2002), the first surfing movie of the new millennium--this time with a trio of eye-candy female leads and some truly awesome surf footage, making it a surprising guilty pleasure. She was then tapped as a tough cookie female police officer in the big-budget, action-oriented film adapation of the 70s crime drama "S.W.A.T." (2003). After a first season guest appearance on the hit ABC drama "Lost" as Ana-Lucia Cortez, a passenger who flirts with Jack (Matthew Fox) in a Sydney airport bar before boarding the ill-fated airliner, Rodriguez became a regular member of the cast in second season as part of second group of crash survivors.

With her distinctive, husky vocals, Rodriguez also enjoyed a burgeoning career as a voice actor, specializing in video games including "Halo 2" (2004), "True Crime: Streets of LA" (2003) and "Driv3r" (2004).

Filmography

> "Lost" (2004) TV Series .... Ana Lucia Cortez (2005-)
> "IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix" (2005) TV Series (voice) .... Liz Ricarro
> BloodRayne (2005) .... Katarin
> Sian Ka'an (2005) (voice)
> Control (2004) .... Teresa
> Halo 2 (2004) (VG) (voice) .... Marine
> Driv3r (2004) (VG) (voice) .... Calita
> True Crime: Streets of LA (2003) (VG) (voice) .... Rosie Velasco
> S.W.A.T. (2003) .... Chris Sanchez
> Blue Crush (2002) .... Eden
... aka Blue Crush (Germany)
> Resident Evil (2002) .... Rain Ocampo
... aka Resident Evil (France) (Germany)
> The Fast and the Furious (2001) .... Letty
... aka The Fast and the Furious (Germany)
> 3 A.M. (2001) .... Salgado
> Girlfight (2000) .... Diana Guzman
> Summer of Sam (1999) (unconfirmed)
> Cradle Will Rock (1999) (unconfirmed)

Click on a link on the left to go to each gallery.

links
CNN.com: Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez Underground

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