Rodriguez 'fights to avoid film sexism'

Michelle Rodriguez has spoken out about sexism in the Hollywood film industry.

The Avatar actress said that she has often had to fight her corner in order to play female action roles that don't always end with her character having sex with the film's male lead.

"There's a lot of battles that you undergo when you do action films and you're a chick," Rodriguez told MSN. "It's a lot of fighting because at first it's not always on paper and you have to say, 'Hey, this aspect of this character is clichéd and you need to lose that'."

The actress admitted that despite the many problems Hollywood has with typecasting the role of women in films, the industry has been making progress over the past few years.

"I think today now that the alpha male has kind of taken the back seat and the geek is kind of the prominent icon," Rodriguez explained. "It's leaving the room for more women to explore and spread their wings and there's just more room for dimension."

Rodriguez can be currently be seen in sci-fi action film Battle: Los Angeles, which was released in cinemas this weekend.