Having been part of the franchise since the very first movie 20 years ago, Michelle Rodriguez has always been a pivotal cog in the Fast & Furious machine, and given her longstanding close friendship with producer and creative driving force Vin Diesel, her suggestions and ideas are presumably listened to and taken on board.
However, that didn’t stop the actress from issuing an ultimatum a couple of years back where she hinted that she might abandon the series altogether unless the female characters were treated better on the page. While Rodriguez was quick to point out that her ire wasn’t in any way directed towards Diesel but rather the studio, her threat clearly worked seeing as she was thrilled to sign on for the ninth installment after a female writer was brought on to polish the script originally penned by director Justin Lin and Daniel Casey.
In a new interview, the longtime Letty admitted that she’s more than happy with the increased female presence in Fast & Furious 9, revealing that the veritable bevy of talented actresses are set to come to the forefront of the upcoming action-packed blockbuster.
“My heart warmed when I saw that there was actually not one single bit of resistance against the idea of bringing the females of the franchise into the forefront. Justin was super on board with it. Vin was super on board with it. He’s always been supportive of strong women. And the studio hired an amazing writer to come on board and touch up all of the female characters. When I actually watched the movie, I was like, ‘Yeah, okay, drop mic. I can chill now’. I felt like all of the females in the franchise got equal amounts of love, and that, to me, warmed my heart. If they win, I win.”
There’s plenty of female talent involved in Fast & Furious 9, that’s for sure. As well as veterans Rodriguez and Jordanna Brewster, Academy Award winners Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren will also be returning as Cipher and Magdalene Shaw respectively, while Nathalie Emmanuel makes her third appearance in the franchise as hacker Ramsey and Cardi B cameos as the mysterious Leysa. Even outside of the main saga, throw in Vanessa Kirby’s Hattie Shaw and Eiza Gonzalez’s Madame M and that’s a stacked roster for whenever that all-female spinoff eventually ends up happening.
