Photo Credit: Seal Team Season 7 Episode 9 – “The Sea and the Hills” still photo
Meet Gabriel “G-Rod” Rodriguez
G-Rod was born Gabriel Rodriguez in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, and spent his early years in South America before his family settled in the United States. His unexpected journey into acting began during a U.S. Border Patrol interview when he mistakenly acted out a scenario, impressing the interviewers. This experience ignited his passion for acting, leading him to study scenes from his favorite movies and entertain friends and family.
To hone his skills, G-Rod attended classes with renowned coaches Lori Wyman and Marc Macaulay, and at the University Center of the Performing Arts in Florida, as well as HB Studios in New York City. His career includes notable appearances in True Memoirs of an International Assassin with Kevin James, 24: Legacy alongside Corey Hawkins, and co-starring roles in MacGyver, The Walking Dead, Ballers, The Red Road, Constantine, Graceland, and Burn Notice. G-Rod has also featured in popular TV series like Power and Orange is the New Black and just recently starred in the new Bad Boys Ride or Die film with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
America’s Gone Viral’s own Brian Breach got a chance to see what’s going on in the world of G-Rod: Check out what he had to say below.
Americas Gone Viral: I just recently saw Bad Boys Ride or Die and it was an overall great movie! Can you share some of the craziest moments you experienced on set, especially during the scene where you were being chased in the streets? How does it feel to be part of a movie that topped the global box office on its opening weekend?
G-Rod: I had an amazing time working on this film—truly a memorable experience. One of the craziest and most action-packed moments was the foot chase scene in Miami. By the way, we shot the interior museum scene in Atlanta and didn’t get to shoot the exterior chase until several months later in Miami because of the SAG-AFTRA strike. Getting back to the exciting and crazy, there was so much going on—I had to turn around and shoot at Martin Lawrence and Will Smith as they chased me, but we also had to make sure we were selling it! We had to do it several times to get it right because there were times that they would either catch up to me on foot or shoot me dead or the other way around. All this is happening while I’m staying in character, trying not to get run over by one of the many cars which were going at approximately 20 MPH. Keeping in mind, my character is already heated because before the foot chase started, Will Smith catches me with a bullet at the center of my chest which sends me to the ground. Fortunately, I had my bulletproof vest on! In the end, everything went smoothly with the exception that I blew out my tricep on that last part where Martin Lawrence leaps from a car and tackles me. I knew immediately I had ruptured it because I heard it snap, but my main concern was “did we get the shot?” which is the first thing I asked when I got back up. And I was happy to see that it made the movie. I can lick my wounds tomorrow (which I did).
Americas Gone Viral: With the success of Bad Boys Ride or Die, do you feel like the public’s support for this movie indicates they’ve forgiven Will Smith for the Chris Rock incident and that they will always continue to support him?
G-Rod: I do because some time has passed, and for many of us, we have grown up seeing him on TV for decades as this nice and approachable guy. I remember seeing him on Fresh Prince in Venezuela and thinking way back, “I’m funny…I wanna do that someday.” Fast forward several years later and I get to actually work with him—just wild! And, I have to say, one of the nicest guys on set.
Gabriel “G-Rod” Rodriguez in his starring role in “Power” on Starz
Americas Gone Viral: One of my favorite scenes you’ve been in was the scene in Power where Tommy runs you over with his car. To this day, whenever I hear “Easy Like Sunday Morning,” all I see is you running down the street. What was it like shooting Power at the height of its popularity? Was Joseph Sikora easy to work with during those scenes?
G-Rod: I can’t believe it’s been over five years since I worked on Power and to this day it has been one of the biggest highlights of my career. It’s funny you mention that song because I still have people tagging me on social media with clips of “Easy Like Sunday Morning” or approaching me on the streets and telling me they can’t listen to the song without laughing—at my expense, of course! I am forever grateful that I had such an amazing opportunity to work on that show at its peak, and it still opens doors for me in my career today. I would have loved for my character to come back, but I can’t complain—I enjoyed every minute of it. As far as Joseph Sikora is concerned, I think he’s a beast on screen! It was not only a pleasure working with him but also chopping it up in between takes. Once they yell cut, he’s turned into this easygoing and approachable guy, which is a testament to his talent because we all know “Tommy” is a complete savage!
Americas Gone Viral: Which movie or TV show that you’ve starred in over your career do you feel has brought you the most opportunities in the industry so far?
G-Rod: I would have to name two shows—Power and Cobra Kai. The residual effect of my work on these shows has been nothing short of a blessing. Look, as actors we treasure every opportunity to work on a show of this caliber, but to get there is a mission within itself and in order to do that, you have to audition many times to even be considered for a role. And what these shows have done for me is put me on the radar of some major casting directors that perhaps wouldn’t even have known about me, which was my strategy when I first started in this business. My agent would submit me for numerous roles, but I was never given the opportunity to step in the room with a casting director to read. I told myself, I’m going to book a bunch of one-line small roles so they are forced to see me at some point when they turn on their TV. Now, I have casting directors reaching out to my agents saying, “Hey, I saw G-Rod on TV last night and I think he would be a good fit for this role.” That’s a whole level up. I got a little thrill up my leg the first time I saw one of those emails thinking, “Damn, I’m just a boy from the slums of Venezuela and here I am playing with the big boys.”
Americas Gone Viral: Many of the roles you take on are the badass or tough guy roles, which you play so well. In the future, would you ever consider playing a softer character to show a different side of your “Bad Boy” exterior?
G-Rod: I would love to play good guy roles or maybe the love interest in some twisted rom-com where a bank-robbing convict finds God and falls in love—a man can dream, right? Look, in the end, Hollywood is going to continue serving up stereotypes, and even though I could play a softer and nice guy, I’m not on a level in my career yet where they want to take chances. I have a mean mug and putting me in a non-character stereotypical role is a far stretch for now. I look to the future with an open mind and optimism that I’ll get an opportunity to really dive into something that’s warm or romantic, but until then, I will keep shooting at good guys, running from the cops, and dying for your viewing pleasure.
G-Rod on-set of the new Bad Boys: Ride or Die movie getting tackled by Martin Lawrence’s character
Story by Brian Breach
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