Génesis Rodríguez opened up to Latina magazine about being El Puma's daughter, dating a man 17 years older than her, and the success of fellow Latinas.
In the short amount of years that she's been in Hollywood, the 28-year-old star has shared the screen with actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Melissa McCarthy, Jason Bateman and the late Paul Walker.
Although her father is the world famous Venezuelan singer El Puma, Génesis has paved the road to success all on her own.
Rodríguez started her career in telenovelas, where she admits to working 16-18 hour days. Then a life-changing event happened while working on the set of Doña Bárbara that shifted her career path.
"I lost my grandfather, and I couldn't bury him," she told Latina. "I couldn't believe that the job was taking me away from burying my grandfather."
On that same set, she met former boyfriend Christian Meier, an actor almost twice her age.
"Maybe I was mimicking my parents' relationship, because my dad is 23 years older than my mom," Rodríguez noted. "I feel madly in love with Christian."
The romance ended after Génesis decided that she would close the chapter in her life of telenovelas and pursue her dream of acting in Hollywood.
"I either stick it out with him and make it work or focus on my career," Rodríguez said. "I chose my career." That's when she decided to leave Miami and move to California.
If you follow Génesis on Instagram, you'll notice that she is always with her support team, which includes her father and her mother, Cuban model Carolina Pérez.
The actress got a taste of Oscar gold after she was the voice of Honey Lemon in Big Hero 6, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Film in 2015.
Rodríguez is currently working on Kevin Smith's latest film, Moose Jaws. "He is the first director I've worked with that doesn't see my race," the actress said. "When he casted me for Allison in Tusk, it wasn't written for a Latina. When he met me, he was like, 'Oh s--t, she can act.' In Yoga Hosers he made me do a Canadian accent. I was like, 'Kevin, you know I'm brown and Latina.' He said, 'Yeah, so what?'"
The star is all about supporting her fellow Latinas, recalling when she and Gina Rodríguez auditioned for the same role in Deepwater Horizon. "I was like, 'Don't worry, it's all you, mama.' And she got it. Her success is my success.'"
She opened up about being a daddy's girl and her father's tough ways with her potential suitors, "It's always been such a freaking headache to introduce a guy to my dad because my dad is probably going to say something inappropriate, be rude of show his El Puma side."
Luckily for her dad, at least for now, she's fully focused on her career and doesn't have a real-life leading man.
Speaking about Latinas in Hollywood...watch America Ferrera talk about the need for more Hispanic actresses in films.