Confession: Out of all the new actresses gracing our TV sets this fall, we are most obsessed with Gina Rodriguez. Not just as the star of the CW's charming new series Jane the Virgin (premiering Monday), but as a human being.
She's talented. She's beautiful. She's charming. She's kind. But what really socks you in the gut when you meet her in person is how well-spoken and ballsy she is: She doesn't filter a single thing she says. And in this case, unlike some other Hollywood actresses, that's a very good thing.
The 29-year-old actress made headlines last year when she revealed she had turned down a plum role in Marc Cherry's new series Devious Maids because she could not further propagate the stereotype of Latino American women on television as the hired help. "I am not going to take a role because there's money," she said. "It might extend my checkbook but not my integrity."
She went on to score the leading role in the CW's new series Jane, which airs Monday, about a young woman who accidentally gets artificially inseminated. The show is surprisingly sweet and entertaining, despite its seemingly ludicrous premise. And Rodriguez says she wouldn't go back and change a single thing.
"Truthfully, I don't believe I'm deserving of anything," the Chicago native explained, as we sat down to chat about Jane (see the video interview above!). "I feel like I'm very, very blessed when it comes to everything that comes to my life. I had searched and worked very hard and had waited to do roles that I found to be inspirational and empowering. Roles that were going to change the way that the country, the world perceives Latino Americans. And for me that experience is obviously very dear."
Rodriguez feels Jane is a step in the right direction, but clearly there is much work to be done on television as a whole. "I feel like the industry looks at Latinos like it's such a different experience, it's such a different world. And it's like, no, it's not. I grew up in Chicago. I raced cars in high school. I was a dancer and then I became an actor. My sister's an investment banker, my other sister is a doctor. Our experiences are different from the ones that are perceived on television and in the media. And with Jane, I get to show that to the world. I get to show a hard-working girl that is chasing her dreams, that wants to be a teacher, that secretly wants to be a writer, and life comes upon her. Unexpectedness comes upon her. And the way she deals with it is through strength and through family and we all can relate to that. So for me, I waited very patiently for Jane. And I love her."
That, dear friends, was Gina Rodriguez's amazing answer to this lame question: How did you get the role? [She's the kind of girl that makes you wanna be a better...interviewer.]
The Puerto Rican/French actress, who got accepted to Columbia University when she was only 16 (!), and who battled thyroid disease when she was 19, also doesn't flinch when it comes to criticism. Like people who, ahem, think the premise of Jane the Virgin sounds absolutely ridiculous. (We know you're probably one of them...But watch this show on Monday anyway! You won't be disappointed.)
"People get thrown off by the breakdown of the show," Rodriguez says with a laugh, "but give it a chance! I used to always say, '‘I'm not pretty enough! I'm not this enough! I'm not that enough!' And my mom would be like, ‘You are definitely enough. You are enough TODAY. Cream always rises to the top!" So our show, when people are all snarky like, HMMM, I just say, ‘Cream rises to the top. You just wait!'"
We can't wait to see Rodriguez rise.
Watch the full video interview with Gina above, and check out Jane the Virgin's series premiere this Monday on the CW.