Michelle Rodriguez on Fast & Furious 6: “I Didn’t Want to Play a Slut”
May 25th, 2013
Michelle Rodriguez doesn’t just play a butt-kicking babe in the The Fast and the Furious franchise — she’s just as tough offscreen, too. Before the first film began production in 2001, the 34-year-old actress fought with producers to make her character, Letty Ortiz, more than just eye-candy for Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner.
“Originally this girl was a slut. Girls don’t respect girls that are this way, and guys don’t respect girls that are this way. They want to bang them, or they make a good one-night stand, but no man respects a floozy,” Rodriguez tells Vulture. “If you’re an individual within this franchise, the third lead, or the fourth lead, nobody’s going to be paying attention to your story but you. Because you know what, the writers and producers are a little bit busy coming up with all the action and the last thing on their mind is the integrity of the individual character’s story lines. So it’s the people who actually fight for their characters who win in the end.”
Rodriguez’s efforts proved to be successful, as she convinced writers to give her character more depth. “I was crying on the set. I was like, ‘Look, dude, I love you guys, I really want to be a part of this, but I can’t play a slut in front of millions of people around the world,’” she recalls. “I’d rather go back to Jersey City, doing my small little indie movies.”
Read more: Source
Gael García Bernal Lands Lead Role In Jon Stewart’s Film Rosewater
May 25th, 2013
Jon Stewart will be taking a 12-week break this summer from his hosting duties on The Daily Show to direct his debut film, Rosewater, and now it looks like he’s found his lead actor.
According to The Wrap, Stewart has cast Mexican actor Gael García Bernal to play Maziar Bahari, a real-life BBC journalist who was imprisoned in Iran for 118 days after he traveled there to cover the 2009 presidential election. Bernal has previously starred in critically accliamed films like Amores Perros, The Motorcycle Diaries and Y Tu Mama Tambien.
The film is based off of Bahari’s 2011 memoir, Then They Came for Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival, and it will chronicle the harsh interrogations that the journalist experienced during his time behind bars. Filming is expected to take place this summer, with Stewart leaving The Daily Show in early June.
Earlier this year Comedy Central announced that John Oliver will take over Stewart’s spot on the show on June 10. Stewart is expected resume hosting duties on Sept. 3.
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