Ana Lucia Cortez
Encyclopedia
Ana Lucia Cortez is a fictional character
on the ABC
television series Lost
, played by Michelle Rodriguez
. Ana Lucia made her first appearance as a guest star in the first season finale
, and became part of the main cast for season two. After Oceanic Flight 815 splits in mid-air, the tail section and fuselage crash on opposite sides of a mysterious island. Ana Lucia becomes the leader of the tail section. Flashbacks
in her two centric episodes, "Collision
" and "Two for the Road
", show her life as a police officer before the crash.
Rodriguez evoked controversy after being stopped by the police for driving under the influence
a few weeks before her character was killed, leading to speculation that this was the reason for her character's death. The producers of Lost stated that Rodriguez was only interested in appearing for one season, so Ana Lucia's death was written in from the beginning. Ana Lucia is shot and killed by Michael Dawson
.
who becomes pregnant, but loses the baby after being shot by a suspect at a burglary scene. She spends several months in physical and psychological therapy, and when the suspect is arrested, she refuses to identify him. After his release, she kills him outside a bar. Ana Lucia decides to leave the force and eventually finds work as an airport security guard. She meets Christian Shephard
(John Terry
) at the airport bar, who asks her to accompany him to Sydney as a bodyguard, however in Sydney the two part ways. Ana Lucia buys a ticket on Oceanic Flight 815 to return to Los Angeles. In a brief flashback in the first season finale, she flirts with Jack Shephard
(Matthew Fox
) at a bar at the airport
, unaware he is Christian's son. The pair arrange to continue their conversation during the flight. During the flight the plane splits in half, with the two parts crashing on different sides of an island; Ana Lucia is one of the tail section survivors.
The story of how the tail section survivors cope during their first forty-eight days on the Island is shown in "The Other 48 Days
". After landing in the ocean, Ana Lucia does her best to help everyone in need. That night, some of the survivors are kidnapped by the Others, the mysterious inhabitants of the Island, then a few nights later, nine more are taken. During the second raid, Ana Lucia kills one of the Others and finds a list on him, which has descriptions of the victims. Suspecting fellow survivor Nathan (Josh Randall
) as a traitor, she moves everyone inland, digs a pit and throws him in it until he confesses. When he disappears one night, the small group heads further inland, discovering a bunker known as the Arrow. Ana Lucia and Goodwin (Brett Cullen
) trek atop a hill, where she tells Goodwin she has worked out he is the real traitor. After a struggle, she impales him on a broken stick, then returns to the group and tells them they are safe. Fellow tail section survivors Libby
(Cynthia Watros
) and Cindy (Kimberley Joseph
) bring Jin
(Daniel Dae Kim) to her after discovering him washed up on shore. He breaks free, so Ana Lucia follows and finds Michael
(Harold Perrineau) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway
). Jin, Michael and Sawyer are thrown into the pit, and Ana Lucia follows, pretending to have also been captured. Once she believes they are fellow 815 survivors she releases them, and they travel to the camp of the other survivors. When they near the camp, Ana Lucia mistakes Shannon
(Maggie Grace
) for an Other and shoots her fatally. The on-island events of "Collision" show her guilt after Shannon's death. She has Shannon's lover Sayid
(Naveen Andrews
) tied up and refuses to let the group move on. After some reasoning from Libby, she reluctantly lets them go. She is invited into a bunker the fuselage survivors found to interrogate a man claiming to be Henry Gale (Michael Emerson
), and manages to receive a map to his crashed balloon. She takes Sayid and Charlie
(Dominic Monaghan
) with her, and eventually discovers the crash site, and the body of the real Henry Gale. In her second centric episode, "Two for the Road", Ana Lucia attempts to speak to Henry again, but she is assaulted by him and nearly killed. Seeking revenge, she seduces Sawyer and steals his gun. She returns to the hatch and attempts to kill Henry, but is unable to bring herself to do it. She confides in Michael, who offers to kill him on her behalf.
