Why ‘Fast And Furious 9’ Star Michelle Rodriguez Threatened To Leave The Franchise

Expectations of “Fast And Furious 9” star Michelle Rodriguez reprising her role as Letty Ortiz was put to question after a controversial Instagram post that the actress uploaded. She took to the said social platform at the same time the digital release of the eighth installment of “The Fast And The Furious” franchise.

“I hope they decide to show some love to the women of the franchise on the next one,” captioned Rodriguez on her Instagram post in June 2017. “Or I just might have to say goodbye to a loved franchise.”

The Latin star is known for her strong opinions on diversity within the film industry. She caused an uproar over remarks about calling minorities “lazy” by stealing “white” superhero roles, which made headlines back in 2015.

The topic had sparked a wide debate about role casting and diversity. And although her words were poorly formulated, this presented her ideals of formulating one’s own niche instead of trying to fit in someone else’s.

In a separate article, the actress mentioned her principles and the “lines [she] just won’t cross for a role.” “You're going to just have to create your own archetype, doesn't matter if you go broke doing it,” said Rodriguez in an interview. Additionally, her desire for more women to write strong female roles in the movie industry was mentioned.

These principles were put to the fore when she threatened to leave “The Fast And The Furious” franchise — she was set to go through with this unless they added a female scriptwriter. The male-centric view pushed her to write some of her own lines, to which she commented was “cool” but “frivolous.”

She was also very outspoken about how she found a lack of communication between the female actresses’ roles despite how close they seemed. She added that it was “pathetic” that there was barely any interaction between her character Letty and Jordana Brewster’s Mia Toretto.

“I've been in the franchise for 16 years, and I can count on both hands how many times we've actually had a conversation on screen, and I thought that was pathetic,” Rodriguez said.

Michelle Rodriguez has since confirmed her acceptance of the role, following Universal Pictures’ higher-ups’ addition of a female scriptwriter. The “Fast & Furious 9” release date is set on May 22, 2020.