A loving look at the ladies of 'Machete Kills'

Drop dead gorgeous: Sofia Vergara and Alexa Vega (r.) are armed and dangerous in "Machete Kills."

The title character in “Machete Kills” slices, dices and beheads — and he’s the hero. But the women are also formidable in director Robert Rodriguez’s action flick opening Friday, in which Danny Trejo's title tough guy takes on a wacko cartel boss (Demian Bichir) and a nutsy industrialist (Mel Gibson).

“I grew up in a family of 10 kids, and five of them were girls,” says Rodriguez (“El Mariachi,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Sin City”). “I had five strong females around me all the time. That’s just my world-view.”

Rodriguez says if his “Machete Kills” girls were merely beautiful, it wouldn’t fly.

“They had to have that strength, and I just highlighted it, circled it and put it front and center,” Rodriguez says. “A lot of the appeal, the beauty, comes from how strong they are. That makes them even more beautiful.”

Here’s what Rodriguez had to say about the ladies who fight against, or alongside, Machete.

MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ

Rodriguez, 35, reprises her role from 2010’s “Machete” as Luz, who operates a taco truck when not taking out villains.

“I just love Michelle,” the director says. “She’s so ... fun and inventive. She’s a great writer, so she’ll come to set with improvements to the script, so I’d say, ‘Yes, please, say that!’ ”

It doesn’t hurt that the actress, who also starred in “Avatar,” is gorgeous. “When I dressed her in some really sexy outfits, she said, ‘I like that you’re featuring my sexy side, because [usually] I get on a movie and they put me in fatigues.’ ”

AMBER HEARD

Heard, 27, stars as Miss San Antonio, a secret agent working undercover as a beauty queen. Rodriguez had wanted to work with Heard — who’s dating the director’s “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” star Johnny Depp — for some time.

Originally, Rodriguez had Heard in mind for a different role, but, he says, “I immediately realized she needed to play Miss San Antonio, and I completely rewrote that role for her. She can speak Spanish, and could fight. We had a field day doing her up.”

SOFIA VERGARA

The spicy co-star of TV’s “Modern Family” seems tailor-made for a Rodriguez adventure romp. Her loco assassin, Madame Desdemona, runs a brothel as a cover for her gun-for-hire ways, then goes guns-ablazing after strapping on some very womanly weapons.

“Sofia came in gangbusters, no warmup needed,” Rodriguez says. “There was no taking her through it. Just, ‘Here, you’re going to have to wear this odd thing [on your breasts] and move a certain way.’ She was fearless and confident.”

Good thing, because Rodriguez had extremely limited time with Vergara, 41, currently TV’s highest-paid actress. “We had to shoot very quickly and she just nailed it,” Rodriguez says.

VANESSA HUDGENS

Blink and you might miss Hudgens in “Machete Kills.” The 24-year-old singer-actress, famous for “High School Musical” and this year’s “Spring Breakers,” co-stars as Vergara’s surprisingly sweet daughter.

Much like with Vergara, time was of the essence with Hudgens. “It was like a day and a half, and she cranked it out,” Rodriguez says. “Vanessa is heartwarming and soulful, exactly what this character needed.”

LADY GAGA

The singer-fashion spectacle, 27, inadvertently invited herself to the “Machete” party.

Rodriguez sought her out to slip into the role of a face-changing villain called La Chameleón, a role she shares with Walt Goggins, Antonio Banderas and Cuba Gooding Jr., after hearing her praise the first “Machete” film.

“I thought, ‘Oh my God, she’s a fan! I’ll offer her a role in the sequel,’ ” Rodriguez says.

Rodriguez had to shoot Gaga’s brief part “under the radar.” “But she just rocked it. So I gave her more lines and said, ‘Let’s expand the role.’ She even brought her own outfits.”