Gina Rodriguez wants Jane the Virgin to be a huge success—and it's not just because she's the star!
As the 2015 Golden Globe winner tells Glam Belleza Latina's summer issue, the success of her CW show has broader implications than one might think...
"We just have to understand our collective strength," she explains. "Because if Jane the Virgin does well, [Hollywood] is going to open the door for five new shows that are Latino focused. We've already seen this start to happen. Jane the Virgin got a Golden Globe, and this pilot season everybody wants a Latino lead…."
"The more we show them that our united front can blow something up, the more they're going to open those doors because it's no longer a risk," says the 30-year-old actress. "This isn't about racism. It's about money."
Rodriguez, who is only the fourth Latina to win an acting Globe since its 1944 inception, wants "to change the idea of minorities in the media," she says. "Or contribute to that movement—I'm not single-handedly doing it."
"Growing up, I never saw my home life reflected on-screen, and that made me feel a certain way about myself," she tells Glam Belleza Latina. "It's not only about my ethnicity; it made me feel a certain way about my beauty. Not seeing a woman like me as a lead made me feel like I'd never be skinny enough, I'd never be pretty enough. I want to give young girls, like my niece, the tools to see a billboard and think, That [non-Latina] girl is beautiful, but that's not the only form of beauty. Jane's story is about a beautiful, normal girl. We don't talk about her weight or her looks."
For more of Rodriguez's interview, check out the 2015 summer issue of Glam Belleza Latina, on stands now.