In the new comedy series “Jane The Virgin,” Gina Rodriguez stars as Jane Villanueva, whose meticulous life plans are suddenly turned upside down when she is accidentally artificially inseminated.
Named the “Next Big Thing” and one of the “Top 35 Latinos Under 35” by The Hollywood Reporter, Gina Rodriguez’s profile has been rising steadily since her breakout performance as the titular character in “Filly Brown” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 and brought Rodriguez an Imagen award winner for Best Actress in a Feature Film.
Growing up in Chicago, Rodriguez started performing at age 7 with the salsa dance company Fantasia Juvenil. She went on to work with other companies including Los Soneros Del Swing, performing at several Salsa Congresses in Chicago, California, New York and Puerto Rico. At 16, Gina was one of thirteen teens to be accepted into Columbia University NY- Theatrical Collaboration taught by Richard Niles, where she wrote, directed and performed original works.
She fell in love with New York and was accepted into the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.
Rodriguez had four years of intense theatre training at both the Atlantic Theatre Company and Experimental Theatre Wing, working with David Mamet, William H. Macy and Rosemary Quinn. Directly after graduation, she booked her first lead role in the feature film “Tiny Dancer.” Next, she originated the role of Frida Kahlo in the world premiere of “Casa Blue: The Last Moments in the Life of Frida Kahlo,” at the American Stage Theatre. She continued to work in NY with multiple theatres and her work in film and TV steadily grew, including series “Jonny Zero,” “Army Wives,” and “Law & Order,” in addition to several shorts and indie films. One short film, “Osvaldos,” earned Rodriguez a “Best Actor” award at the First Run Film Festival in NY.
After the years of success in NY, Rodriguez booked a lead role in a feature film “Go For It” in which she received a 2011 Imagen Awards nomination. After this, Rodriguez booked her first co-star role on CBS’ “Eleventh Hour.” She went on to book series regular roles on web series “Eden's Court” and “No Names;” her first studio film “Our Family Wedding” with America Ferrera; and a lead in the film “Superchicas.” Since then she has also guest starred on the “The Mentalist,” “Happy Endings” and “Ten Things I Hate About You.”
Next came one of Rodriguez’s most exciting roles to date, “Filly Brown.” Originally, this role had been written as a spoken word artist, an area in which Rodriguez had experience, but upon meeting Rodriguez, the producers changed the part to a rapper. After an outstanding audition, in which Gina provided an impromptu rap performance, she secured the role. She collaborated with music producers, E Dub and Khoolaid from Silent Giant, to come up with original songs for the film. Rodriguez went on to star in the dark indie comedy “Sleeping with Fishes,” written and directed by Nicole Gomez Fisher. The film focuses on Alexis Rodriguez Fish, who returns home to her family after the death of her cheating husband.
Rodriguez starred in the Cima Productions film “Marching Banda,” playing a single mother of a boy whose estranged father comes back into their lives and begins teaching him traditional regional Mexican music and incorporating it into the school’s marching band repertoire. She also starred in a supporting role in “Snap,” a reunion with her “Filly Brown” director Youssef Delara, which had its world premiere at SXSW this past year. She also completed production on another indie film, “California Winter,” with Rutina Wesley.
Rodriguez is a supporter of Inspira, an organization that works to spotlight Latino leaders who shape their communities. She also works with the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts and the Boyle Heights Learning Collaborative.
She lives in Los Angeles, California.
Jane the Virgin airs every Sunday, October 19 at 9:05 pm, in the same week as the US telecast, first & exclusively on Sony Channel.
Sony Channel is seen on SKYCable Channel 35, Cignal Digital TV Channel 60, Destiny Cable Channel 62, Cable Link Channel 39.