But upon handing him the gun, he shoots her in the heart, killing her. She is buried next to Libby, who was also killed by Michael. After her death she makes three further appearances: in a dream to Mr. Eko
(Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
) in "?
", as a vision that Hurley (Jorge Garcia
) has in "The Lie
", and in a flash sideways in "What They Died For
".
as "demanding", "hostile" and a "bully". She called Ana Lucia a "brooding, broken ex-cop" with a "perpetual scowl". McFarland described the character as someone with a "take-charge nature", and an "inability to be reasoned away from her dictatorial decisions". Anna Johns from AOL
's TV Squad felt Ana Lucia is "abrasive and lack[ing] common sense or civility". C. K. Sample, also from TV Squad, thought Ana Lucia was "angry", "power mad" and a "total nut job". According to supervising producer Leonard Dick
, "Ana Lucia is somebody who does not want to be a victim. She was a victim once and she swore to herself she would never be a victim again". Rodriguez described the character as "very intuitive", adding "I like that the character is pretty much always aware and suspicious". She is "street smart" and has a "speak-her-mind quality".
In February 2005, Lost producers began looking for a Latina
woman in her mid-thirties who would be the leader of the tail section, and a romantic interest for Jack. Michelle Rodriguez's agent called the producers, informing them Rodriguez was interested in the role, but only for a year. Rodriguez, producers Damon Lindelof
and Carlton Cuse
, and Lost creator J. J. Abrams
met, and Rodriguez explained she would only be interested in one season because she was a "nomadic spirit", but would like to do one "kickass" arc. The producers liked her energy, so agreed, with the plan to kill Ana Lucia at the end of the season. Rodriguez felt she had been typecast in tough female roles, so wanted this role to be different. Ana Lucia was planned to start as a tough character, because that is what the audience would expect, then the layers of the character would be gradually peeled back. Rodriguez described Ana Lucia as an "animalistic type creature... tamed by the Island." They reconstructed the character slightly to fit what they liked about Rodriguez, such as making her more "street smart" with a "speak-her-mind quality." Ana Lucia made her first appearance in the penultimate episode of season one, in order to set up her character becoming part of the cast in the next season. All Rodriguez was told about her character was both she and her mother were in the police force. Ana Lucia's style of leadership deliberately contrasts Jack's; Jack is a reluctant leader, whereas Ana Lucia quickly takes charge on her own. In her early appearances, Ana Lucia is shown to be very tough, so the flashbacks in "Collision", where it is revealed she lost her baby, were used to show a softer side to her.
The producers found Ana Lucia to be an unsympathetic character, so Libby was killed at the same time to create an emotional impact. The producers also denied she was killed off because of Rodriguez's behaviour on set, saying although they had no interaction with her, they had been told she had been professional. Rodriguez felt comfortable on the series, but was happy to leave as she felt this would help her grow personally, and become a woman. She had mixed feelings about leaving Hawaii
, where Lost is filmed; her allergies were hard to deal with, but she loved the scenery.
described Ana Lucia as "one of the most intensely hated characters on television [in the] fall [of 2005]", due to her being "hostile" and a "bully". She added Ana Lucia murdering Shannon, "the least deserving of sympathy of all the previously known survivors", made fans hate Ana Lucia even more. McFarland found this makes "the creation of her character, and Rodriguez's hire, strokes of brilliant writing and casting on the part of Lost producers J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof", and described her as a "hero stewed in pathos". Anna Johns from TV Squad was unhappy at the prospect of Ana Lucia's death, feeling Ana Lucia was important because she was a "love to hate" character, she disrupted the Jack-Kate-Sawyer love triangle, and created conflicts, which make the show interesting. Amy Amatangelo from Zap2it
admitted she "enjoyed kind of loathing Ana Lucia". In a later article, she described Ana Lucia's death as "a brilliant move", because "one of their own become one of them". She added "nobody liked the Ana Lucia character anyway", but that did not stop it being "one of [the second] season's most jaw-dropping moments". Alan Stanley Blair from SyFy Portal
"cheered when she was shot". Ana Lucia's death was second in IGN
's list of the top ten Lost deaths, as she made an "immediate impact on the series" with an "unexpected end". On the second season DVD, supervising producer Leonard Dick says "Michelle brought real strength, a dynamic element, to the role". Michelle Rodriguez co-won the 2005
Screen Actors Guild Award for "Best Ensemble - Drama Series
. She also won an ALMA Award
for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a TV Series".
