Fast & Furious star Michelle Rodriguez says religious upbringing made Hollywood feel like the 'devil's world'
Michelle Rodriguez has admitted that her strict religious upbringing meant Hollywood barely registered with her when she first arrived - because in her mind, she was already stepping into the ‘devil's world’.
The actress, 48, has appeared in eight Fast and Furious films since debuting as Letty Ortiz in the 2001 original, but she's revealed that her Jehovah's Witness background left her largely detached from the industry's glamour when she landed the role.
"I came from a Jehovah's Witness background at the time," she told People magazine at a 25th anniversary screening of the film in Los Angeles.
"So it's like none of this really means anything to me. And so you're dealing with a kid who's not affected.
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"I'm already playing in the so-called devil's world in my mind as a 20-year-old, obviously."
Rather than the fame, Rodriguez has said what actually excited her about the role was being able to do things her upbringing had strictly forbidden.
"I really loved being able to get in a car, train, learn how to shoot guns, learn how to race cars," she said.
"To me, that was the exciting thing. Doing things that you weren't allowed to do in real life. Break windows, be violent, all that stuff."
She's spoken before about how restrictive that childhood was. On Facebook Watch's Red Table Talk in 2020, Rodriguez explained that even ordinary milestones were treated as taboo.
"I mean, birthdays and celebrating Halloween are like evil," she said.
"I didn't get to watch Disney movies 'til I was in my teens because of all the witchcraft."
In a 2015 interview with Interview magazine, she went further, describing the religion as something that had 'kind of scarred me for life'.
Rodriguez had only appeared in two independent films, Girlfight and 3 A.M., before her breakout casting.
She's said Vin Diesel was behind the opportunity after watching her performance in Girlfight and pushing for her to join the cast as his character's love interest.
Away from her home life, Rodriguez has said she was a completely different person at school, one who didn't fit the image expected of her at home.
"At school, I was this tomboy kid who just loved to hang out with her friends and learn curse words, trying to fit in with the cool kids and defending all the kids who got picked on," she said.
That contrast became especially stark when she was made to preach door-to-door as part of her family's religious practice, occasionally running into people she recognised.
"Sometimes I'd knock on the door of somebody I was going to school with, so it was like living a double life," she admitted.
Topics: Fast and Furious, Hollywood, Entertainment
Thomas Bamford