The Latino actor Michelle Rodriguez, known for her tough characters in Avatar, Machete and the Fast & Furious franchise, has apologised for her “a tendency to speak without a filter” after she addressed minority actors and film-makers by saying: “Stop stealing all the white people’s superheroes. Make up your own.”
The remark came in an interview with TMZ, and the actor took to Facebook to clarify her comments.
What I really meant was that ultimately at the end of the day there’s a language and the language that you speak in Hollywood is ‘successful franchise’ and I think that there are many cultures in Hollywood that are not white that can come up with their own mythology... I’m just saying that instead of trying to turn a girl character into a guy or instead of trying to turn a white character into a black character or a Latin character, I think the people should stop being lazy, and that people should actually make an effort in Hollywood to develop their own mythology... I’m considering this while I’m out there coming up with projects to do and things to write. I think it’s time for us to write our own mythology and our own story.
Her comments come after various superheroes have had their ethnicity changed for the big screen, including Nick Fury of the Avengers, played by Samuel L Jackson; Heimdall from the Thor saga, played by Idris Elba; and Michael B Jordan’s take on the Human Torch in the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot. Marvel is meanwhile developing its first lead black superhero in Black Panther, to be played by Chadwick Boseman.
Rodriguez can next be seen in the latest Fast & Furious instalment, Furious 7, the world premiere of which was delayed last week after star Vin Diesel had to attend the birth of his child.