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television series Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, played by Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez
Mayte Michelle Rodríguez , known professionally as Michelle Rodriguez, is an American actress. Following on from her breakthrough role in 2000's Girlfight, she is best known for playing tough-girl roles and starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil,...
. Ana Lucia made her first appearance as a guest star in the first season finale
Exodus (Lost)
"Exodus" is the first season finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the 23rd through 25th episodes of the first season and the show overall. The episodes were directed by Jack Bender, and written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. "Part 1" first aired on May 18, 2005 and "Part 2"...
, and became part of the main cast for season two. After Oceanic Flight 815 splits in mid-air, the tail section and fuselage crash on opposite sides of a mysterious island. Ana Lucia becomes the leader of the tail section. Flashbacks
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
in her two centric episodes, "Collision
Collision (Lost)
"Collision" is the 33rd episode of Lost and the eighth episode of the second season. The episode was directed by Stephen Williams, and written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Leonard Dick. It first aired on November 23, 2005 on ABC...
" and "Two for the Road
Two for the Road (Lost)
"Two for the Road" is the 20th episode of the second season of the American drama television series Lost, and the show's 45th episode overall. The episode was written by supervising producer Elizabeth Sarnoff and producer Christina M. Kim, and directed by Paul Edwards. It first aired in the United...
", show her life as a police officer before the crash.
Rodriguez evoked controversy after being stopped by the police for driving under the influence
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
a few weeks before her character was killed, leading to speculation that this was the reason for her character's death. The producers of Lost stated that Rodriguez was only interested in appearing for one season, so Ana Lucia's death was written in from the beginning. Ana Lucia is shot and killed by Michael Dawson
Michael Dawson (Lost)
Michael Dawson is a fictional character played by Harold Perrineau on the ABC television series Lost. After losing a custody battle with Susan Lloyd , Michael does not see his son Walt for almost ten years. They reunite when she dies, but on their journey home, their plane crashes on a mysterious...
.
Arc
Prior to the crash Ana Lucia Cortez is an officer in the Los Angeles Police DepartmentLos Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
who becomes pregnant, but loses the baby after being shot by a suspect at a burglary scene. She spends several months in physical and psychological therapy, and when the suspect is arrested, she refuses to identify him. After his release, she kills him outside a bar. Ana Lucia decides to leave the force and eventually finds work as an airport security guard. She meets Christian Shephard
Christian Shephard
Dr. Christian Shephard is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by John Terry. He is the father of lead characters Jack Shephard , who becomes the de facto leader of the survivors of Oceanic 815 after it crashes on an island, and Claire Littleton , another of the survivors...
(John Terry
John Terry (actor)
John Terry is an American film, television, and stage actor.-Early life:Terry was born in Florida, where he attended Vero Beach High School. He was also educated at the prestigious Loomis Chaffee prep school in Windsor, Connecticut, and began a career building original custom log homes in North...
) at the airport bar, who asks her to accompany him to Sydney as a bodyguard, however in Sydney the two part ways. Ana Lucia buys a ticket on Oceanic Flight 815 to return to Los Angeles. In a brief flashback in the first season finale, she flirts with Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
(Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
) at a bar at the airport
Sydney Airport
Sydney Airport may refer to:* Sydney Airport, also known as Kingsford Smith International Airport, in Sydney, Australia* Sydney/J.A. Douglas McCurdy Airport, in Nova Scotia, Canada...
, unaware he is Christian's son. The pair arrange to continue their conversation during the flight. During the flight the plane splits in half, with the two parts crashing on different sides of an island; Ana Lucia is one of the tail section survivors.
