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There's A Voice Inside Of Me That I Know People Will Relate To; I Just Haven't Really Had The Opportunity To Let It Flourish. To Sit There And Explain To A Guy What It's Like To Be A Kick-ass Woman Is Hard. I Think There're Only A Handful Of Directors Out There That Get It.

-Michelle Rodriguez

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There's A Voice Inside

Michelle Rodriguez

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There's A Voice Inside Of Me That I Know People Will Relate To; I Just Haven't Really Had The Opportunity To Let It Flourish. To Sit There And Explain To A Guy What It's Like To Be A Kick-ass Woman Is Hard. I Think There're Only A Handful Of Directors Out There That Get It.

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I Was Born In Texas And I Lived There 'till I Was 8. Then I Moved To The Dominican Republic With My Mom, Lived There For Two Years And Forgot Every Word Of English I Knew.

I Wanted To Express Myself. I Wanted To Be Creative And I Didn't Want To Worry About Someone Bossing Me Around In The Process. You Have To Struggle No Matter Where You Are To Get To Where You're Going, So I'm Like, Working It Honey!

When I Was About 11, 12, We Moved To Jersey City. Everywhere I Go I'm An Outsider.

[there Is] Type [of Actors ]a True Thespian Who Doesn't Give A Flying Rat's Ass What It Is As Long As It's Deep, Powerful, And Painful, And They Will Dive In Headfirst. I Really Respect Those People. Meryl Streep Is Amazing At It.

There's Only A Handful Of Directors Who Really Understand What I Call The Alchemical Balance Between A Man And A Woman, In A Woman's Body, Which Most People Consider The Strong Woman Character.

Guys Are So Predictable. They Can't Seem To Separate Fantasy From Reality, So I Get A Lot Of Bikers And Race Car Drivers Hitting On Me. They're All Just Playboys, So They Don't Interest Me.

I Was In Jersey When The Whole World Trade Center Thing Happened And I Felt Powerless. So, I Went To Hawaii And Did A Surf Movie. It's Kind Of Fluffy.

Sometimes I'd Knock On The Door Of Somebody I Was Going To School With, So It Was Like Living A Double Life.

I Use To Watch Like Maybe Three Or Four Movies, Five Days Out Of The Week. I Was A Movie Buff, But I Really Didn't Know What It Was Like Behind The Scenes, Or The Whole Political Process Of It.

I Knew Nothing About The Independent Film Industry. I Didn't Know Much About The Industry Itself. All I Knew Was How To Watch Movies, How To Enjoy Them, How To Hate Them, How Not To Like Them.

Whenever A Female Takes A Strong Stand For Herself, The Majority Of The Time They Have To Really, Really Narrow It Down To Being Feminine And Wearing Dresses And Just Being Lipstick Chic.

I Don't Want People Thinking Of Me Sexually. I Don't Want People To Be Like, 'she's Hot-looking,' You Know? I Want Them To Listen To Me For What I Am Saying. And I Think The Best Way To Do That Is To Sniff My Armpits, And Like, Sit And Burp Every Now And Then. It Just Completely Throws People Off. I Had A Couple Of Offers To Do Some Hot Scenes In The Shower With Some Guy And To Make It Real Hot And Sexy. The Next Thing You Know, I'd Be The Next J.lo Or Something. But That's Easy. I Want It The Hard Way.

I'm Stubborn. I'm Hardheaded. I Don't Do What I Don't Want To Do.

I Just Loved Storytelling. That's What I Thought I Would End Up Doing. I Thought I Would Probably Go To School And End Up Writing For A Magazine Or Something.

I Was Hanging Out In Gers [yurts] With These Kazakh Sort Of Bedouins. Drank Nasty-ass Camel Milk. The Drive [from The Souther Gobi To Ulan Bator] Is Insane. It's Like The Road.

I Trained With An Ex-navy Seal. We Shot A Lot Of Guns. Real Bullets... I Underwent Commando Training.

Milla Jovovich Introduced Me To [anthropologist And Author Of The Don Juan Series Of Books Involving Shamanic Peyote Rituals] Carlos Castaneda Because I Was All Into The Hallucinogens For A Minute.

After Cannes Every Year, I End Up Going To Some Foreign Country I've Never Been To Before And Introducing Myself To A New Religion - I'll Go To Bali And Research Hinduism, Or I'll Go To Thailand And Get Another Tattoo From Thai Tattoo Artist Ajarn Noo Kanpai.

I Had Older Brothers Who Would Pick On Me, And Injustice Always Boiled My Blood.

