When she was 17 Rodriguez was crowned as "Venezuela's prettiest face" and, at 18 in 1979, she participated at the
Miss Venezuela 1979 contest, where she competed against fellow future famous actresses
Tatiana Capote and
Marisela Buitrago, among others. Rodriguez represented
the state of Trujillo. In 1981, she represented Venezuela in the 1981
Miss Maja Internacional contest held in Spain, where she placed in third place out of 30 international contestants. She also took some singing classes. "Rebeca" (where she played the role of one of the antagonists, named "Geraldine") and "Topacio", but she rose to fame with her participation in "Cristal", where she played the female lead role of "Cristina Exposito", a poor woman who becomes an international model and falls in love with the lead male character, played by
Carlos Mata. "Cristal" debuted on
Radio Caracas Television on August 5, 1985, and it launched Rodriguez into stardom. In it, she also shared credits with
Lupita Ferrer and former
Los Chamos member
Gabriel Fernandez, among others. In 1988 Rodriguez traveled to Argentina, where she became a household name as the main female star of megahits, 1988's "Amandote" ("Loving You") and 1990s "Pobre Diabla" ("Poor She-Devil"). Pobre Diabla was also shown in the United States on
Univision, giving her exposure in that country as well. == Retirement ==