It seems Michelle Rodriguez is gender swapping in her latest role. The actress is set to go under the knife to play a hitman.
Actually, that’s part of the film’s story in reverse. The actress isn’t actually following in the footsteps of Caitlyn Jenner. In Tomboy, a Revenger’s Tale , she stars as a hitman who gets crossed and sent to a rogue surgeon known as “The Doctor,” played by Sigourney Weaver. Apparently, her character wakes up to find himself turned into a woman, and “he’s” not happy.
This isn’t the first time Michelle has teamed up with Sigourney. They also played key roles in James Cameron’s original Avatar , though Rodriguez allegedly won’t be returning for the sequel, as previously reported by the Inquisitr . For reasons you probably wouldn’t understand if you haven’t seen the first film, it’s surprising that Weaver will allegedly be returning for Avatar 2 , probably for a similar reason as the villain.
No one outside production knows why yet, though Sam Worthington’s Jake Sully might have given us a clue at the end of the first film.
It will be interesting to see how Michelle Rodriguez pulls off the gender swap, unless they found a man who looks like her for the pre-surgery scenes, or she tries the Angelina Jolie Salt method.
One thing is known for sure, and that is the fact that Michelle doesn’t take just any role she’s handed. According to Us Magazine , she won’t just play a stereotypical female role. She came close to it in The Fast and The Furious , but that was about it.
“I can’t be the sl**. I cannot be just the girlfriend. I can’t be the girl who gets empowered because she’s been raped. I can’t be the girl who gets empowered and then dies.
“I just said to myself, look, ‘You’re going to just have to create your own archetype, doesn’t matter if you go broke doing it. And I almost did go broke, twice! But people finally got it: ‘Okay, Michelle is not malleable, you’re not going to influence her by shining fame and money at her,’ and they stopped offering me that sort of stuff.”
Though she’s been the “tough girl” type several times, this is the first time Michelle Rodriguez is gender swapping for a starring role. Technically, she’s still the “tough girl” in Tomboy , but she starts out as a man. The Michelle Rodriguez gender swap is said to happen when, as a man, she is betrayed by a gang and put under the knife. After realizing what happened, she vows revenge on the gang who did it to her.
Tomboy, a Revenger’s Tale is being written and directed by Walter Hill, whose previous credits include 48 Hours and The Warriors , and the Alien films as producer. The story is based on a novel by Denis Hamill, whose previous works include Under New Management .
Tomboy, a Revenger’s Tale was initially intended to star Freida Pinto in her first role, according to the Hollywood Reporter . However, after TIFF, it is now Michelle Rodriguez gender swapping for the role of a hitman turned hitwoman.
Michelle Rodriguez ( @MRodOfficial ) joins gender-reassignment thriller ‘Tomboy’ https://t.co/rj4Arn4cat pic.twitter.com/6XrirYarl4
— Variety (@Variety) October 28, 2015
Hopefully with Rodriguez and Weaver in major roles, Tomboy, a Revenger’s Tale may rival the Keanu Reeves revenge film, John Wick . In that film, John’s wife dies and leaves him a dog, which gets killed by the son of a notorious crime lord. Reeves spends the rest of the film going after him and his son.
Considering Walter Hill is behind Tomboy , the Michelle Rodriguez gender swap thriller could be the surprise hit of 2017.
Are you interested in seeing what Rodriguez can bring to her first headlining role in years?
[Featured image via Bryan Bedder / Getty Images for Unitas ]
