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Biography

Michelle Rodriguez was born in Bell County, Texas on July 12, 1978. Her father's profession in the army made for a rather nomadic lifestyle for the Rodriguez clan, who moved to the Dominican Republic in 1986, and then to Puerto Rico two years later. When Michelle was 11, the family relocated to Jersey City, New Jersey, where they settled down permanently. Michelle's time in Dominican had endowed her with fluency in Spanish as well as a strong sense of moral virtue, the influence of a grandmother who was a devout Jehovah's Witness. Nevertheless, this spiritual stability failed to translate into Michelle's personal life, who, by age 17, had been kicked out of six schools before giving up on the education system altogether. Her dedication to the physical and emotional demands of her character paid off lavishly, when Girlfight premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival it received the Grand Jury Prize, with Rodriguez's performance singled out as one of the most exciting breakthroughs in years; among the many kudos she subsequently received was the National Board of Review's prize for Best Breakthrough Performance.

Rodriguez's status as one of the year's New Hot Young Thangs on the Block was duly reflected by the attention she was subsequently paid in both the media and Hollywood. In the following year, her projects included Rob Cohen's The Fast and the Furious, an urban adrenaline extravaganza in which she played the tough girlfriend of a gang leader alongside Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and Jordanna Brewster, and 3 A.M., a made-for-cable drama which cast her as a taxi driver and was screened at the Sundance Festival.

Striving to maintain the balance between sexy and tough, Rodriguez would take on zombies in Resident Evil (2002) before hitting the waves in Blue Crush. Though neither film proved a bona fide box-office smash, they did offer the up and coming actress the exposure needed to develop an enduring career. Rodriguez could next be seen opposite Colin Farrell in the hard-hitting action thriller S.W.A.T.

In 2005, Rodriguez appeared briefly on the first season of NBC's endlessly enigmatic primetime drama Lost as Ana Lucia Cortez, a tough cop with a shady past. She reprised the role in the following season, when she clashed heads with fellow flight survivor Jack (Matthew Fox) and struggled with her changing status within the group. The actress also starred in The Breed and Battle in Seattle, and co-stars in Avatar, director James Cameron's science fiction adventure.