Michelle Rodriguez Suits Up for ‘Battle’

By Michael Lopez

Don’t count on seeing Michelle Rodriguez in any cutesy romantic comedies in the near future. The actress recently revealed that she’s just not cut out to play lightweight roles. And why should she? For the past 11 years, the 32-year-old has built a solid action resumé with such films as Machete and the new Battle: Los Angeles.

"I look for a whiny aspect in a woman, and as soon as I see that, I'm like, 'not interested,'" Michelle told NBC’s Niteside. "I'm not a true thespian, I don't seek the thrill of exploration of human emotion — I'm more about projecting what I love about women and the empowerment of them as much as possible."

It was that attitude that first got Michelle noticed by movie audiences. In her 2000 film debut Girlfight, she played a hardnosed lady boxer, who “empowered” herself both in and out of the ring. From there, Rodriguez went on to star in action classics like The Fast & The Furious and S.W.A.T.

Her newest film, Battle: Los Angeles, seems to follow the same trajectory, mixing machine-gun fire with mysterious space invaders. Far different from Michelle’s peaceful Avatar co-stars, Battle’s creatures are angry and attacking southern California head-on. Of course, they didn’t count on Rodriguez’ character Elena, who is fully armed and ready for action.

“She's full-on. She'll rage,” Michelle said, describing Elena. “When it comes time to battle, you'll see her in the forefront. The movie, I'd say, is like 'Blackhawk Down' meets 'District 9'…it's that gamelike, fun, popcorn, edge-of-your-seat stuff that we all kind of love to dive into at movie theaters because it gets us away from the real world."

You can see Michelle Battle all kinds of intergalactic creatures when the movie hits theaters this Friday.

Are you a fan of Michelle Rodriguez? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Battle: Los Angeles, Hot Stuff, Michelle Rodriguez, Movies, Movies & CineMás