Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez is on the cover of Latina magazine with a powerful editorial to promote her two big action films coming out. Deepwater Horizon with Mark Walhberg and Kate Hudson opens September 30 and Annihilation with Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac comes out next year. The interview is great because unlike most stars who start homogenizing their talking points as their star rises, Gina has become even more vocal and committed to bringing up her Latino community with her.
On being Latino and All-American: I love being able to represent both cultures. I was lucky enough to be born with both. I eat hamburgers and hot dogs, I eat arroz con gandules. My grandmother speaks Spanish, my professors speak English. It’s this extra delicious gift that I have.
How Latinos are helping each other: We are definitely helping one another. One thing that I love about Jewish culture is that anthill effect. Every ant brings food to the anthill and everybody eats. Sadly our culture has been living the crab-in-the-barrel effect. We’re so afraid there isn’t enough room for all of us that we fight to get to the top. We don’t need to do that. There’s room for all of us. We’re stronger in numbers. As Latinos, we put Barack in office. We could do the same in making sure that Donald Trump doesn’t get in office. We are that strong.
On shaving her head for Annihilation: I think it all plays into the idea of being your own hero and not feeling like you have to live up to other people’s expectations. I am not my beauty. Who I am is not my f*cking hair, and to be an actor is to transform. To represent a community is to commit, to give my entire all. So if I’m going to represent Latinos in the industry and in art, if I’m going to represent my little cousins in Chicago, they’re going to know that I went full out. Who are we afraid of? What are we afraid of? The worst thing that can happen is we die. Anything else you can handle.
On owning her Latino heritage: A strong leader is one who creates other leaders. So if I am encouraging young girls to take control of their lives, to spread kindness, then I am doing the job God put me here to do. With every attempt we make within the industry, with every project I take, it will be to advance women. Not only women of color but all women and men. One doesn’t exist without the other. I’m just going to continue to keep my head down and keep trying to do the best work I possibly can, never really saying I’ve arrived or that I’ve made it anywhere, but just that I’m going to continue to try.
Gina practices what she preaches about supporting those around you. She has very complimentary things to say about her directors, Peter Berg and Alex Garland and all of her co-stars. For example, of Mark Wahlberg she said, “Mark understands that he got to where he was because of all the people that helped him get there, including himself… He gets struggle, and he could see it in someone else.” Now, I will never be the president of the Mark Walhberg Fan Club but I can appreciate what Gina wants me to see in him. This is one of the many ways in which Gina excels, by flushing out the positive and articulating how it contributes to society.
As for her quote about keeping Trump out of the White House – she;s right. The Hispanic vote was the second largest percentage for Obama in 2008 and third in 2012. Right now, Trump is polling at just 14% with Hispanic voters while 3 out of 4 say they will vote for Clinton. Unless, of course, you consider the polls Trump is quoting, except that those polls are make-believe.
Just me. pic.twitter.com/IZkaTEczz1
— Gina Rodriguez (@HereIsGina) August 24, 2016
Photo credit: Latina, Twitter and WENN Photos
This cover shot is so beautiful. I love everything. Her skin, her eyebrows, her freckles and those expressive eyes.
It’s amazing. I’ll be looking for this cover to buy! She looks like a princess.
Latinos help put Obama in office. Black,white women and college educated people helped as well. Latinos didn’t do it alone.
She meant that the latino and hispanic communities in the US are so big in numbers they help make a difference.
@Cee That’s what she meant but that’s not what she said.
@Britney b the caveat was necessary. And by the way I didn’t say college educated people were separate from latinos or black people or white women. I was talking about specific groups.
Oops, @Finger, what you said wasn’t quite what you meant, I think…
@mary s I meant what I said.
Was that caveat really necessary? Her point was that if they all stayed home or voted another way, he would not have won. And by the way… college educated people aren’t a separate group from Latinos.
Yes!
+1
I get her point- that’s why the trump is now “wording his position differently” regarding immigration in general. He finally realized that he’s shot himself in the foot with his POC and immigrant bashing. Duh Donald.
what a lovely young woman. both physically and in her attitude.
go on, girl!!!
She is correct Latinos can help keep him out of office. Actually all minorities can and that is the power we wield. I love Gina for many reasons but mostly because she seems the same as she was when not many people watched her show prior to her GG win. She’s a gem.
I’ll ignore the Walberg comment because I loathe the guy
She’s absolutely right. It’s sad he’s polling as high as he is with Latinos all things considering, but it is what it is, what I find special about her is she’s one of the new Latino stars in the spotlight willing to talk about this political issue.
I read an interesting piece about how considering how targeted and vicious his comments have been specifically to the Latino community very few stars have been speaking out politically (at least the US based ones anyway) and why that might be.
Her cover photo is GORGEOUS. I love everything about it.
I’m astounded at the number of minorities supporting him (luckily they are small %s but still!). I am Cuban-American and have several family members in FL voting for Trump – they think he’s right about immigration (what?) and his business savvy is long overdue. Seriously this election is going to give me high blood pressure.
Some people overassimilate. I know argentines who migrated in the 80s and none of their children speak spanish nor do they even know the basics of Argentine history and culture. And these children were born in Buenos Aires.
They wanted to be accepted that badly they erased everything about themselves. Being white helped them do this. They do not see themselves as inmigrants, which is sad and laughable at the same time.
What I love about her is that she owns her culture and heritage. She doesn’t try to white-wash herself. She doesn’t act ashamed of her ancestors and doesn’t pretend that being white is the only way to be accepted.
I see this as someone from LatAm who sometimes gets offended when people act like our culture is wrong. Or when I’m told I’m not latin enough because of my ancestry (white european) when most of the american-latinos I’ve met can’t say one sentence is spanish.
@Cee that’s crazy people are telling you that you can’t identify yourself as a Latina because your ancestors are from Europe! WTF? That thinking is the same Trump used when he made those unforgivable comments about the couple who spoke about their son during Hillary’s convention. Bigots make the world a sad place.
yes they can and i hope they do.
how refreshing it is to hear her well spoken thoughts on the rest as well. more educated celebrities, please!
Gina is a national treasure, a class act and a role model. She manages to keep it real while at the same time being incredibly positive.
Guys, I know it’s been said time and time again, but don’t presume “everyone else” will get out and vote and get Hillary elected…..there are a lot of minority voters out there yes, but there’s also a lot of middle America lunatic fringe that are sexists, racists, disenchanted unemployed people, etc., that usually don’t vote but will come out and vote. PLEASE GET EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO VOTE!!
If you can’t tell, lol, I live in a swing state where there are a lot of those people and I. AM. SCARED.
Wow. She’s pretty much amazing! And I’m going to say (even if she is dismissive of it), that she is very beautiful.