No one is more surprised that bothFast & Furiousand Letty are still around thanMichelle Rodriguez.
Oh, and then there was that time when Letty died.
And I was right in the end, but it just took them a while to figure it out.
Michelle Rodriguez as Letty in ‘F9.'.Giles Keyte/Universal
Vin didn’t even tell me.
He keeps his word, you’ve got to give him that."
Fighting for Letty was nothing new for Rodriguez.
Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster in ‘F9.'.Giles Keyte/Universal
“And then she changed it completely.
It went from a trophy girlfriend to this really layered character.”
“It was really, really tough, just going through that whole process,” admits Rodriguez.
And I’m like, ‘Dude, what the hell?
Does this bitch smile ever?’
And for me, that’s more important than looking good.
I could give two rats’ asses what I look like.
I want to kick some serious ass or at least get my ass kicked really seriously!"
“It’s cool that they were open enough to change and to evolve with the times…
I really think that9is doing some justice for all the girls.
I’m really proud of each and every woman inF9.”
“Both me and Ty are like, ‘Yo, Matt, what are you doing?
What the f—, man, would you ever do one of these?
Is it too crazy for you?’
I don’t know, because he’s a serious actor.
It would be sweet… We might as well start crossbreeding.
Where do you go if you’ve done it all?”
For moreFurious 7, head over to the other-half ofBINGE’s special two-part episode with Tyrese Gibson.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Michelle Rodriguez:
I remember that Ronda Rousey fight.
I had two golf-ball size knots on my forehead.
Chanelle Berlin Johnson:
Oh, wow.
Derek Lawrence:
Oh, geez.
I was like, “This is Ronda Rousey, dude.”
Because she hits hard, and she’s going to really slam you against the wall.
I’m supposed to lift my hand nonchalantly to cover the hit.
That’s where the juicy stuff is.
Dom:
Keep it under 9,000 RPMs.
Kid’s going to fly his pistons after the first 200.
Letty:
You know that’s not my style.
I got to ride or die, right?
How about you just ride on this one?
Ask any podcaster, any real podcaster.
It doesn’t matter if you record in person or over video chat, podcasting’s podcasting.
Welcome back to EW’S BINGE: The Fast Saga, full transcripts of which are available on ew.com.
I’m Derek Lawrence, aka the guy who went as Dominic Toretto for two straight Halloweens.
So I hope everybody enjoys it as much as me.
And also, absolutely, this movie is so emotional.
It doesn’t matter how much I see it, it still gets me.
Sometimes I still cry like it’s the first time.
Can’t wait, but also prepare for tears.
Well, first off, thank you for appreciating the intro.
So he appreciates that.
You appreciate the intro, hopefully others do.
So, maybe I’ll have to now go for a third Halloween as Dom.
So we’ve already chatted about the first six installments.
That’s right, on this special two parter, we’re talking with Tyrese Gibson and Michelle Rodriguez.
Chanelle, before we get into part one with Michelle… And that just rhymed right there.
That’s just meant to be.
Chanelle and Michelle finally united.
What do people need to remember about Furious 7?
Like I alluded to earlier, this one is much more than just about the plot.
But against all odds, they did.
But other than that, what should people know going in about Furious 7?
Yeah, this is where the long road ends for Brian O’Connor.
So what happens in the movie, is Kurt.
Which is, honestly, a terrifying surveillance program, and I hope nothing like it actually exists.
It’s wanted by a bunch of criminals and Ramsey’s been kidnapped.
Even though it’s not a direct corollary to anything that happens in the first movie.
It’s pretty harrowing.
And Letty is on the ground with him, and tells him not to because… After 6, and now most of 7, she reveals that she has all of her memories back.
Including that she and Dom secretly got married.
So, after everything goes well, succeeds, everyone lives on.
And then there is the drive at the very end.
And it all ends with See You Again, which is now an iconic song.
And that’s what we got for Furious 7.
We’ll be talking a lot through this episode, and the Tyrese episode, about that final scene.
I was the only person in that theater.
The movie had been out a couple months.
And obviously, I was loving everything that was happening.
But I was sitting there, “All right.
Let’s get to the end.
That’s what I’m here for.”
And I still sometimes just pull it up to watch randomly, just because it’s so good.
But now, Chanelle and I are going to hop into our interview with Michelle.
Again, we have a second part to this episode with Tyrese, aka Roman Pearce.
And on the Tyrese episode, we’ll do our usual award segments.
But now, let’s ride into our conversation with Michelle.
Ramsey:
So if this car goes down, he’s coming to save us?