The story of how the tail section survivors cope during their first forty-eight days on the Island is shown in "The Other 48 Days
The Other 48 Days
"The Other 48 Days" is the 32nd episode of Lost. It is the seventh episode of the second season. The episode was directed by Eric Laneuville, and written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse...
". After landing in the ocean, Ana Lucia does her best to help everyone in need. That night, some of the survivors are kidnapped by the Others, the mysterious inhabitants of the Island, then a few nights later, nine more are taken. During the second raid, Ana Lucia kills one of the Others and finds a list on him, which has descriptions of the victims. Suspecting fellow survivor Nathan (Josh Randall
Josh Randall
Josh Randall is an American television actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Mike Burton in the NBC sitcom Ed and the recurring guest role of Jake in Scrubs in 2005. He was married to Claire Rankin on 10 September 2000....
) as a traitor, she moves everyone inland, digs a pit and throws him in it until he confesses. When he disappears one night, the small group heads further inland, discovering a bunker known as the Arrow. Ana Lucia and Goodwin (Brett Cullen
Brett Cullen
Peter Brett Cullen is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures and television programs. Early in 2007, he was cast as the role of an estranged father to one of the American football players, Tim Riggins , in the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights.Cullen was born in Houston,...
) trek atop a hill, where she tells Goodwin she has worked out he is the real traitor. After a struggle, she impales him on a broken stick, then returns to the group and tells them they are safe. Fellow tail section survivors Libby
Libby (Lost)
Libby is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. She is played by American actress Cynthia Watros...
(Cynthia Watros
Cynthia Watros
Cynthia Michele Watros is an American television actress, who also starred in films and on stage. She is known for her roles as Libby on the ABC TV series Lost, Kellie in The Drew Carey Show, Erin in Titus, and Annie Dutton in Guiding Light...
) and Cindy (Kimberley Joseph
Kimberley Joseph
Kimberley Joseph is a Canadian-Australian actress who is based in the United States. Joseph was born in Canada, raised on the Gold Coast in Australia, and educated in Switzerland. After returning to Australia, she began a degree at Bond University but dropped out at the age of 19 when she was cast...
) bring Jin
Jin-Soo Kwon
Jin-Soo Kwon, better known as "Jin," is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Daniel Dae Kim.- Prior to the crash :...
(Daniel Dae Kim) to her after discovering him washed up on shore. He breaks free, so Ana Lucia follows and finds Michael
Michael Dawson (Lost)
Michael Dawson is a fictional character played by Harold Perrineau on the ABC television series Lost. After losing a custody battle with Susan Lloyd , Michael does not see his son Walt for almost ten years. They reunite when she dies, but on their journey home, their plane crashes on a mysterious...
(Harold Perrineau) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway
Josh Holloway
Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway is an American actor and model from Free Home, Georgia. He is best known for his role as James "Sawyer" Ford on the American television show Lost.-Early life:...
). Jin, Michael and Sawyer are thrown into the pit, and Ana Lucia follows, pretending to have also been captured. Once she believes they are fellow 815 survivors she releases them, and they travel to the camp of the other survivors. When they near the camp, Ana Lucia mistakes Shannon
Shannon Rutherford
Shannon Rutherford is a fictional character played by Maggie Grace on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Shannon is introduced in the pilot episode as the stepsister of fellow crash survivor Boone Carlyle . She is...
(Maggie Grace
Maggie Grace
Margaret Grace Denig , best known as Maggie Grace, is an American actress. Originally from Worthington, Ohio, she dropped out of high school to move to Los Angeles with her mother after her parents' divorce. While struggling financially, she landed her first role as the title character in the...
) for an Other and shoots her fatally. The on-island events of "Collision" show her guilt after Shannon's death. She has Shannon's lover Sayid
Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Hassan Jarrah is a character from the ABC show Lost portrayed by Naveen Andrews.-Season 1:Sayid fixes the transceiver recovered from the cockpit, and leads a group into the jungle in order to send out a distress signal. Instead, he picks up a looping message . He tries to locate the...
(Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews
Naveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
) tied up and refuses to let the group move on. After some reasoning from Libby, she reluctantly lets them go. She is invited into a bunker the fuselage survivors found to interrogate a man claiming to be Henry Gale (Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on Lost and fictional serial killer William Hinks in The Practice.-Early life:...
), and manages to receive a map to his crashed balloon. She takes Sayid and Charlie
Charlie Pace
Charlie Hieronymus Pace is a fictional character on ABC's Lost, a television series chronicling the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island...
(Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
) with her, and eventually discovers the crash site, and the body of the real Henry Gale. In her second centric episode, "Two for the Road", Ana Lucia attempts to speak to Henry again, but she is assaulted by him and nearly killed. Seeking revenge, she seduces Sawyer and steals his gun. She returns to the hatch and attempts to kill Henry, but is unable to bring herself to do it. She confides in Michael, who offers to kill him on her behalf.
But upon handing him the gun, he shoots her in the heart, killing her. She is buried next to Libby, who was also killed by Michael. After her death she makes three further appearances: in a dream to Mr. Eko
Mr. Eko
Mr. Eko Tunde is a fictional character, played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the ABC television series Lost. He is introduced in the second season episode "Adrift" as one of the plane-crash survivors from the plane's tail section. Flashbacks reveal that he became the leader of a gang of guerrillas...
(Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is a British actor, and former fashion model best known for his roles as Mr. Eko on Lost, Simon Adebisi on Oz and Nykwana Wombosi in The Bourne Identity.-Early life and career:...
) in "?
? (Lost)
"?", typically pronounced "Question Mark" is the 46th episode of Lost and the 21st episode of the second season. The episode was directed by Deran Sarafian, and written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. It first aired on May 10, 2006 on ABC. The character of Mr. Eko is featured in the episode's...
", as a vision that Hurley (Jorge Garcia
Jorge Garcia
Jorge García is a U.S. actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian.-Early life:García was born...
) has in "The Lie
The Lie (Lost)
"The Lie" is the second episode of the fifth season of ABC's science fiction drama television series Lost. The 88th episode of the show overall, "The Lie" aired on January 21, 2009 on ABC in the United States, being simulcast on A in Canada. It aired immediately after the previous episode, "Because...
", and in a flash sideways in "What They Died For
What They Died For
"What They Died For" is the 16th and penultimate episode of the American Broadcasting Company's sixth season of the serial drama television series Lost and 119th and penultimate episode overall. The episode aired on May 18, 2010 on ABC in the United States...
".
Personality
Ana Lucia was described by Melanie McFarland of the Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
as "demanding", "hostile" and a "bully". She called Ana Lucia a "brooding, broken ex-cop" with a "perpetual scowl". McFarland described the character as someone with a "take-charge nature", and an "inability to be reasoned away from her dictatorial decisions". Anna Johns from AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
's TV Squad felt Ana Lucia is "abrasive and lack[ing] common sense or civility". C. K. Sample, also from TV Squad, thought Ana Lucia was "angry", "power mad" and a "total nut job". According to supervising producer Leonard Dick
Leonard Dick
Leonard Dick is an award-winning television writer and producer who is currently writing for The Good Wife .Leonard was born in Toronto, Ontario, and attended high school at Upper Canada College, where he was elected head of Howard's House, and thus served on the Board of Stewards.Leonard attended...
, "Ana Lucia is somebody who does not want to be a victim. She was a victim once and she swore to herself she would never be a victim again". Rodriguez described the character as "very intuitive", adding "I like that the character is pretty much always aware and suspicious". She is "street smart" and has a "speak-her-mind quality".
Development
Latina
Latina is the feminine form of the term Latino.Latina may also refer to:*Province of Latina, a province in Latium , Italy**Latina, Lazio, the capital of the province of Latina**Latina Nuclear Power Plant*Latina , a district of Madrid...
woman in her mid-thirties who would be the leader of the tail section, and a romantic interest for Jack. Michelle Rodriguez's agent called the producers, informing them Rodriguez was interested in the role, but only for a year. Rodriguez, producers Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
and Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse is an AmericanEmmy Award winning screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer andscreenwriter for the American television series Lost for...