I Didn't Know How To Box So I Would Have Looked Like A Complete Street Fighter Actually, But What We Did Have To Do Was Pick Up Some Sides And Then Just Memorize Them Within Two Days And Go There And Audition.

This Crazy Little Party Girl Who Loves To Enjoy Life Actually Has A Purpose. So, That's Really The Core Of Why I've Survived So Many Years And I Can Go And I Can Fall Down And I Can Get Back Up. Why? Because I Know Why I'm Here. That's The Question That A Lot Of People Need To Answer When They Do Fall Is, 'why Am I Here?' If You Can Answer That Question, You'll Be Able To Dust Yourself Off And Shine Like A Phoenix Out Of Ashes.

It's Easy For Me To Work With Other Girls Because I'm A Tomboy And I Don't Want The Guy, Your Boyfriend - I'm Not Interested In Looking Better Than You, So Don't Worry. Fail Or Win, Whatever It Is, I Need To Go Do Stuff.

I Just Want That Unconditional Love, The Kind You Get With A Family Member. You Might Get Lucky Enough To Find That Unconditional Love In A Friend Or A Lover, But It's Very Rare. So If I Ever Have A Kid, It'd Be So That I Could Look In Those Eyes And Know That This Child Is A Piece Of Me And Will Love Me The Same Way I Love, But I Think That's Selfish Of Me.

I Heard That The Guy Who Invented The Jehovah's Witnesses Was A Mason.that Kind Of Turned Me Off, Because When Something's Mysterious, All You Can Do Is Be Scared Of It. "he's A Mason? Ugh. It Must Be Evil!" I Didn't Know Much About It, So I Was Scared. Now I Actually Admire Those Guys - They're Pretty Talented. They Founded A Lot Of The World That We Look At Today.

I'd Done Two Years' Worth Of Extra Work, And All My Friends Who I Would Go On Auditions With Went To School For Acting. These Were Kids Who Knew When They Were 14 Years Old That This Was What They Wanted To Do With Their Lives, And They Prepared For It, And They're Getting Canned At Every Audition.

I Would Like To See A Fierce Fantasia Mixed With Blade Runner, Lord Of The Rings, And Star Wars All In One. That's The Kind Of Movies I Want To Make.

Berlin Is Liberation. Architecture, Man!

When I Was About, I'd Say, 18 Or 19 Years Old, I Wanted To Be A Part Of The Cia Just Because They Know Those Intimate Secrets... So I Was Just Always Into Knowing. I Like To Know Things.

Growing Up In Jersey City Was Interesting. I Got To Learn A Lot About Different Cultures: I Had Hindu Friends, Middle Eastern Friends, Black Friends, Spanish Friends.

Sometimes I Wake Up In Awe That I'm Alive. I Can't Get Over That Part, So I Guess It Makes Me Kind Of Like An Existentialist.

I Just Love Feeling Myself, And Moving, Flexing, Jumping, Expressing, Dancing And Doing Movement. I'm In Tune With It. I Like To Express Myself With My Body, More So Than Intellectually. But, I Am A Geek.

I Love Action. I Love To Move My Body. Any Chance I Have To Do That In My Youth, I'll Definitely Jump Towards It, For Sure.

It's The Board I Had A Problem With. I Could Totally Handle Being In The Water And Stuff. I Came Here To Do My Own Stunts. Water! Ocean! Action! Big Waves! That Water, That Water Has Tamed Me. You Can Feel That The World Is Connected To It.

I Think There Are Three Types Of Actors. There Are The Ones That Do The Ego Thing, Which Is "i'm Never Going To Look Bad In A Movie, Ever." This Is Mostly The Action Film Dudes, Like, "nah, Hell No. He Ain't Punchin' Me! I'd Whoop His Ass!"

I Do What I Want, When I Want, How I Want, And Because Of That, It Has Taken Me So Long To Grow Into An Adult Human Being.

Basically I Was A Rebel Growing Up. I Got Kicked Out Of Six Schools. But I Don't Think That It Makes You Less Of An Intellect. You Know, If You Ever Crave Knowledge, There's Always A Library.

I Don't See The Point Of Marriage. But When I Need My Love, I Get My Love.

The Egos In This Industry Are Incredibly Vulnerable And Everybody's Afraid To Wipe Out. So Everybody Plays It Safe And Everybody Tells Everybody Else How Great They Are.

I'm A Lone Wolf. I Run By Myself On Most Things. I've Got Lots Of Really Great Friends, But The Thought Of Being In A Long-lasting Relationship? Psh, I Couldn't Last More Than Six Months With Somebody, Let Alone Have A Father Figure Around For A Kid. I Mean, If I Could Give A Kid A Father Figure, That Would Be Amazing.

