MANILA – Hollywood actress Gina Rodriguez came to the Philippines last November 27, 2014 at Fairmont Hotel and Raffles Suites and Residences Makati.
From playing a tough chick rapper in Filly Brown, Rodriguez now stars as a patient and understanding teacher in Jane The Virgin, a story about a 23-year old Latina woman who pledged to stay a virgin until marriage, only to be mistakenly artificially inseminated by a doctor during a check-up.
Rodriguez practically grew up in Chicago but still holds on to her Puerto Rican roots. She knew that she wanted to be a performer long before she was thrust into the limelight. She started doing salsa dancing between the ages of 7 and 17. She said that she only got into the world of acting when she attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts for theater and right there and then she knew that she wanted to be an actress.
Rodriguez stated that she needed good training in order to have that ‘tool belt’ of a great actress.
The youth motivates her to act because she was inspired by the images and the portrayal of women she saw growing up and that influenced her to become a role model especially to young girls of today. She said, “I think if you follow your dreams, you give other people the allowance to follow theirs.”
She believes that she relates so much to her role in Jane The Virgin stating that she and Jane both have the confidence and fire within them. “With all humility, I feel very confident in what I do and in the woman that I am and I believe Jane shares the exact same feeling.”
Rodriguez said she’s been very lucky that she was given the chance to explore and play different kinds of roles through the course of her career.
She said she continues to evolve as an actress and she looks forward to playing a superhero in an action-packed fantasy movie.
“I want to be a superhero, I want to have superpowers and I want to rappel off the side of buildings and do really awesome stunts!” said Rodriguez, sharing that she was a former race car driver way back in highschool for about three years and she wanted to bring that thrill again in a film.
If she wasn’t a hollywood star, Rodriguez shared that she’d probably be a teacher. When asked why, she stated, “I just like to communicate with people, I like to affect people, I like to create change, I like to motivate people to grow and fight for their dreams and fight for themselves and I think there’s a lot of teachers I had in my life that gave me that kind of influence.”
Rodriguez also shared advice for those who want to make it big in the industry.
“Get good training – do not be afraid to go out there and get the best training you possibly can. Having a tool belt of technique is going to keep you an actress forever and it’s gonna give you longevity,” she said.
“Give yourself a lifetime – tell yourself: Am I willing to do this for the rest of my life? because it may take the rest of your life. You only got one life, might as well do what you love and go after your dreams!” she added. “You are enough today – you are beautiful enough, strong enough, talented enough, just be you.”
According to her, the profession can be very scary and intimidating, an industry where you can get a lot of rejection and people saying you are not good enough but without a doubt, she stated, “I’m most proud about not giving up.”
But more than mastering the art of acting, she prefers to focus more on her character as Gina, not as Jane or any other characters she’s played. “My main goal is to be a better person, a better friend, a better girlfriend, a better daughter and a better sister.”
Jane the Virgin airs on Sony Channel every Sunday at 9:05 p.m.
In photo: Gina Rodriguez as the title character in Jane The Virgin
