Michelle Rodriguez was born in Bexar County, Texas on July 12, 1978/

After a somewhat peripatetic childhood that saw her family move from Texas to her mother's native Dominican Republic to her father's home of Puerto Rico, she and her family finally settled in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Michelle Rodriguez became an overnight star as Diana Guzman, a troubled high school senior who builds self-esteem and discovers her calling as a boxer in the affecting Sundance entry "Girlfight" (2000).

Michelle began gaining critical acclaim for her performance earning her awards like the Deaxville Festival of American Cinema award for Best Actress and the Las Vegas Film Critics Society for Female Breakthrough Performance.

Rodriguez followed up playing a tough cabby in the 2001 Sundance entry "3 A.M." (which aired on Showtime) and then co-starred as a driver in "The Fast and the Furious" (2001), about a rookie cop who infiltrates a race team suspected of participating in a jewel heist.

During the filming of the show in Hawaii, Rodriguez made headlines when she was arrested for driving while intoxicated. Sentenced to five days in jail, Rodriguez served the bulk of her sentence in April 2006;