Throughout her career, it’s hard to immediately think of many high-profile Hollywood actresses that have starred in quite as many big budget blockbusters, effects-driven adventures, or hard-hitting action movies as Michelle Rodriguez.
After all, the 44 year-old is currently shooting her seventh major outing as Letty Ortiz in Fast X, while her filmography also boasts the first Resident Evil and fifth installment Retribution, S.W.A.T., BloodRayne, Avatar, Machete and its sequel Machete Kills, Battle: Los Angeles, Alita: Battle Angel, and the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons: Among Thieves.
That’s quite the resume, one that makes Rodriguez one of the industry’s foremost authorities on green screens from a performative standpoint. Despite her experience, though, the ass-kicking action hero admitted to Digital Spy that she much prefers working with tangible backdrops and practical effects, as opposed to CGI.
“After years and years of making these types of movies and technology growing the way that it does, shooting on a green screen with golf balls, sucks balls. So having like some real cool, you know, animatronics on set is really helpful. It just makes you really feel like you’re part of what’s going on. And you get to see the artists and do their thing. It’s beautiful. Really cool.”
The Fast Saga is known for using plenty of real explosions and in-camera stunts, but even then, Rodriguez will have to persevere with the golf balls on sticks given that the 10th and 11th concluding chapters are shooting back-to-back.