(The translation is rough at times, sorry.)

Ocean Drive Magazine
(English Translation)

You went to Cannes to promote your new movie?
Noooooo! I went to have fun....

What can you tell us about SWAT?
SWAT is cool. It's an action movie based on a 70s tv series that follows the members of a special group of the trained police that face high risk situations. I play the first woman to integrate the SWAT team in California, something that to this day does not exist.

In all your movies you appear to be breaking convencionalisms of women...
I hope that I am....

Is that something that you look for?
There are two types of strong women: the Cleopatra and the Warrior Princess. The Warrior Princess has the type of power that generally is reserved for the men, which is like 'I respect myself and nobody is going to force to do anything I don't want to do' the Cleopatra, however, uses sex to obtain what wants. I am halfway between the two.

Are you also that way in the reality?
It is an image that I'm close to. I am a warrior chick...but I haven't been able to show my feminine side in my movies.

Many hope that you are the "tough girl" all along?
Of course! They don't have an alternative for people to judge me by, and people know like only tough girl me. They don't know my other side, they don't leave with me to have fun, they're not in my bed when I have sex, do not have any idea of who I am really. And I can't blame them. I've done movies where I always appear tough and where nobody messes with me. But we all have several different aspects in our personality... But, in Hollywood this is always defined by our complete work.

Is it hard to find roles that show those other aspects?
The problem is that the ones given to me are horrible. At times, I see incredibles pieces of history with poured in beautiful cinematography, and that convinces me that we are in a time where its rare that people make films that are clean entertainment.

You want to make your own material?
Yes, this year I found a producer and already I am working on a script. I am so bored with the scripts that I'm offered! ... All the people that work with me complains of the same thing: Where this the material of quality?

The independent movies is not an outlet?
All we try to do is satisfy the box office, and everybody does what they need to to gain the money. The kids of today aren't interested in movies that go on to win an Academy Award. We have to give them what they want. 'I want action? ... Want sex? Wegive it to them. What else can we do?

What is it like to work with Colin Farrell, Olivier Martinez and Samuel L. Jackson?
They're funny. Not a boring moment on the set. It was interesting to sit down and listen to the stories they tell. It was better to read than the National Enquierer.

Does Colin Farrell deserve the reputation of bad boy that he's earned himself?
I don't think so. He's sweetheart. It's cool the type of life he lives. Any attractive young man, with energy and all that money, is going to do the same thing that he is. I don't see anything wrong with it. ... And if the girls fall for it and then get hurt, it's their fault. They're the fools.

Did you always want to be an actress?
No, what always interested me was writing and riecting. I am on that road. Also, it's very important to make sacrifices for what you want. That it is the power of Jesus, that I am sacrificed and therefore represents the love. An you have to give to receive.

And also, you need to have a few scruples, or that is a myth?
One must have a little tough blood, that's true. And it is hard, because when you A LOT of courage, are latin american and is impassioned, it's not easy. The people that said Madonna was a bitch? The same people said that to be Queen one must fight to kill. It is part of game, and it's the part that bothers me.

Some critics have compared you with Marlon Brando....??
That's because I'm something of rebel, with streetsmarts. There's actors that I admire. I like Drew Barrymore, she has a good balance with the Cleopatra and the warrior princess thing, and Angelina Jolie too.

How do women react to you?
With respect. And that pleases me. There are people that say I'm tough.. that don't accept that aspect of me, that think I seem like a lesbian.. Give me to break! I'm a human being.

Was it difficult to grow up traveling from a place to another one?
It was a long trip, and I have continued traveling since then. I bought a house in New Jersey nine months ago and I haven't spent more than 30 days in it.

Meanwhile you live in hotels?
Now I am living with a roommate in an apartment in Los Angeles.

You miss home?
Of course, yeah. My cats, my 29 acres, and the possibility of sitting and looking for inspiration. But, also I like to travel... I am a citizen of the world! I just came back from Spain and I loved it. My grandparents came from there, its where my roots are.

Your life has radically changed after Girlfight...
Of course. I went from an apartment in Jersey City that I shared with my mother and my brother, I now live a completely different life.

How has the fame and the money affected you?
Hmmm, a lot of strangers suddenly approach you. I like when the kids approach to shake my hand and greet me. I had no idea that a girl of the Dominican Republic and Jersey City like I am, could touch the heart of other people that way. It's an extraordinary feeling. Many people are against commercial films, but my films, commercial as they are, have given power to many women. It's shown them that can be better, stronger and more dangerous.

I read that before becoming an actress, you were a movie fan? What attracted you to movies?
That you could leave reality and travel to a fantasy world. I was the type of girl who sat in her room and spoke to herself. Sometimes I put several pillows like a set, and acted like a news anchor. Or taught lessons to my teddy bears.

You never dreamed about being a movie to star...?
What is a movie star? They're people just like us. Why is it important that everybody says how great you are?? It doesn't mean anything. There are many actors who feel been thankful because they can transmit a message, but I want more than that. I want to influence in the message that is occurring. For me, to be actress is not sufficient.

How it was to grow in Jersey City?
Crazy people! I used to really hang with people crazy like me. I hung with some boys of private schools that took a lot of drugs. We hung out in basements of their rich parents to take them, and then took his rifles and shot the animals in backyard. It's is interesting, because I saw that reality and later I saw the survivors. There are some of those boys who still are into drugs, trying to maintain to they're families on welfare. But it enchants me since it has been my life, and I would not erase a minute of it.

You had boyfriends? Was there a romantic one?
He seduced me. He was in love with me. When I was 16 a called boy Héctor broke my heart, and since then I have been defensive, Grrrr! (Rodriguez was linked romantically with actor Vin Diesel).

You're still on the defensive?
By 13 all my friends had already lost their virginity. In Jersey City it allhappens very early. One day I stopped and looked at myself the mirror while I listened to Mary J. Blige, and on the brink of madness and tears I thought: Do I want to know what it feels like to have your heart broken. And my nightmares were fulfilled. I have lamented those words since then. You know what my philosophy is when it comes to love?

What?
I will join myself with any thing that attracts to me and any thing that I attract, and when they disappear, I will follow ahead on my way. One is here for feeling....and soon it dies. That is my philosophy. I am not looking for anything. Those days already happened!

(Source: OceanDrive)