Michelle Rodriguez is no stranger to physically demanding roles, and once again her action skills are put to the test with Battle: Los Angeles. Earth is attacked by aliens who want to wipe out the human population, and it's up to the US military to try and save Los Angeles. Rodriguez plays Air Force Tech Sergeant Elena Santo, the sole remaining member of her squad who joins up with a Marine platoon led by Staff Sergeant Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) and 2nd Lt. Martinez (Ramon Rodriguez) to fight off the aliens.
Although she played a member of the Air Force, she trained with her fellow Battle: Los Angeles actors who portray Marines in the film. "You know what's really funny? The Air Force is always being made fun of for not training as hard as the Marines, and I had to train with those bastards," said Rodriguez at the LA press day for the Columbia Pictures film. "I'm like, 'Dude, but we're supposed to be wimps as far as training goes,' because they're more mental than physical, the Air Force. The grunts are always making fun of the Air Force people. Even on set, the representatives are like, 'Ma ma ma wa wa wa.' They're always going at each other."
"I did train with them, and it was hard core," admitted Rodriguez. "I didn't stay with them there, because I didn't want to get a peek of all the boys in the shower with the hairy balls and everything, but I was there everyday. I would drive out for three weeks. It would be 5 in the morning, and we'd do the whole regime: sit-ups, push-ups, run two miles every day, take apart the gun, put it back together, do the infiltration sequences, and we would rehearse some of the scenes that were to come. It was cool."
But Rodriguez, who has done a fair amount of training for previous roles, confessed this was the most difficult by far. "[It was] harder, because it's so frickin' hot in Louisiana and because we had all this gear on and because those Marines that were basically making sure that all the Marines in the film looked good were kicking everybody's ass on set. 'You're not standing right. You're not holding your gun right. Crouch.' It's 110 degrees weather and really moist and humid. Louisiana - the other LA. It was pretty gnarly."
While Rodriguez knows her way around the action genre, her Battle: LA co-star Aaron Eckhart's sort of a newbie to action films. But Rodriguez never had any doubts Eckhart could handle the genre or the role. "I saw him playing Two Face in Batman Begins and then I met him before I even signed on. He's one of those guys who, when he knows he's doing [something] - he is that. I didn't meet Aaron: I met the Sergeant. It's weird. It's gnarly. I see him now and I'm like, 'Who are you? I don't even know who you are.'"
Because she's so great in action films, those type of roles come her way more often than roles in other genres. But Rodriguez confesses that it's mostly her own fault that she seems to not be considered as often for roles outside the action genre. "I limited myself, and everyone is their master of their own destiny," explained Rodriguez. "It's the world I created for myself. My whole thing, though, is that it takes one moment if a director looks in my eyes and sees potential: it's a wrap. I prefer to work with that guy who sees what's not there than to work with the guy who already is like, 'Dude, kick ass? Let's get Michelle Rodriguez.' Please, it doesn't take a lot of genius. I prefer to work with the person who can see what's not there. Hopefully that will happen. If not, I will manifest it myself, for sure, because I'm definitely tired of holding a gun."
And Rodriguez offered a good explanation as to why she was so drawn to these tough girl roles in the first place. "I created that out of the hatred - the sheer, utter annoyance - that I find in looking at weak women. They annoy the hell out of me. When I see a woman cry over a dude or whine over her pessimal existence, I'm like, 'Really? You're going to make a movie about this? Why? I don't get it. Don't you want to embody something that's exaggeratingly awesome? Why would you want to be weak?' I guess, to inspire people. I've been inspired by weakness tons of times, and it's a beautiful thing. You feel with people, you cry, and it's awesome - but I don't want to do it. There's so many chicks doing it, and they're so good at it. Let them own that."
"Let's just say this: If I admire anybody's career in the game and I say, 'Hey, that would really be nice to have a career similar to that,' I would say Sandra Bullock. I really enjoy that. If you're not going to be the weak one, then at least embody something that's admirable. I don't see the point in the whole drama thing; I don't get it. I get it as a fan, but I don't get it as an actress. I don't want to embody [that]. I don't feel an urge to want to be that. For me, it's either comedy or action. I don't want to feel attracted to veering from that."
Rodriguez isn't standing around and waiting for someone to offer her a film different from her usual action pieces. She says she initially got into the entertainment business to write, and she's 50 pages into her first script now. "That one isn't a comedy - well, kind of. It's kind of funny. It's Pulp Fiction-esque. It's not as exploitative as any of Tarantino or Rodriguez' films, but definitely along the veins of exaggerated reality, for sure," revealed Rodriguez.
Despite the fact Rodriguez is looking forward to putting the guns down and tackling something totally different, she's not ready to declare that Battle: Los Angeles will be her last big action film. "I wouldn't say that - for sure, I wouldn't say that. I think I need to be the lead in one of these things. I need to have my own action film. Then, I can say, 'All right, I'm done with that.' 10 years later, I'll probably find something I can embody and really say, 'I can close the book on this.' I feel like I've really created something, but I haven't really closed the book on me yet. I've got to find that one really cool, kick-ass action film that I'm salivating at all the really amazing, awesome sh-t she does, and then I'll be like, 'Okay, I can close the book on this whole action thing and move on.'"
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Battle: Los Angeles hits theaters on March 11, 2011.