Save us, honey?
She’s got to ride or die, that’s her style.
But Michelle Rodriguez is temporarily parking to talk Furious 7.
Michelle, welcome to our binge of Fast & Furious.
What’s going on, man?
We’re doing great.
Anytime we can talk Fast & Furious, we’re doing great.
So we really are excited to chat with you about Furious 7.
An incredible movie, for so many reasons that we’ll get into.
But I guess we’ll start off as we do with every episode…
The famous words of Dominic Toretto, where he lives his life a quarter mile at a time.
Nothing else matters for those 10 seconds, he’s free.
So how would you summarize this film, Furious 7, in 10 seconds?
7 is special because we were saying goodbye to somebody we love, who was there from the jump.
And so, it was his homage.
And I think that it was just a really, really beautiful film.
For me, it’s special and it hits home just because of that.
None of that really matters.
It’s a goodbye to Paul.
Did you think the same, or did you know it was always the plan to bring you back?
I had no idea.
There was very, already low, representation for women, period.
And there’s a lot of women who love racing cars all around the world.
And I was right in the end, but it just took them a while to figure it out.
I was in Paris.
Vin didn’t even tell me.
He was like, “Don’t worry about this.
I got this.”
And then I didn’t hear from him for a year or something.
He keeps his word, that one.
You got to give him that.
So after you come out of the theater, that’s your first call.
Like, “What’s happening here?”
What the hell, dude?
Like, “How come you didn’t tell me?”
He’s like, “I did tell you.”
I’m like, “You’re so enigmatic.
He’s like, “You told Eva Mendes before me?
What the heck is going on?”
What’s going on, man?
What’s up with that?
So then, what was it like when you realize they want to bring Letty back?
You start having those conversations about in what way?
At what point for you, did it come up with the whole amnesia thing and all of that?
Yeah, that was a wild conversation.
Because at first, it was getting over the fact that she could be alive.
Wait, we did that, didn’t we?
But those ideas were out the window.
And I think Fast & Furious slowly brought that vibe back and got away with it.
it was a blast.
It’s been pretty wild.
So what’s it like playing all that?
Every beautiful moment we’ve ever had, I see it in your eyes.
I can’t give that to you.
And you’ve got only a piece of me.
I have to find myself, for me.
It was really, really tough, just going through that whole process.
So it’s always this…
Whenever you look at Letty.
And I’m like, “Dude, what the hell?
Does this bitch smile ever?”
Does she have fun?
I don’t know what happened.
But it was really, really interesting, just trying to find dimension through the years.
Because I think girls are different then boys.
And so she says, right at the beginning of the movie, I got to find myself.
Was that the most exciting part of the Furious 7 script?
Or what was the most exciting thing for you when you see it?
And you’re like, “All right.
This is what we’re shooting.
This is the next step for the character.”
I think with Fast 7, it was the beauty of we did it.
We got through the threshold.
We proved that people want what we got to offer.
And we proved that people prefer to have Letty back.
What is so exciting about Fast & Furious?
Like flying [inaudible 00:14:15] plane, and landing, then a parachute.
Come on, guys.
You don’t see that every day.
And so it’s cool to be able to play with that.
And we were in that mode of, finally, we’re through the threshold of proving ourselves.
Just got hardly interrupted by life.
There’s so many amazing scenes, like you even just referenced a bunch of the action ones.
But do you have a personal from Furious 7?
Your fight with Ronda Rousey, obviously-
I love that!
Some more more emotional ones too.
You have the great fight in 6… And then they keep just throwing more MMA fighters at you.
Well, it was about upping the ante on the female empowerment stuff.
And so, if the choreographer throws me a 5, I’m going to go for a 10.
And so, where there was originally bunch of fighting stuff, I want rigs for people to fly.
And I want some danger involved.
I remember that Ronda Rousey fight.
I had two golf-ball size knots on my forehead.
I was like, “This is Ronda Rousey, dude.”
Because she hits hard, and she’s going to really slam you against the wall.
Had I been a stunt double, I would have remembered.
And yeah, but I love it.
That’s where the juicy stuff is.
Because that’s where it’s at.
We don’t get a lot of that in general.
And for me, that’s more important than looking good.
I could give two rats asses what I look like.
I want to kick some serious ass, or at least get my kicked really good.
I think that that’s fun.
So yeah, I think that fight really, really hit it home for me.
I’ve been training… Let me do more stuff.”
You got to just wait till you see her in Fast 9.
Ah, it’s going to be good.
