Mia Toretto's (Jordana Brewster) "thank you" line to Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) had a double meaning in F9. The ninth installment in The Fast Saga featured the return of several notable characters, including Brewster's reprisal as Dominic Toretto's (Vin Diesel) sister. Mia and Letty were the original primary female characters in the Fast & Furious franchise. Though Rodriguez has spent more time in the spotlight than Brewster, both women fought for expanded roles in F9.

When Letty was introduced in 2001's The Fast and the Furious, she was a childhood friend of Mia and Dom's who joined the latter's crime ring. Not only was she also a street racer in the Los Angeles area, but Letty was also Dom's girlfriend. She didn't show up in a franchise entry again until 2009's Fast & Furious, the movie that presumably featured her death until she was revealed to be alive in Fast Five's post-credits scene. Whereas Letty has been a pivotal member of the saga, appearing in every installment since Fast & Furious 6Mia has had a more limited role.

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Brewster has been outspoken about her smaller role in Fast & Furious, and the same could be said about Fast & Furious 6 and Furious 7. Mia appeared more vital in Fast Five, seeing as she was in a serious relationship with Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker). Still, she remained on the sidelines while the rest of the crew fought on the frontlines. After sitting out of The Fate of the Furious, Brewster was brought back for F9 in a key role with more screentime. When she reunited with former co-stars onscreen, Brewster's Mia instantly said "thank you" to Letty before embracing in a hug. While Mia was thanking Letty for contacting her about the conflict between Dom and Jakob (John Cena), it was also a message of gratitude towards Rodriguez's efforts in expanding female roles in the series.

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Following the digital release of The Fate of the Furious in 2017, Rodriguez threatened to leave The Fast Saga if the franchise didn't put more work into allowing the women of the series to share the spotlight with the men. Clearly, she was unhappy with how the male characters got to be in the heart of the story while the females were pushed to the side. It wasn't until a female writer was hired for F9 that Rodriguez signed on to reprise her role as Letty. Since the first movie in the franchise, Rodriguez never hesitated to share her thoughts regarding the direction of characters, and that included Mia.

According to Brewster (via Insider), Rodriguez brought it to her attention that Letty and Mia never shared a scene together despite being two of the original stars. Brewster added, "Michelle's always been very outspoken about not doing anything that isn't true to character, and that means not placating the guys, that means not playing second fiddle to the guys." The pair (specifically Rodriguez) made sure this fact was on director Justin Lin's radar, which resulted in the "thank you" scene and, ultimately, the Tokyo sequence featuring the two characters chatting about their sisterhood.

As for the story, Mia was grateful how Letty kept Mia in the loop regarding the Toretto family drama, but it became an opportunity for Brewster and Rodriguez to show that their work paid off. Brewster even went a step further by requesting more action scenes for Mia, which she was given. So instead of being the offscreen wife or the character forced to stay behind, Mia was traveling the globe and facing off with villains just like the rest of the crew. Thankfully, F9 and the Fast & Furious franchise as a whole found a way to keep Mia a key member of the story without Brian's presence, proving cast criticism is being heard.

More: F9: Every Easter Egg & Reference Explained