When I Am Scared Of Something, I Run Towards It, Instead Of Away From It.

I'm Like, "well, Damn, That Means That I Have To Carry A Flag." I Don't Have The Freedom To Just Do Anything, Because I Have The Political Weight Of Having This Last Name And My Heritage. It's Not Like I've Transcended, Will Smith-style. It Takes A Lot To Pull That Off, To Cross Over, And Transcend.

The Whole Surf Culture Is Starting To Embrace Women A Lot More.

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.

I'm Always Researching Ancient Religions, And I Was Also Raised Jehovah's Witness, So That Kind Of Scarred Me For Life.

I Think That, If Aliens Did Exist, They Would Exist At A Higher Frequency. Being At A Higher Frequency, You Would Have To Be More Evolved Than What We Consider To Be Evolved. If There Were Aliens, I Personally Believe They Would Have To Resonate At A Higher Frequency To Be Able To Time Travel, Or To Blink In And Out Of Dimension.

I Do Have A Delicate Side.

I Have Absolutely Nothing Consistent In My Life. But That's Where Serendipity Comes In And I Love That. One Day I'm Going To Have To Sacrifice That To Bring Life Into The World. But The More I Can Hold Off On That, The Happier I'll Be. It's Scary For Me.

I Don't Have An Agent. The Only Work I Get Is Through Friendships That I've Already Built.

People Love Destroying Mankind, For Some Strange Reason. You Make A Movie About Mankind's Destruction, You're Going To Fill Seats. People Just Love The Idea. For A Couple Thousand Years, We've Been Dreaming Up How We're All Going To Disappear And Fade Away From This Planet.

The Dewey Decimal System Really Works. So That's All I Needed To Know. Elementary School Taught Me That.

I Learned That You Can Make A Sci-fi Film That Is Satisfying Overseas. European People Have Everything In Check. I'd Make Every Sci-fi Film In Europe. They Only Work 14 Hours A Day. After That, It's Overtime.

I Enjoy Vanity . But I Can't Stick To Any Of That Lifestyle For Too Long Because, When Its True Colors Come Out, It's Empty And Cold And Soulless.

The More Confidence You Have In Yourself And The More You Believe That You Are Destined To Do What You Are Gonna Do, It Will Happen.

I Think There Are Three Types Of Actors. There Are The Ones That Do The Ego Thing, Which Is "i'm Never Going To Look Bad In A Movie, Ever." This Is Mostly The Action Film Dudes, Like, "nah, Hell No. He Ain't Punchin' Me! I'd Whoop His Ass!" Then You've Got The Activist Type Who Bases Their Decisions In The Development Of A Character On What It Symbolizes To Society - What The Ethical Code Is. And Then The Third Type Is A True Thespian Who Doesn't Give A Flying Rat's Ass What It Is As Long As It's Deep, Powerful, And Painful, And They Will Dive In Headfirst. I Really Respect Those People.

They Didn't Train Me To Be In The Ring For Five And A Half Hours Punching Air. So, It Was Hard, I Had To Get Some Body Contact In There Somewhere, It Was Mostly Body Shots And Stuff. I Had No Clue, Really.

I Don't Like Weak Women And I Don't Find It Interesting To Play Them. I'm Inspired By Them, When I See Them In Dramas, Like With Natalie Portman, In Almost Every Movie She's In. It's Awesome That Chicks Can Really Go There, And It's Beautiful To Watch, But I Don't Think I'm Interested, In Any Way, Shape Or Form, In Embodying Those Creatures.

My Favorite Part Of My Body Is My Brain. I Think No Matter What My Body Looks Like I Wont Be Satisfied Unless I Know How To Use It.

People Don't Like Talking About It, But If You're Spanish, You Feel A Weight.

I've Been Part Of Really Big Things That Are Amazing, But I Haven't Taken On That Responsibility Yet. So I Don't Want To Sell Myself Short By Having A Kid And Then Regret Not Doing What I Set Out To Do.

I'd Stare Up At The Sky And Just Dream A Lot. Still Do. I Dreamed That I Didn't Belong Here, That I Was Going To Travel A Lot.

I Think Humans Are Stupid. We Fight And Kill Each Other. I Think That's Dumb. Aliens Would Be Smarter Than That And Wouldn't Approach Things On That Level. I Can't Really Fathom It Being A Negative Thing For Aliens To Visit.

You Can Keep Knocking Me Down Forever, I'll Keep Getting Up And Trying.

