Actress speaks out against unguided filming on Fast X, Hollywood prioritizes production over direction

Cars, but no driver

Little by little, Michelle Rodriguez became a ultimately very important character in the illustrious Fast and Furious saga: we can even say that she saw the evolution of the license, becoming a huge Hollywood machine with absurd scenes rather than films centered around simple street races. And for once, the production of Fast X clearly illustrates the importance of the project: after the departure of director Justin Lin, but before the arrival of Louis Leterrier to replace him, we absolutely had to continue filming.

Which she did, under the direction of the director of the second unit. She cites in particular her fight against the character played by Charlize Theron, a spectacular confrontation, therefore carried out without a real conductor.

All I can say without thinking twice is that Charlize is a monster. We shot our fight scene with the direction of the second unit. Then we let the machine run until Louis arrived and took over. And she is a consummate professional. His ethics work is ongoing. another level.

Dungeons and Dragons in comparison

More recently, Michelle Rodriguez also starred in Dungeons & Dragons: Thieves' Honor, released in 2023: for once, the filming process was radically different compared to Fast X.

You have to understand this: these guys come from Eastern Europe, they are used to working with producer Avi Lerner and these films shot in Romania and Bulgaria are serious. The security mechanisms are different, the rules are different. They don't treat you like a baby, you do dangerous things. We just alternated different stunts, there was constant movement on set for five months straight. We did it, no one was hurt and we're super proud of it.

Two films, two ways of doing things, but still a spectacular result for the audience which actually received the feature film Dungeons & Dragons rather well despite timid scores at the box office: “only” 208 million dollars garnered for a budget of 151 million dollars… excluding marketing. The condition for a sequel? “Find a way to do it with less money,” Paramount boss Brian Robbins revealed to Variety. That's it, it's said. In any case, we should continue to see Fast & Furous in the future, ultimately much more unifying in cinemas.

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