, and Lost creator J. J. Abrams
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity...
met, and Rodriguez explained she would only be interested in one season because she was a "nomadic spirit", but would like to do one "kickass" arc. The producers liked her energy, so agreed, with the plan to kill Ana Lucia at the end of the season. Rodriguez felt she had been typecast in tough female roles, so wanted this role to be different. Ana Lucia was planned to start as a tough character, because that is what the audience would expect, then the layers of the character would be gradually peeled back. Rodriguez described Ana Lucia as an "animalistic type creature... tamed by the Island." They reconstructed the character slightly to fit what they liked about Rodriguez, such as making her more "street smart" with a "speak-her-mind quality." Ana Lucia made her first appearance in the penultimate episode of season one, in order to set up her character becoming part of the cast in the next season. All Rodriguez was told about her character was both she and her mother were in the police force. Ana Lucia's style of leadership deliberately contrasts Jack's; Jack is a reluctant leader, whereas Ana Lucia quickly takes charge on her own. In her early appearances, Ana Lucia is shown to be very tough, so the flashbacks in "Collision", where it is revealed she lost her baby, were used to show a softer side to her.
The producers found Ana Lucia to be an unsympathetic character, so Libby was killed at the same time to create an emotional impact. The producers also denied she was killed off because of Rodriguez's behaviour on set, saying although they had no interaction with her, they had been told she had been professional. Rodriguez felt comfortable on the series, but was happy to leave as she felt this would help her grow personally, and become a woman. She had mixed feelings about leaving Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, where Lost is filmed; her allergies were hard to deal with, but she loved the scenery.
Reception
Melanie McFarland from Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
described Ana Lucia as "one of the most intensely hated characters on television [in the] fall [of 2005]", due to her being "hostile" and a "bully". She added Ana Lucia murdering Shannon, "the least deserving of sympathy of all the previously known survivors", made fans hate Ana Lucia even more. McFarland found this makes "the creation of her character, and Rodriguez's hire, strokes of brilliant writing and casting on the part of Lost producers J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof", and described her as a "hero stewed in pathos". Anna Johns from TV Squad was unhappy at the prospect of Ana Lucia's death, feeling Ana Lucia was important because she was a "love to hate" character, she disrupted the Jack-Kate-Sawyer love triangle, and created conflicts, which make the show interesting. Amy Amatangelo from Zap2it
Zap2it
Zap2it is an American website and affiliate network that provides news, photos and video, local TV listings and movie showtimes. The site is produced by Tribune Media Services , part of the publishing division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
admitted she "enjoyed kind of loathing Ana Lucia". In a later article, she described Ana Lucia's death as "a brilliant move", because "one of their own become one of them". She added "nobody liked the Ana Lucia character anyway", but that did not stop it being "one of [the second] season's most jaw-dropping moments". Alan Stanley Blair from SyFy Portal
SyFy Portal
Airlock Alpha, formerly SyFy Portal, is an entertainment news website focusing on science-fiction, fantasy and comic book television series and films.-History:...
"cheered when she was shot". Ana Lucia's death was second in IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's list of the top ten Lost deaths, as she made an "immediate impact on the series" with an "unexpected end". On the second season DVD, supervising producer Leonard Dick says "Michelle brought real strength, a dynamic element, to the role". Michelle Rodriguez co-won the 2005
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2005
The 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony, honoring the best in film and television acting achievement for the year 2005, took place on January 29, 2006 at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center, in Los Angeles, California. It was the 10th consecutive year the ceremony was held at the...
Screen Actors Guild Award for "Best Ensemble - Drama Series
Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble - Drama Series
The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series is an award given by the Screen Actors Guild to honor the finest ensemble acting achievements in dramatic television.-1990s:...
. She also won an ALMA Award
Alma Award
The American Latino Media Arts Award, or ALMA Award is a distinction awarded to Latino performers who promote positive portrayals of Latinos in the entertainment field...
for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a TV Series".