Michelle Rodriguez has worked in entertainment for more than 25 years and appeared in dozens of movies, including eight “Fast and the Furious” films.
However, she admitted that her religious upbringing deeply affected how she viewed Hollywood when she entered the industry, as reported [1] by Page Six.
#MichelleRodriguez [2] says Hollywood felt like the ‘devil’s world’ after religious upbringing https://t.co/4EYn15kosG [3]
— Eerie News (@EerieNewsToday) August 20, 2026 [4]
Rodriguez discussed that experience during a 25th anniversary screening of the 2001 original in Los Angeles on Monday.
The actress explained that her Jehovah’s Witness background made the entertainment business feel completely removed from the world in which she had been raised.
“I came from a Jehovah’s Witness background at the time,” Rodriguez, 48, said at the screening, according to People magazine.
Her beliefs influenced how she understood the significance of Hollywood and the opportunities suddenly surrounding her.
“So it’s like none of this really means anything to me,” she said.
Rodriguez described herself as a young person who was not affected by the excitement attached to the industry because she believed she was already entering what she considered the “devil’s world.”
Before being cast as Letty Ortiz, Rodriguez had appeared in only two independent films, “Girlfight” and “3 A.M.”
Her arrival in the street racing franchise therefore came while she was still learning about acting and the entertainment business.
“I was just getting introduced to what it is to be an actor in New York,” Rodriguez told People magazine. She also credited Vin Diesel with noticing her work in “Girlfight” and seeing a place for that type of character in “Fast.”
“And then I think Vin [Diesel] had seen ‘Girlfight’ and he really liked the character and wanted that character to be his girlfriend in ‘Fast,’” Rodriguez said.
She ultimately joined the film as Letty Ortiz, the girlfriend of Diesel’s character.
Although her strict upbringing left her largely unconcerned about the movie itself, Rodriguez became enthusiastic about the activities that came with the role.
The physical and action-focused parts of the production held far more appeal for her.
“I really loved being able to get in a car, train, learn how to shoot guns, learn how to race cars,” she told People magazine.
Those experiences offered her the opportunity to perform actions that were not permitted in ordinary life.
“To me, that was the exciting thing,” Rodriguez explained.
“Doing things that you weren’t allowed to do in real life. Break windows, be violent, all that stuff.”
“The Fast and the Furious” follows an undercover police officer played by the late Paul Walker. His character infiltrates a street racing gang led by Diesel’s character, placing Rodriguez’s Letty Ortiz within the central group.
Rodriguez has previously spoken about the intensity of her childhood and the restrictions connected to her religion. In 2020, she addressed that upbringing during an appearance on Facebook Watch’s Red Table Talk.
“I mean, birthdays and celebrating Halloween are like evil,” she explained at the time. The restrictions also affected the entertainment she was permitted to watch while growing up.
“I didn’t get to watch Disney movies ‘til I was in my teens because of all the witchcraft,” Rodriguez said. Her comments illustrated how beliefs about celebrations and fictional magic shaped her childhood experiences.
Rodriguez offered another stark assessment in a 2015 interview with Interview magazine.
She said the religion “kind of scarred me for life” and described feeling as though she was living a “double life” while going door to door with her family.
“Sometimes I’d knock on the door of somebody I was going to school with, so it was like living a double life,” she admitted.
“At school, I was this tomboy kid who just loved to hang out with her friends and learn curse words, trying to fit in with the cool kids and defending all the kids who got picked on.”