TheFast & Furiousmovies like to say how they’re all about family, but behind-the-scenes, the family may be fracturing. We already know thatVin DieselandDwayne Johnsondidn’t get along during filming onThe Fate of the Furious, and Universal isalready planning to spin offJohnson into his own series alongsideJason Stathamand possiblyCharlize Theron. Now it looks like another member of the “fambly” could be leaving.
Yesterday,Michelle Rodrigueztook to Instagram to note thatFate of the Furiouswas now available digitally, but her comments didn’t stop there:
It’s a weird thing to negotiate your position in a social media post, but it’s hard to argue with her point. She’s been in half of these movies, but as we saw withFate, there wasn’t much for Letty to do beyond being Dom’s advocate. Additionally, that movie puts Letty on par with all the other supporting characters—she’s not worthy enough to know Dom’s secret. Furthermore, if the series is beefing up Hobbs’ role as well as bringing in new characters like Mr. Nobody, where does that leave someone like Letty beyond being Dom’s wife? It’s not a particularly rewarding role, and I can understand Rodriguez’ frustration.
But will she follow through on her promise to bolt if theFast and Furiousseries doesn’t start doing right by its female characters? Keep in mind, there are really only two female heroes at this point—Letty and Ramsey, and it’s not like Diesel is going to take a decreased role in his own franchise.
It will be interesting to see how theFast & Furiousseries develops from here. Maybe everything gets worked out and the family stays intact for at least the next two movies, or maybe this is the beginning of the end andFast 9will have Dom mentioning that Letty is on vacation and completely unreachable.
