Michelle Marie Rodriguez was born on July 12, 1978.
She is an American actress best known for her roles
in films like The Fast and the Furious and Resident
Evil, as well as the television series Lost.
Rodriguez was born in Bexar County, Texas to Rafael
Rodriguez (a Puerto Rican) and Carmen (a native of
the Dominican Republic); her parents divorced in
1986. She was raised a Jehovah's Witness by her
devoutly religious maternal grandmother, and has a
total of ten half-siblings or siblings, some of whom
she has never met.
Rodriguez moved to the Dominican Republic with her
mother when she was 8 and lived in Puerto Rico when
she was 11, later settling in New Jersey. She
dropped out of high school at age 17 (after having
been kicked out of 6 different schools), but later
earned her GED.
Rodriguez was a struggling actress when she ran
across an ad advertising an open casting call for
the low-budget, independent film, Girlfight.
Michelle beat out 350 other applicants for the part,
and was cast in the starring role of Diana Guzman, a
troubled teen who decides to channel her aggression
by training to become a boxer. It was her first
audition. The film was released in 2000, and
Rodriguez's performance was recognized by both
critics and audiences.
Subsequently, she has had notable roles in other
successful movies, including The Fast and the
Furious and Resident Evil. She joined the cast of
the TV series Lost in 2005, playing tough cop
Ana-Lucia Cortez.
In 2002, she was ranked #77 in Stuff magazine’s “102
Sexiest Women In The World”, and #34 in Maxim’s "100
Sexiest Women".
Rodriguez dated her The Fast and the Furious
co-star, Vin Diesel, in 2001. She enjoys inline
skating and plays the piano.
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