Going To Car Racing School Was Phenomenal.

Maybe I Exclude Myself From That Genre By Not Getting Dressed Up Often Enough, By Acting Ghetto Most Of The Time, And Running Around In Sweats And Timberlands.

I Wanted To Write A Film And I Thought The Best Way To Do So Was To Train Myself Within The Field... It Was Just Like A Cycle Of People Trying To Make It, Not Making It, Doing Extra Work, And It Was Pretty Depressing In The End.

I'm A Video Game Fan. I Played Them Before I Became An Actress.

I Wish That Something Interesting Would Come Across The Desk. I'm Bored By What People Think Is Interesting.

There Was A Lot Of Drama In School Because, Well, People Have Problems At Home And They Take It Out On Their Friends In School. Trying To Impress People, They Became Bullies. I Hated It Because I Know What It's Like To Be Picked On, And I Never Liked Not Fitting In, Especially Moving Around So Much As A Kid Because I Was An Army Brat. My Dad Was In The Army.

The Best Part Of Making The Movies... Learning From The Pros Themselves.

I've Never Really Been About Looking Good - I'm Just Bad At That Stuff.

I Also Love The Makers Of South Park, Because They're Political, Strong, And They're Making All Of These Comments That Would Get You Shot For If You Did It In A Drama.

I've Gone Both Ways. I Do As I Please. I Am Too F**king Curious To Sit Here And Not Try When I Can. Men Are Intriguing. So Are Chicks.

I Used To Go Over To My Friend's House And We'd Watch Vcr Tapes, Three Of Them A Day, And I Was Like, "i Could Come Up With Better Stories Than This." And I've Wanted To Write Films Ever Since.

There's A Voice Inside Of Me That I Know People Will Relate To; I Just Haven't Really Had The Opportunity To Let It Flourish. To Sit There And Explain To A Guy What It's Like To Be A Kick-ass Woman Is Hard. I Think There're Only A Handful Of Directors Out There That Get It.

The Way I Survived Growing Up In Jersey City Was By Being Funny. It Wasn't By Being Tough. Nobody Thought Of Me As A Tough Kid, Except For The Kids I Beat Up.

There's Something About Strength That I Really Admire, That I Failed To See A Lot Of When I Was Growing Up.

I Think Empathy Is A Beautiful Thing. I Think That's The Power Of Film Though. We Have One Of The Most Powerful, One Of The Greatest Communicative Tools Known To Man.

I've Always Been And Will Always Be Very Private About My Personal Life. If Anything Ever Goes Public, It Is By Default, Because I Happened To Be In A Place Where I Was Being Watched. But For The Most Part, I Honestly Don't Care What People Think. I Never Have. If I Did, I'd Probably Present Myself A Little More Carefully.

My Dad Was More, "let's Play Chess. Read A Book, You're Stupid." He's More The Intellectual Type.

The Only Place That I'd Be Worried About Being Typecast Is The Independent Film World.

Until They Come Up With An Independent Woman Who's On An Adventure Of Her Own, I Don't Think I'm Interested.

I Wouldn't Want To Sacrifice The Last Years That I Have Of Being Youthful In This Business To Have Kids.

I Already Knew, From Church, That This Place Was Raped And Pillaged By Spaniards And The Pilgrims. "don't Sit Here And Try To Tell Me That They Broke Bread Together, Brother.

The Roughest Thing Was Learning The Realities Of The World At Such A Young Age. I Was 10 Or 11, Going To Church, Hearing The Adults Standing On The Podium Talking About World Affairs, About History, About War, And How America Was Founded.

I Went To Business School But Left After Four Months Because I Just Didn't Want To Be A Puppet Of Society, Stuck In An Office, Craving Some Sunlight.

It's Nice Having A Heart And A Pussy Too!

We All Have Our Moments. But You Can Switch It Around. Then You've Got The Activist Type Who Bases Their Decisions In The Development Of A Character On What It Symbolizes To Society - What The Ethical Code Is.

I Don't Have Much History - I've Got Rosie Perez, Jennifer Lopez, Rita Moreno. That's It. That's The History Of Latin Women In Hollywood, Really.

I Am Looking Forward To Seeing My Buddy Colin Represent In Front Of Pacino. That's Sweet.

Looking Forward

I Thought About Making Movies. It Hit Me When I Was About 14, 15 Years Old.

I Hated School Right Away. Religion Had A Lot To Do With It Because I Felt Like Everybody Was Always Lying To Me.

I Just Never Felt Like I Belonged Anywhere. I Always Had A Stick With A Little Knapsack Attached.

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