Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodriguez (/rɒˈdriːɡɛz/; born June 20, 1968)[1][2] is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 action film El Mariachi, which was a commercial success after grossing $2.6 million ($5.5 million in 2023 dollars) against a budget of $7,000 ($14,937 in 2023 dollars). The film spawned two sequels known collectively as the Mexico Trilogy: Desperado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003).
For other people named Robert Rodriguez, see Robert Rodriguez (disambiguation).
Robert Rodriguez
- Film director
- producer
- screenwriter
- cinematographer
- visual effects supervisor
- composer
- film editor
1991–present
5
Patricia Vonne (sister)
Danny Trejo (second cousin)
He directed From Dusk till Dawn in 1996 and developed its television adaptation series (2014–2016).[3] Rodriguez co-directed the 2005 neo-noir crime thriller anthology Sin City (adapted from the graphic novel of the same name) and the 2014 sequel, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.
Rodriguez is also the creator of the Spy Kids franchise, as well as The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (2005), Planet Terror (2007), Machete (2010), We Can Be Heroes (2020), and also directed The Faculty (1998) and Alita: Battle Angel (2019).
He is a close friend and frequent collaborator of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino,[4] who founded the production company A Band Apart, of which Rodriguez was a member. In December 2013, Rodriguez launched his own cable television channel, El Rey.
Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
The short film Bedhead attracted enough attention to encourage him to seriously attempt a career as a filmmaker.[9] He went on to shoot the action flick El Mariachi (1992) in Spanish; he shot it for around $7,000 with money raised by his friend Adrian Kano and from payments for his own participation in medical testing studies.[10] Rodriguez won the Audience Award for this film at the Sundance Film Festival in 1993.[11] Intended for the Spanish-language low-budget home-video market, the film was "cleaned up" by Columbia Pictures with post-production work costing several hundred thousand dollars before it was distributed in the United States.[12] Its promotion still advertised it as "the movie made for $7,000". Rodriguez described his experiences making the film in his book Rebel Without a Crew (1995).[13]
Appearances[edit]
Rodriguez has a chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss's book Tools of Titans.
Personal life[edit]
Rodriguez announced in April 2006 that he and his wife Elizabeth Avellán, with whom he had five children, had separated after 16 years of marriage.[46]
He reportedly had a "dalliance"[47] with actress Rose McGowan during the shooting of Grindhouse.[48] In October 2007, Elle Magazine revealed that Rodriguez had cast McGowan in the title role in his remake of Barbarella.[49] They split up in October 2009.[50]
In October 2010, he walked Alexa Vega (Carmen Cortez in Spy Kids series) down the aisle at her wedding to producer Sean Covel.[51]
In March 2014, Rodriguez showed his collection of Frank Frazetta original paintings in Austin, Texas, during the SXSW festival.[52]
Influences[edit]
Robert Rodriguez has brought a number of his favorite and most influential directors on his television show, The Director's Chair. Some of these directors included John Carpenter, Quentin Tarantino, and George Miller.
Rodriguez's favorite movie as a child was Escape to Witch Mountain, and admits that film, alongside Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, various James Bond films and various Ray Harryhaussen films influenced and inspired him while he was working on the Spy Kids series.[55][56][57]
He also said on IGN that children will support anything that is empowering to them, citing Home Alone and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, saying "You can't understand, 'Why do you like Power Rangers?' Well, it's empowerment, and children – especially younger children – they need their mom just to go to the mall, you know? They can't drive themselves wherever they want. So when they see kids being very empowered, flying around in jet packs, being proactive, it's empowering to them".[58]
Collaborations[edit]
Rodriguez has cast certain actors in more than one of his projects. Danny Trejo has appeared in ten of his projects, while Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Cheech Marin have all appeared in seven; Alexa PenaVega has appeared in six, and Jessica Alba, Daryl Sabara, Tom Savini, and Patricia Vonne have all appeared in five.[59]