I really think that 9 is doing some justice for all the girls.
I’m really proud of each and every woman in Fast 9.
And I’m like, “Yes!”
Finally, after what was it?
It only took 18 years.
I’m like, “Yeah!
You finally caught up.
This is what I’m talking about.”
Now you realize it’s cool.
Just in the trailer, there’s so many things that I was super excited about.
And you pointed out that you or Jordana hadn’t even really shared that many scenes.
You’d worked for 15 years together, and you hadn’t even-
Yeah.
Yeah, so you guys have made so much progress it sounds like in this ninth one.
And continue to fight for her and the other female characters.
No, you know what?
you might’t really blame anybody for that stuff.
We’re all figuring it out as we go along.
We’re all discovering in it.
Nobody had even thought that sequels were a good thing.
We thought sequels were taboo.
That’s established in the ’90s, that you don’t do sequels.
Unless you’re Lethal Weapon or Die Hard, you just cannot pull it off.
So it was a surprise to us, all of us, that it even had longevity.
And it’s cool because we actually are interested in these fields, and it exists.
One of the best drifters in the world is a female.
The biggest surf wave was surfed by a woman last year.
And so, it’s been a really great process…
I was always ahead of that curve, just because I was a tomboy by chance.
And just because I really, really enjoy action.
And so I will not like to stand on the sidelines.
If I’m in a scene and there’s a fight, I like to keep it real.
And what would you do in real life?
Yeah, I’d be in that fight, buddy.
I’m not going to be sitting around screaming, “Help me!”
So that process has been interesting, and it’s a learning curve.
And so it just makes me happy.
We’ve grown so much in the last 18 years, and it’s all of us.
We’re in it together.
But you did an interview last fall where you mentioned a female writer coming in on 9.
You referred to her as SLP.
Get it, get it, get it!
That one’s all Samantha.
Samantha, Vin’s sister, she’s amazing producer on Fast.
And she’s just fantastic, man.
She’s just gangster when it comes to finding really great women to come on board.
Yeah, I was super stoked.
I really love her.
She’s got good vibes, that one.
So I’m excited to see the Fast universe partially in her hands too.
No, no, it’s in demand.
A voice like that, that’s strong, that understands depth and dimension, is definitely welcome.
She’s definitely overqualified in whatever job she picks.
There’s obviously been so many great action and fight sequences in Fast.
But in Furious 7 here, you get to do a lot of powerful and emotional stuff.
So what was it like getting to maybe tap into some new things for these heavier moments?
In at least Furious 7.
Can somebody else cry a little bit?"
Because this is like, dude…
I want to kick some ass too.
No, it’s been interesting.
Because I think that carrying the weight of 18 years together, it’s a beautiful thing.
We’ve literally, around the world… And it’s because of Fast & Furious.
And it’s because he’s totally down with the Fast & Furious franchise.
And I’m like, “Dude, this is global.”
And I grew up with people.
I grew up with people.
So literally, from the year 2000, cut to now… People have had children.
And those little kids who used to go with their dad, now that dad is a grandpa.
And it’s just quite awesome, to just have that knowledge that that’s what it represents.
So it’s not hard.
It’s like a soap opera, I guess.
At this point, geez.
We lasted long enough.
Days of Our Lives is what we’re running up against now.
And then of course Gisele.
But then also in 7, you welcome Ramsey.
So what’s it like for you guys who’ve all been there.
When someone new comes in, are there things that you love to do to welcome them?
Or how does that happen?
To ensure everybody feels like, “All right.
Now you’re part of the crew.”
We’ll have dinners usually.
That’s really where it all starts.
And then from there, the working days come easy.
From there, you understand that we’re all in this together.
And we all just want to make really great products, and ensure that people out there are entertained.
This feels like such a big film for the Letty and Dom relationship.
Finally, she’s back in the fold after being gone, and then all that happened in 6.
What are the conversations like that you and Vin have?
Talking through this relationship that you’ve now been portraying for 20 years and the evolution of that.
It’s a lot.
It’s a lot, it’s a lot.
Those conversations have evolved throughout the years.
At first, the conversations were more about, don’t you want an equal at your side?
And then after that has been established, the conversations are more about family.
Whether or not to expand it, what that looks like.
What the future looks like, for the franchise and for the characters in it.
And it’s crazy because nobody ever thought we’d be at a 9.
Not even Harry Potter for Christ’s sake.
So, it’s definitely been a trip.
But with me and Vin, it’s just so easy.
Because we understand each other, and we work really, really well together, creatively.
We can knock things out.
