Not only is today a day to say Happy Birthday Gina Rodriguez! — It’s also a day to say Congratulations Gina! on being named Variety Latino’s Rising Star for 2013. And her star is rising, in fact it’s on a major fast track!
From the moment I met Gina at Casa 0101, the theater company founded by Josefina Lopez in Boyle Heights east of downtown Los Angeles, I was struck by her warmth and accessibility. I am happy to say that three years later, in spite of all the wonderful, head turning attention she has been getting for her accomplishments she is still that warm, friendly person I met back then.
It has been a whirlwind for Gina I am sure, beginning with her impressive performance as the second female lead in a little indie film Go for It! That performance lead to her being auditioned and cast as the lead for the Sundance breakout film Filly Brown. From there it was a talent holding deal with ABC. Her first pilot for a TV series however was with FOX which cast her the 2013 pilot Wild Blue, where Gina would play Pilar Robles a Naval aviator. Unfortuntely, the pilot was axed and there went the Latina Naval aviator role. But as they say all good thing happen for a reason. Gina was then tapped to do Jane the Virgin by the CW.
Not only is Gina talented, this girl is smart and has her priorities in order when it comes to her community. Here is a young lady that does not compromise her identity, but celebrates it. She understands that she stands on the shoulders of the Latino talent that has come before her and she embraces that, constantly speaking out about the need for balanced portrayals of Latinos on the big and small screen.
Her speech at the Television Critics Association earlier this month to promote her new show – yes her new show because she is the headliner – has given the industry an insight into Latino role and how it affects our community, something they needed to hear for a long time. And what better platform than a room full of press from across the country. In case you missed the speech, here it is in full:
The way I grew up, I never saw myself on screen” I wouldn’t say that I chose Jane over Devious Maids. When I was presented with Devious Maids after Sundance, after I did a film at Sundance and I had an ABC holding deal, I found it limiting that that was the one that was available to me. I found it limiting for the stories that Latinos have. For the stories that Americans have, I feel like there’s a perception that people have about Latinos in America specifically — somebody growing up in Chicago, English being my first language, Spanish being my second — that we are perceived a very certain way.Our stories have been told, and they’re not unmoralistic, you know, being a maid is fantastic. You know, I have many family members that have fed many of their families on doing that job, but there are other stories that need to be told. And I think that the media is a venue and an avenue to educate and teach our next generation. And, sadly, right now the perception they have of Latinos in America are very specific to maid, landscape, pregnant teen. Mind you, I am playing pregnant but not a teen.I didn’t become an artist to be a millionaire. I didn’t become an actor to wear Louis Vuitton. I have to give this dress back when we’re done. I became an actor to change the way I grew up. The way I grew up, I never saw myself on screen.I have two older sisters. One’s an investment banker. The other one is an doctor, and I never saw us being played as investment bankers and actor. And I realized how limiting that was for me. I would look at the screen and think, ‘Well, there’s no way I can do it, because I’m not there.’ And it’s like as soon as you follow your dreams, you give other people the allowance to follow theirs.And for me, to look on younger girls and to say, ‘Well, Gina’s like me, maybe not necessarily the same skin color, maybe not necessarily the same background, but like that’s me. I’m not alone. I can do it too.’ So every role that I’ve chosen has been ones that I think are going to push forward the idea of my culture, of women, of beauty, my idea of liberating young girls, of feeling that they have to look at a specific beauty type. And I wasn’t going to let my introduction to the world be one of a story that I think has been told many times.I wanted it to be a story that was going to liberate young girls and say, ‘Wow, there we are too, and we’re the doctors, and we’re the teachers, and we’re the writers, and we’re the lawyers, and I can do that too. And I don’t have to be a perfect size zero. I can be a perfect size me.’ And that’s what I live. So Jane, I waited for her patiently. And now she’s here. And thank you for being here with us. Because this is a dream come true to me.”
I have been lucky to have seen the first episode of Jane the Virgin and let me tell you I am already hooked. See, it taps into my dormant telenovela urge. I gave up watching telenovelas when I was 12 because I couldn’t relate to the mostly blonde haired, blue eyed telenovela stars. Now mostly I don’t do telenovelas because I enjoy watching shows in English over Spanish language (like Nashville – yes that is a telenovela!). Jane the Virgin is the perfect telenovela because relatable and about Latinas that look like me. The great Ivone Coll (Switched at Birth, Teen Wolf) as the grandma, Andrea Navedo (Law and Order: SVU) as the young mom, and of course Gina as Jane the virgin.
And just in case you didn’t know by now (where have you been?) Jane the Virgin is based on the Mexican telenovela Juana La Virgen. I follows 23-year-old Jane Villanueva (Gina Rodriguez). When Jane Villanueva was a young girl, her grandmother, Alba, convinced her of two things: telenovelas are the highest form of entertainment, and women must protect their virginity at all costs. Jane is a driven young woman studying to become a teacher, nursing a dream to be a writer, and supporting herself with a job at a hot new Miami hotel. She has a wonderful fiancé — a handsome, hard-working detective named Michael — who loves her enough to accept her detailed timeline for their future together and even her insistence on “saving herself” until they’re married. But Jane’s world is suddenly turned upside down when she goes to see her doctor for a routine check-up and is accidentally artificially inseminated with a specimen meant for the patient in the next room.
Cast: Gina Rodriguez, Ivonne Coll, Andrea Navedo, Justin Baldoni, Jaime Camil, Dina Guerrero, Yara Martinez, and Priscilla Barns
Happy Birthday Beautiful Gina! And thank you for using your celebrity platform to voice what is in a lot of our community’s hearts!
To wish Gina a Happy birthday @hereisgina and on Facebook
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