Michelle Rodriguez Biography

Michelle Rodriguez (born July 12, 1978) 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.

Michelle 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. Rodriguez was raised a Jehovah's Witness by her devoutly religious maternal grandmother, and has total of ten half-siblings or siblings, some of whom she has never met.

Michelle 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 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 girls for the role, and landed 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. Rodriguez's performance was recognized by both critics and audiences.

Subsequently, she has had notable roles in other hit movies, such as 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.

In June of 2004, Rodriguez pleaded no contest in Los Angeles to three traffic violations: hit and run, drunken driving and driving with a suspended license. She completed a three-month alcohol program and is currently serving a three-year probation term.

While filmimg Lost in 2005 in Hawaii, Rodriguez has been pulled over by Honolulu police multiple times; she was cited for driving 83 mph in a 55 mph zone on Oahu on Nov. 1 and was fined $357, paid a $300 fine for driving 90 mph in a 35 mph zone on Oct. 20, and she was fined $197 for going 80 mph in a 50 mph zone on Aug. 24.

Rodriguez and her Lost costar, Cynthia Watros, were pulled over and arrested on the morning of December 1, 2005 in Kailua, Hawaii (where Lost is filmed). According to the arresting officers, the two actresses, who were driving in separate cars, were weaving in and out of traffic on Pali Highway, which connects Kailua and Honolulu. Rodriguez and Watros were arrested at 12:05 and 12:20am, respectively, and both failed sobriety tests. They were booked at the main Honolulu police station for driving under the influence of an intoxicant (Rodriguez was booked under the name Mayte Michelle Rodriguez). They were released on $500 bail and have a driver’s license revocation hearing scheduled for December 29, 2005.

Their police mugshots have since been posted at the Smoking Gun website.

Rodriguez has a trial date of March 30, 2006.