Portrait of Michelle Rodriguez

Birthday profile

Michelle Rodriguez

Michelle Rodriguez, American actress

Born
July 12, 1978
Age in 2026
48
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1978

About Michelle Rodriguez

Mayte Michelle Rodríguez (born July 12, 1978) is an American actress. She began her career in 2000, playing a troubled boxer in the independent sports drama film Girlfight (2000), where she won the Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award for Best Debut Performance. Rodriguez played Letty Ortiz in the Fast & Furious franchise (2001, 2009–present) and Rain Ocampo in the Resident Evil franchise (2002, 2012). She has starred in the crime thriller S.W.A.T. (2003), James Cameron's science fiction epic Avatar (2009), and in the action film Battle: Los Angeles (2011). After playing Minerva Mirabal in the biopic Trópico de Sangre (2010), Rodriguez headlined the exploitation films Machete (2010) and Machete Kills (2013), and starred in the animated comedy films Turbo (2013) and Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017), while her performance in the heist film Widows (2018) was critically praised. Outside of film, Rodriguez played Ana Lucia Cortez in the drama television series Lost (2005–2006; 2009–2010), and voiced Liz Ricarro in the English-language translation of the anime Immortal Grand Prix (2005–2006). She reprised her roles in video game spin-offs of Avatar and Fast & Furious, and also appeared in True Crime: Streets of LA (2003), Driver 3 (2004), Halo 2 (2004), and Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012). Having run across an ad for an open casting call and attending her first audition, Rodriguez beat 350 other applicants to win her first role in the low-budget 2000 independent film Girlfight. The film itself took home a top prize at the Sundance and won Award of the Youth at the Cannes Film Festival. Rodriguez played Letty Ortiz in the Fast & Furious franchise and Rain Ocampo in the Resident Evil franchise.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Michelle Rodriguez timeline

  1. Having run across an ad for an open casting call and attending her first audition, Rodriguez beat 350 other applicants to win her first role in the low-budget 2000 independent film Girlfight.
  2. She began her career in 2000, playing a troubled boxer in the independent sports drama film Girlfight (2000), where she won the Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award for Best Debut Performance.
  3. She has starred in the crime thriller S.W.A.T. (2003), James Cameron's science fiction epic Avatar (2009), and in the action film Battle: Los Angeles (2011).

The world when Michelle Rodriguez was born

Michelle Rodriguez was born in 1978. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1978

  • #1 song"Shadow Dancing" – Andy Gibb
  • Top movieThe Deer Hunter
  • Top TV showLaverne & Shirley
  • Best-selling bookThe World According to Garp – John Irving

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentMuhammad Ali wins heavyweight title for the third time
  • Top headlineCamp David Accords — Egypt and Israel sign peace agreement
  • Technology milestoneFirst spam email sent
  • Defining fadDisco and Saturday Night Fever
  • Notable inventionGarfield comic strip debuts
  • World population4.30 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJimmy Carter
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonWashington Bullets (NBA)
  • U.S. population222.6M

1978 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Michelle Rodriguez's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19782026
Gas$0.63$3.45/gal
Average home$55,700$435,000
Average income$17,730$67,500
Minimum wage$2.65$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$2.34$11.95
Postage stamp$0.15$0.73
Population222.6M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.