OnlyOnAOL: Gina Rodriguez makes stunning confession about fame
By: Donna Freydkin
Gina Rodriguez won a Golden Globe for playing idealistic, wide-eyed, tenaciously funny new mom Jane on the CW's hit "Jane the Virgin," a role that showcases her warmth, charisma and comedic chops.
Get ready for a whole new side of her in "Deepwater Horizon," a searing drama from Peter Berg based on the catastrophic blast of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, resulting in a massive oil spill. What happens when everything that could go wrong, does? "My character reacted as courageous as one possibly could when there are explosions going off around you. I don't judge my character. She was very courageous," says Rodriguez.
To prep, she says, she did her homework. "I went to dynamic positioning school. And I fell back on my training. It's my job. We've heard about the environmental causes. But we never really saw the human beings who survived or paid tribute to the lives who were lost."
When looking for non-"Jane" roles, Rodriguez is specific.
"They are stories that are going to open eyes, that are messages that are important to me. With this one, it's an appreciation of those who died. I was fighting for a Latina to get cast, whether it was me or someone else," she says. "I want to grow as a human being. There are stories that are going to push me, push my craft, push my ability to work hard."
On social media, Rodriguez is equally vocal, interacting directly with her fans, providing encouragement, answering questions, giving advice. There's a sweet and heartfelt authenticity to her that's missing in many of her peers. "It's just who I am. Twitter was an outlet for me to continue to have conversations with people about things I'm going through."
So let's talk about "Jane the Virgin," which ended with quite the cliffhanger involving Petra and her twin sister, and Jane's nuptials. "We're going to grow big-time in this next season. The writers are going to great lengths to have Jane grow up. There's growing pains," she says.
Being on a hit show has raised her profile in a major way.
"Yeah for sure. I have supporters from all over the world. It grounds me to know that the work you do matters and not to take it for granted," she says. "But other than that, nothing much has changed. I'm still in the same apartment. I still haven't bought a car. I refuse to buy a car. They depreciate. I'd rather give that (money) to my family. The coolest thing about 'fame' is that I've had the opportunity to help my family. It's what I always wanted to do."
