Movies
Michelle Rodriguez refuses to star in James Cameron ‘Avatar’ sequels
With three more ‘Avatar’ sequels in the works, Rodriguez says her time in the franchise is over.
‘Fast & Furious’ star Michelle Rodriguez starred in James Cameron’s 2009 ‘Avatar’ as Captain Trudy Chacón. A pilot for the Avatar program, Trudy grows sympathetic to the Na’vi and sacrifices herself in the battle between Na’vi and humans.
‘Avatar’ went on to become one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, but according to Vanity Fair, Rodriguez was stern when telling Cameron that she doesn’t want her character to be brought back from the dead.
“Dude, when I saw Jim [Cameron] recently, he was like, ‘I was thinking, “What if Michelle came back? A lot of the other characters came back [in ‘The Way of Water’].” I was like, ‘You can’t do that–I died as a martyr,’” Rodriguez said.
Reviving old characters
Rodriguez has previously played characters who were brought back from the dead and she didn’t want to add Trudy to the list.
“I came back in ‘Resident Evil,’ I wasn’t supposed to. I came back in ‘Machete,’ I wasn’t supposed to,” she explained.
“I came back with Letty [from ‘Fast & Furious’], I wasn’t supposed to. We can’t do a fourth [time], that would be overkill!” she added.
“I don’t understand, it’s so weird. I guess they don’t know what to do with the girl who doesn’t have a boyfriend. ‘She doesn’t have a boyfriend. Should we keep her alive, or kill her?” Rodriguez concluded.
Reviving old characters is nothing new in the ‘Avatar’ franchise.
Most notably, Colonel Miles Rick Quaritch (Stephen Lang) acted as the main antagonist in the original 2009 film before he was killed off near the end. However, the character made a return in ‘The Way of Water’ to, again, play the role of the main antagonist.
What’s next for Rodriguez?
Rodriguez stars as Holga in ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ alongside Chris Pine, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Hugh Grant, and more.
The film is now playing in theaters.
The 44-year-old actress is also set to reprise her role as Letty Ortiz in ‘Fast X,’ the tenth movie in the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise, which is slated to be released this May.