The "Fast and Furious" movie franchise has grown to be one of the biggest franchises in recent history. Despite this, the series has a lot of growing up to do, especially in terms of its use of female characters, or Michele Rodriguez might call it quits.
Speaking with TMZ, Rodriguez reinforced her statement from last June, asking the franchise to show more love to their female leads, calling it "evolve or die." Stating her stand on female empowerment, the actress felt that if she felt static in her position, she would need to move on.
Rodriguez also added that interactions among female characters in the male-dominated series are too few and far between. She feels particularly sad that even though the female roster expanded with the inclusion of Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren in "Fate and the Furious", she can only count on one hand how many times her character Letty had a dialogue with them, IGN reported.
Her original statement came out along with the digital release of "Fate of the Furious". Back then, Rodriguez shared via social media that she hopes that the series would treat their women better on the next film. While stating that she is grateful for the opportunity given to her by the series, women empowerment is very important for the actress.
Spanning over eight films and two short tie-ins, the "Fast and the Furious" series is considered to be Universal Studios' biggest franchise to date. The action-oriented series started in 2001 with "The Fast and the Furious" starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, along with Michele Rodriguez. Originally focusing on illegal street racing, the franchise gradually drifted into a more espionage-esque format. Since the first movie, the roster has grown exponentially, with Theron, Jason Statham and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson being notable additions.
"The Fate of the Furious" is the most recent inclusion in the series, released last April 2017. Two more films are planned, scheduled to be released in 2019 and 2021.