And easy for you to see what works and what doesn’t because it’s intuitive.
Or writers that grew up in Beverly Hills, or whatever.
Those kinds of things, we have those lines.
And that’s something that I think you need.
Because that line, that integrity line, is what I think keeps everybody coming back for more.
We’ve got to take a quick detour, but we’ll be right back.
Now that we’re gassed up, let’s drive back into the interview.
Were there specific things about the relationship that you wanted?
Were those things that you had hoped for?
Or did they evolve as you were doing the movies?
For me, personally, that’s a nightmare.
That whole male, female, heterosexual, whatever.
When it comes to movies and action, I’m so asexual, it’s not even funny.
I’m just like, “No, don’t talk about relationships and love.
Who gives a shit?
Let’s just throw some action in there and make it better.”
I have an adverse reaction to all that romance stuff, but I know we need it.
If you die, I die.
And I’m not ready to leave this place yet.
This moment is still ours.
I remember it all.
It’s about time.
So I go with the flow.
I let him take the lead on that.
Because that’s action, right?
I’m down with that.
We can do that all day.
I’m all about it.
So just talk to us about Paul and your relationship with him.
It seems like anybody we talked to, you don’t even have to ask about Paul…
They’ll just bring him up and talk about what a great person he was.
He’s an earth creature like me.
Paul, you could give him the sea and a board, and he could be there in happiness.
That that’s how I and him saw eye-to-eye.
And so through the years, me and him shared that attraction and that adverseness to anything CGI.
If you say CGI to me, I’m like, “No, let’s just stunt double.
Let’s double this sucker.
And I think me and him shared that together.
It’s not just that.
And so, I think that me and him shared that.
Also the love of guns.
I really adore weapons.
And I like shooting weapons, and I like racing cars on the track.
And so we shared actually enjoying these activities in general.
So we’d always talk about that stuff together.
And I just loved him a lot.
He was just a fucking great guy.
When he’s running to get off the truck that’s falling off the cliff.
And he jumps off, and he gets onto your car right at the edge.
It’s just a small, little moment between the characters, but just rewatching it every time…
It works so well.
Obviously then, he passes during filming.
Yeah, there was no consciousness after that.
You lose him, and we didn’t think about a movie after that.
A year passed, and then it’s like, “Oh, okay.
Wait…” They were actually cutting something together that whole time?
It’s a haze.
It was a shock, that we would even keep going.
For both me and Vin, especially, it was just like, “Really?
you might see beyond this?”
Obviously, we talked about that final scene at the beach, which is just so emotional.
I get emotional just watching it every time, so I can’t imagine filming that.
And then even you seeing it for the first time in its final form.
So what was it like even just filming that?
I was really proud of the studio.
Because life in this business can get so corporate, and people can forget the humanity of things.
And I just really, I think the studio really showed up.
And they said, “You know what?
We give a shit.
And we really loved Paul, and we’re going to prove that.
And we’re going to really, really ensure that this is done right.”
And I praise them for that.
Because I couldn’t have imagined a better goodbye.
A little bit more off the wall questions about the movie and the franchise.
So, first one, say we’re adding someone into Furious 7. Who would we add into the mix here for Furious 7?
Yeah, or just any Fast film.
We’ll take any answer.
Wow, oh my God.
I love me a Matt Damon.
I think that was-
I think so, yeah.
I think me and Ty both.
Me and Ty are like, “Yo, Matt.
What are you doing?
Would you ever do one of these?
Or is it too crazy for you to do one of these?”
Because he’s a serious actor, right?
But he likes some fun, yeah.
He did four Bourne movies.
He’s got the action in his blood-
I know!
That would be awesome.
It would be sweet.
I’d love that.
Just have him play Jason Bourne in the movies.
Just to be fair, to be fair… Part of the universe of Universal…
So the one thing about branding is that it’s possible for you to never cross studios.
The role, or whatever.
That’s something I would love to see.
Anyway, we got to time travel, guys.
That would be sweet!
Everyone’s talking about space, and we’re over here jumping ahead of that.
No, forget space.
We’re going to the future.
No, to be fair, there’s nowhere else to go but to merge.
Corporations do it when they get too big, and eventually these franchises, they’re going to get…
So where do you go, if you’ve done it all?
I don’t know.
I think it’s a good idea to start thinking about co-branding stuff within a studio.
I think it’d be sweet.
And we won’t even take a commission after the idea coming from here.
I know, right?
I just want to see it.
I genuinely just want to see this kind of stuff.
I’d love to see, what else would you merge?
