Maui native gets plum role on No. 1 film
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
So how did an upcountry Maui girl, with fashion design on her mind, wind up with a speaking role in last week's top-grossing movie, "You Got Served"?
"It's a funny story," said Amanda Rodrigues of Kula.
Rodrigues didn't have any experience in the movies, but she had an "it" factor that caught the eye of a Hollywood connection.
"I met this guy from Sony (Pictures) at a party; he thought I had an amazing personality," said Rodrigues, 24, speaking from Los Angeles a few days after the film's Hollywood premiere. She was still high from the buzz of the opening-night hoopla and the fact the modest movie spiraled to the top of the charts.
"I read for the part. I got it. Just like that," she said.
Rodrigues, a 1997 graduate of Maui High School, plays a character named Keke (pronounced "Kiki"), in the dance-heavy hip-hop movie about the street-dancing culture.
Now remember, she had never acted before. She hadn't danced, either. And she was clueless about being street smart.
"Coming from Hawai'i, I love to surf, and street talk was so totally foreign to me," she said of her character. "But I was lucky to have B2K (a group whose members star in the film) as teachers."
"You can't imagine how excited we were when we found out Amanda had this role," said her father, Rodney. "We went to see the movie — and realized how big a part she had."
The family knew she was working on the movie eight months ago. They thought, however, it was merely a walk-on.
"She dances, as a member of the crew, and really, she's the only girl (among the secondary players) who talks," said the proud dad.
"She would call us from her trailer, and we thought it was no big deal. But when we saw the movie ... wow!"
She moved to the Mainland about two years ago and started dating Wade Robson, a TV personality, dancer and choreographer (Britney Spears, *N Sync), about a year ago.
They now live together.
"He was supposed to be in the film, then he wasn't going to do it, but in the end, he did appear," said Rodrigues.
Robson plays himself in a cameo.
Rodrigues said she studied fashion in San Francisco after graduating from high school here, and is high on creating a sporty, funky casual line of clothes — under the Amalei label — which she hopes to launch soon.
She thinks her friends would be stunned to see that she has a Hollywood connection.
"It was very overwhelming at first, because it's a completely different lifestyle," said Rodrigues. "People are aspiring to be somebody, to be something. There's a lot of creativity here."
Her simple Maui ways taught her the value of family, she said, so when she moved to the Mainland, she tried to establish a surrogate 'ohana. "You need to surround yourself with friends that become your family away from home," she said.
She's not worried if she doesn't secure another movie role soon. She hasn't yet succumbed to signing autographs, either, "though I got to take a picture with someone."
Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.
