Latinos revved ‘“Fast & Furious 6” into a box office hit over Memorial Day Weekend but it was actress Michelle Rodriguez’s resurrection as Letty in the franchise that had fans racing to theaters.
The movie, which hit the big screen on Friday, sped past “The Hangover III” collecting $120 million over the 4-day weekend with Latinos making up 32 percent of its audience, according to The Wrap. And fans had a huge role in the film’s success, not only making it No. 1 in theaters but also reviving Rodriguez’ character for the sixth installment after fellow co-star and on-screen soulmate Vin Diesel mustered fans online to bring Letty back from the dead.
“I love all the fans and if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be in ‘Fast 6,’” the Dominican-Puerto Rican star told reporters via a Google Hangout interview. (Check out the full interview above)
Returning to the franchise alongside Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster and a slew of high powered cars, the tough skinned actress seemed to be inspired by her breakout role in “Girlfight” (2000) as she took on mixed martial arts fighter and ‘American Gladiator’ Gina Carano in hand to hand combat for “Fast & Furious 6.”
“There was definitely a lot of preparation for this, especially when you’re fighting someone who knows how to fight as well as Gina Carano does,” the 34-year-old star told reporters. “I did about two months with the stunt guys and I took some Tracy Anderson toning so that I could get my insides ready to take a punch.”
Fans eager to see more fight scenes with Rodriguez will be happy to hear there’s more of Letty to come. Despite declaring she was “about to say goodbye to acting for a minute and move behind the camera” in Cosmopolitan for Latina’s Summer issue, the actress told HuffPo her plans have changed temporarily.
“Well you know, the taking a break kind of ended when they announced Fast 7,” the star said during the Google Hangout interview. “[But] I got a kids’ movie in the works, I’ve got “The Matriarch Society” which is an idea I came up with to hopefully attract the hottest females in Hollywood to be in one feature, and the third project that I got going on is called “Sedated” and it’s about the drug world, how people try to self-medicate.”
You can check out the full interview with Rodriguez above and catch “Fast & Furious 6” in theaters now.
Before You Go
