Bio
Michelle Marie Rodriguez is best known for her roles in films like The Fast and the Furious and Resident Evil, as well as the television series Lost.
She was born in Bexar County, Texas to Rafael Rodriguez and Carmen. In 1986 her parents divorced and she was raised as a Jehovah's Witness by her devoutly religious grandmother, and has a total of ten half-siblings or siblings, some of whom she has never met.
She moved to the Dominican Republic with her mother when she was 8 and lived in Puerto Rico when she was 11, later settling in New Jersey. She dropped out of high school at age 17 (after having been kicked out of 6 different schools), but later earned her GED.
Rodriguez was a struggling actress when she ran across an ad advertising an open casting call for the low-budget, independent film, Girlfight. Michelle beat out 350 other applicants for the part, and was cast in the starring role of Diana Guzman, a troubled teen who decides to channel her aggression by training to become a boxer.
Subsequently, she has had notable roles in other successful movies, including The Fast and the Furious and Resident Evil. She is now appearing on Lost as the tough ass-kicking cop Ana-Lucia Cortez.