Oh, what about Star Wars and Marvel?
They’re getting there.
Dude, what the hell, man?
That would be insane!
I’ve been saying Mission: Impossible with Fast.
Is Mission: Impossible Universal?
See, I’m trying-
Yeah, you’re free to’t crossbreed them.
Naughty, naughty, naughty.
Yeah, that’s what it is.
The lawyers go crazy.
Those guys are the new warriors, like, “Aah!”
Now I need to get your reaction.
But I put Letty at number two, on the fastest and furiousist rankings.
What does that mean?
Does that mean that I drive cars fast?
So it was a system of, I gave you four out of five Coronas on Fast.
[crosstalk 00:41:10] And four out of five Coronas on furious.
So it was only Dom, was just ahead of you.
I think he had four and a half Coronas or something.
Oh, that’s great.
Does that feel right?
Yeah, I think that’s about right.
I think that’s respectable.
I definitely am more furious than I am fast.
But I’m not that great behind the wheel in real life.
I can hit it in the track, and I know all the rules.
How to make straight lines out of curves and stuff.
But I’m just better when it comes to planning battle, or attacks, and things like this.
That physical stuff and gun stuff is more fun for me.
Glad that ranking holds up.
Everyone else was debating their spot.
So I appreciate you…
I got one right.
So we talked about superheroes and stuff.
Because they’re just bigger, and larger, and had the huge team ups.
But if you could compare Letty to any superhero, who would you choose?
Is there one close enough?
I don’t even know why, but I thought Thor.
I don’t know.
Maybe you’re just… Because I’m standing on the hood of the car.
It’s a superhero moment.
It’s like that whole thing.
That’s so funny.
Gosh, if I could compare Letty to any super hero…
I don’t think they exist, man.
To be quite honest.
The only superhero I’ve ever really truly adored, ever, is Catwoman.
Oh, that’s a great one.
And I think everybody else sucks.
And I’m sorry, but it’s just me.
It’s just me.
To find a realistic… Because that’s what it is.
Action movies are realistic.
And so, you might’t have these super, super-duper powers.
Like, “Oh, dude.
Nobody can defeat you.
What does it even matter?”
you oughta have a vulnerability.
And being human is the best.
So I like the Black Widow.
She’s cool, but Catwoman’s my favorite.
I just always really liked her.
She’s bad ass, she’s edgy, and I like people with dimension.
I like people who are not always predictable.
I think that’s perfect.
And the same kind of person who always does only what she wants.
Like, “I’m not doing anything for anybody else.”
Yeah, I like the loner.
Maybe that’s what it is.
Everybody’s on this goody two-shoes kick, and I’m just like, “Nah… Boring.
But what would be your tease?
We’ve all been waiting… That first trailer blew us all away.
It’s been over a year now, we’ve been waiting.
So what would be your tease of Fast 9 as we start to get closer?
Oh god, it’s so nice to like, you know.
I think that’ll be great.
It’s just so awesome.
I think he’s so good.
And I’m just super stoked.
When it comes to Han, that blew me away.
Because, dude, there was no more dead than that.
And we saw it four times and all the movies.
And it’s like, “Whoa… How do you even fake that?”
But then, when you get that trump card and you find out how it happened.
And then you’re like, “Oh…
So anything’s possible in the movie…” I love it!
It’s going to be great.
It’s going to be great.
The reveal is going to be great.
It’ll be awesome I think.
I can’t wait.
I kept thinking, “Oh, how are they going to do it?”
I don’t even care.
I think Justin’s the perfect-
Oh, yeah.
Guy to bring Han back because he has the biggest bond with him.
They did Tokyo Drift together, and that bond…
He’s in the best hands he could possibly be in.
And I think that he’ll do nothing but justice for Han, literally.
you could’t end better than that.
This time, it ain’t just about being fast.
Well, that’s all the time we have on this episode.
But lucky enough for you, there’s two episodes today, as we mentioned earlier.
But this one with Tyrese Gibson, also about Furious 7 and the evolution of Roman Pearce.
So thanks again to both Michelle and Tyrese for joining us.
We’re getting very close to the end of the road for BINGE.
And F9’s fast approaching, pun fully intended.
Rate us, tell us what you think, share it with your friends and family.
it’s possible for you to find us on twitter @derekjlawrence, or me, @chanelberlin.
Also, head to ew.com for complete coverage of the Fast saga and full episode transcripts.
This episode was hosted and produced by Derek Lawrence and Chanel Berlin Johnson.
And until next time, salud, mi podcast familia.Related content:
