The Fast And Furious Scene Michelle Rodriguez Refused To Do
It may have been inconceivable to think about back in 2001, but the ninth mainline installment of the "Fast & Furious" film franchise — "F9" — is set to screen at the 74th Cannes Film Festival and is already blowing up the global box office (via Indiewire) ahead of its US release on June 25. The ninth installment's success is just a further testament to the franchise's incredible longevity. It's also a huge compliment to the core cast of the series, whose indelible characters have been anchoring the films for twenty years.
Along with the likes of Vin Diesel and Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez made her debut in the very first film — "The Fast and the Furious" — and has recurred throughout the series ever since. However, there's a not too distant alternate timeline where that is not the case. During a 2015 interview with The Daily Beast, Rodriguez revealed that the first film contained a love-triangle storyline for her character Letty Ortiz that caused her to almost throw in her mechanic's rag on the whole franchise.
Here's what Michelle Rodriguez had to say about the "Fast & Furious" scene she simply refused to do.
Michelle Rodriguez didn't like the idea of Letty cheating on Dom
While speaking with Jen Yamato of The Daily Beast, Rodriguez revealed that the original script for "The Fast and the Furious" contained a storyline that involved Letty cheating on Dom (Vin Diesel) with Brian (Paul Walker), which then led to a love triangle between the three characters. That type of narrative arc just didn't make sense to Rodriguez.
"It was more of a 'Point Break' idea ... They just followed the format without thinking about the reality of it," Rodriguez said. She went on to explain, "Is it realistic for a Latin girl who's with the alpha-est of the alpha males to cheat on him with the cute boy? I had to put my foot down."
In addition to not finding the arc to be believable, Rodriguez also didn't like the idea of portraying a character who was a cheater. She described giving the creatives behind the film an ultimatum: either the storyline had to go or she would quit the movie. Thankfully, she got an assist from one of her co-stars.
Rodriguez said, "Vin was the first one to pull me to the side while I was crying, and he just looked at me and said, 'I got your back. Chill out and let me handle this, and you're right—it makes me look bad anyway.'" Ultimately, the storyline did get removed, Rodriguez remained in the picture, and Diesel proved that family really does stick together.