Genesis Rodriguez was born into the limelight. Daughter to Latin America’s iconic music superstar Jose Luis Rodriguez ‘El Puma,’ she has fought hard to establish a successful career relying on her talent and own merits. In her latest film, “Run All Night,” she joins a brilliant cast that includes Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Common and Joel Kinnaman. Rodriguez takes on the role of Gabriela Conlon, wife to Mike Conlon (Kinneman), mother to their two daughters and pregnant with their third child. Throughout the film she has to remain strong, supportive, and struggle to keep her family safe.
In an exclusive conversation Rodriguez speaks about her famous father, her tough role, and her commitment to build a long lasting career that shatters stereotypes.

Rodríguez knew she wanted to act early on. Her parents supported her decision and enrolled her in prestigious acting schools in New York and Los Angeles. At the age of sixteen she landed her first major role in Telemundo’s popular telenovela “Prisionera.” She went to star in “Dame Chocolate” and “Doña Bárbara,” before graduating to the role of Becky Ferrer on “Days of Our Lives.” The big screen would follow with roles in “Man on a Ledge,” “Casa de Mi Padre,” “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” “The Last Stand” and “Tusk.” Most recently she was the voice of Honey Lemon in the blockbuster “Big Hero 6.”

HOMBRE: How did you come into the role of Gabriela?
Genesis Rodriguez: Well, (director) Jaume was in New York and I was in LA, and I didn’t want to put myself on tape because it’s not the same thing. If I had a phone interview with you or I sent you an interview, it wouldn’t be the same thing as you and I connecting and looking at each other. So I flew myself out, and I put myself up.

H: You paid for your own trip?
GR: Oh yes, I’m invested in this! (laughs) I really believed in this film, I knew it was going to be a great movie. Maybe that sealed the deal. Maybe Jaume thought, “That girl has ambition!”
I just try to do my job, and I try to leave a good impression. If I don’t land it, then I can only control what I can give. But it worked out in my favor, thank God!

H: How long did it take until you found out you had the part?
GR: It was a grueling month and a half or two months before I got the job. And I feel like that’s the worst part for the actor. You’re just like, “Tell me right now! Do you like me or not? I need to move on with my life!” (laughing) So I did. I moved on with my life, and just knew I did a good job, and walked away from it, and let it go. It was a nice surprise!

H: How was the experience of playing the role of a mother on this film?
GR: It was great! I had never played a mom before in a movie. It’s important for me to do something different. No movie is similar and no character is similar. This was different from “Big Hero 6,” and “Tusk.” It was the perfect way to go into something more deep and mature. I wanted to show I could do something like that right now; I’m at the age. It was exciting, tapping into motherly feelings. It was difficult.

H: How was it working with the children? 
GR: The kids were great! But they’re kids! And we were shooting at night! They don’t understand why we have to do so many takes! We had to convince them every single time, to make it different or more interesting…it was fun! But it was a lot of work for me, because it wasn’t just a movie about me being a mom and having a family, but about my family being in danger. I had to get everything, pack up their coats, make sure they don’t realize they’re in danger, keep the calm, run around, AND I had a 15 pound belly!

H: Seems you were playing the role of a mother to them, behind the scenes as well.
GR: Yeah! Actually, the first day they called me ‘mommy’! It just melted my heart!

H: We’ve seen you in films like “Hours,” “Tusk,” and now this, they’re all pretty dark; what draws you to these intense roles?
GR: I’m dramatic! I live for drama. I like to convey that emotion, it’s just a natural thing for me to get into those kind of movies; it’s where I feel most comfortable. The more intense, the better!

H: What made you want to become an actress?
GR: I’m the daughter of a very famous Latin American singer (Jose Luis Rodriguez, ‘El Puma’). He’s kind of an icon. I was born famous. I was born in the limelight, and I was an especially shy kid. I was very studious, I was an honor roll student, I did robotics…I was a nerd! A very sweet, shy nerd. As soon as I took a drama class, I realized that I wasn’t my father’s daughter anymore, and I could be who I wanted to be. In theater, I got to be a witch, I got to be an alien, I got to be Shakespearean characters, and it gave me so much life that I could be just anybody! So in a very dramatic fashion, I told my dad that I wanted to be an actress. He was like, “What? Where did this come from?” He and my mother were rolling their eyes, like, “Gen, you’re so smart, why would you do this?” But I just couldn’t see myself doing anything else. It just made me so unbelievably happy.

