Michelle Rodriguez is no stranger to roles that put her uniform, thanks
to a tough girl image she’s developed — and accepted — thanks to roles
in Girlfight, The Fast and the Furious, and Lost. In her latest, Battle: Los Angeles, Rodriguez goes full military as an Air Force tech sergeant trying to stop an alien invasion. Metro spoke with Rodriguez about being a tomboy, breaking character on set and her rather detailed thoughts on aliens.
What was it about this film that made you want to do it?
(Director) Jonathan (Liebesman)’s style. You read a script and you go, “All right, this is a doable script. It’s a cool alien invasion flick.” The other 50 per cent of what’s going to yay or nay it for me is what the aliens look like and how you’re going to shoot it. Most of the time you see an alien invasion film and it’s titled Battle: Los Angeles, you would just imagine the Hollywood sign being blown up. You would just imagine iconic, macrocosmic images of explosions, and nothing personal or intimate. And that’s what attracted me to the film is that I felt it was going to be about the story of these guys and trying to survive, and it would be intimate.
Was it hard to find your place among all the guys?
No, I’m kind of used to it now. The tomboy thing is pretty much my world. It was easy. We were playing video games in between takes, chilling. I actually got a little bit too close with the boys. Those protein shakes, you know, can make you talk without opening your mouth. I’ll put it that way. Not cute.
Is it true that Aaron Eckhart stayed in character for the whole shoot?
Yeah, I didn’t meet him until a couple of weeks ago. I met Sgt. Nantz, is who I met. I know he hated having my ass on set. You hear somebody cackling as soon as they say, “Cut.” I’m totally breaking the concentration, I’m over here laughing my ass off every five seconds. Yeah, I’m pretty annoying for tactical actors. You know, guys who do that thing.
Do you believe in aliens and UFOs?
I’ve never seen one. I do believe in the possibility of them. Just because we can only perceive four per cent of existence, the other 96 per cent is a mystery. I just have to be open to the idea, you know? I can’t close my mind to it. It just wouldn’t be logical to me. And if they did exist, I don’t believe they would be violent just because to travel light years away, you would have to embody more light than be a solid, crystalized creature like humans are. I just can’t imagine them being violent in any way, shape or form. I find that to be more of a human trait because we decay and we’re more close to life and death than I think light creatures would be. You know? I think if you were an inter-dimensional creature, you would just have to be enlightened in some way.
