Word: girlfight
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Looks as if we have a winner. Beating out more than 300 other women, Rodriguez, 22, won the lead in Girlfight, an independent film about a female boxer's athletic and romantic struggles. Girlfight's budget was small ($1 million), but the film is having a big-time impact: it won a prize for directing and shared an award for best drama at this year's Sundance Film Festival. And Rodriguez's no-punches-pulled performance has critics sputtering superlatives like Don King hyping a pay-per-view fight. To prepare for the role, Rodriguez trained for 4 1/2 months...
...Pokemon toys and Hello Kitty dolls finally paid off. After working as a barely seen extra in a "Mad About You" episode and a half-dozen films including "Summer of Sam" and "The Cradle Will Rock," the 22-year-old actress is knocking out critics with her performance in "Girlfight," a low-budget, high-voltage drama that won prestigious awards at Sundance and Cannes. Portraying a female Rocky who evolves from high-school brawler to prize-winning boxer, Rodriguez comes across "like a young Brando," says director Karyn Kusama, who chose her out of 350 other actresses who auditioned...
...Seeing an ad for a "female Latina boxing chick," she showed up for the "Girlfight" open call. Despite the fact she arrived late and did nothing more than say her name and where she was from, she was one of three women called back. Indeed, pitted against nearly 350 other actresses and feeling out of place at the call, Rodriguez became pessimistic and upset during the "Girlfight" audition, her dark, mesmerizing eyes turning fiery with frustration...
...blew my mind," she says. "Strong female characters -we need more of them. It's a shame you have to be a bitch to be respected. Jodie, Helen Hunt, and believe it or not Julia Roberts all maintain a conservative style but made it big without exploiting themselves." Post- "Girlfight," Rodriguez is also gaining more respect, starring in the Spike Lee- produced "3 A.M." with Danny Glover and Pam Grier, as well as the race-car drama "Redline" starring Vin Diesel. She's aware of the tag "Latina actress" and hopes to break free of that label by getting more...
...amateurs worldwide represent a fivefold increase over the numbers three years ago and have brought a corresponding increase in the game's popularity and skill. Women garner better ratings than men on ESPN and sell out casinos. Even Hollywood has taken notice. At the Sundance film festival in January, Girlfight, about a woman who finds fulfillment through boxing, won a prize for drama. On the Ropes, a documentary featuring Tyrene Manson, an aspiring pro fighter training for the Golden Gloves, was nominated for an Oscar. "Especially with the growth of the amateur program, it's here to stay," says former...