H: Being a music superstar, how did your father guide you in the beginning of your career?
GR: At first he was like, “Well, here’s what we’re going to do. You are going to study. And you’re going to go into the Latin market, so that you will grow as an actress and a woman, and you’re going to grow with people that have known you for years.”
I actually feel like it was perfect. I got the harshest criticism, because they had to expect so much from me. And then when I got the respect from that community, it was like I was one of their own. And now, I accomplished that, and they will follow me to whatever I wanted to do.

H: What’s the best advice he gave you?
GR: I guess the best advice he ever gave me was, “Don’t let the highs get you too high, and don’t let the lows get you too low.” Maintain yourself at a level. I’m not here to be an overnight sensation, I’m not here to just be the ‘It Girl’ for a couple of years. I’m here to be a supporting character in this movie, a leading lady in another one, a cameo in another one…I’m here to be an actress, no matter how different of a genre.

H: How do you feel about being a Latina actress in mainstream films?
GR: I have a mission, and that mission is to break stereotypes for Latina women, and I do that by choosing very different movies, and I try to creep up on you. I really want to creep up on every genre, and try to do as many as I can. And I want to have a long career. That’s my objective. I’m not trying to look for the Oscar. I’m trying to be working forever, and for everyone to know exactly who I am and what I’m going to deliver.

H: How difficult is it to find a challenging role as a woman in Hollywood?
GR: For me, I think the struggle is even harder! I don’t read as a complex Latina character, at all. I don’t read complex women’s characters, at all. So my accessibility to these roles…it’s going to take awhile for me to get them, and I don’t mind the struggle and the battle that I’m going to fight for these characters. Because it’s objective. Of course I want the “Birdman” roles. I want that. But its not going to come to me as easily as a mainstream actress. That’s the reality of it. The journey is a lot longer and a lot harder for me, but I’m willing to take that on.

H: This film is kind of a boy’s club, what was the camaraderie with these guys?
GR: They were very welcoming, they didn’t make me feel like I was ‘the girl.’ They accepted me, talked to me, and just were very normal with me. I didn’t feel like an outcast at all. I felt like one of the guys! We just hung out. Guys are pretty easy, you know?

H: Where did you draw your inspiration for your role as a mother?
GR: I drew more from my grandmother in my character. She was kind of like that tough love, but real love. Like you know they’re going to give their life for you, but they are going to show a strong face. They’re going to show strength before they show weakness. My mother is number one. My mom, you can see from miles away that she is worried, but my grandmother, she’s stoic. She won’t show it, and I love that about her. That’s hard. I show everything too, I’m just like my mom. So I need to be more like my grandmother.

H: Why do you think Liam Neeson is so successful in the action genre?
GR: I feel, the reason why he is so successful right now as an action film star is because of his age; of his experience. There’s a certain confidence and smoothness that he holds that you can’t get when you’re young. He has that maturity and that voice and that stature, which doesn’t hurt either! He’s got it, and he’s had it for some time, and he knows exactly how to say things and how to really hit you. Ed Harris, too!

H: What advice would you give a young actor?
GR: You have to jump in. I love improv classes- even if you aren’t going to become an actor, it’s just a way to loosen up in public speaking. It’ll help you in your interviews and your life. It’s really important, because your shyness can impede, and leave an impression that’s not you and what you feel. You have to dive in, no matter how scary that is.

H: What’s next for you?
GR: The next thing is “Yoga Hosers,” which is the sequel to Kevin Smith’s “Tusk.” Soon we’ll be shooting the third one, which is “Moose Jaws.” That’s going to be fun. And then I have this psychological thriller, “Home,” with Topher Grace, Callan Mulvey, and Patty Clarkson. That’s a twisted little movie that you don’t really know what’s going on. I play this punk rock, kind of weird girl, so that was cool. It was fun because she didn’t really care about her appearance, she was really raw.

H: Lastly, can you sing? Did you inherit that from your father?
GR: Oh God. (laughs) I mean that’s my dad’s dream, for me to sing. but personally, its not mine. I can tell you, I can sing, but it’s not a passion of mine. If a role required it, I’d do it. And I’d freak out every single day I went into work.