Where Was Gina Rodriguez When She Got The Lead In ‘Jane The Virgin’?

When Gina Rodriguez was under consideration for the lead role in Jane the Virgin, producers made her jump through hoops before they gave her the job. As she told Entertainment Weekly, Rodriguez went through a studio test, a network test, and a screen test — and then played the waiting game. It was enough to cause her a fair bit of anxiety and led to a spiritual moment while training for a marathon.

“It was a nighttime run, about 7:30 p.m. I ran to the water, and I kid you not, I fell to my knees and I started praying: ‘God, take this away. If it’s mine, it is, and if it’s not, give it to the person that’s meant to have it. Take this away, and I let it go. I lay my career at your feet. Just give me the patience and understanding to accept the story you have for me.”

Apparently someone was listening, because Rodriguez was just heading back from the beach when she got the call from Jane the Virgin executive producer Jennie Urman, giving her the job.

Rodriguez told the Hollywood Reporter in August that she used to say she wanted to be the “Latino Meryl Streep.” She credited Rita Moreno for giving her the idea that her art could be used for social change. Moreno had refused to play roles that reflected a poor image to young women. Rodriguez has stayed true to that idea, making news over the summer for advocating a broader representation of Latina women in film.

“I became an actor to change the way I grew up. The way I grew up, I never saw myself on screen. I have two older sisters. One’s an investment banker. The other one is an doctor, and I never saw us being played as investment bankers. And I realized how limiting that was for me. I would look at the screen and think, ‘Well, there’s no way I can do it, because I’m not there.’ And it’s like as soon as you follow your dreams, you give other people the allowance to follow theirs…. I wanted [‘Jane the Virgin’] to be a story that was going to liberate young girls and say, ‘Wow, there we are too, and we’re the doctors, and we’re the teachers, and we’re the writers, and we’re the lawyers, and I can do that too.”

Although a previous Inquisitr article stated Jane the Virgin may be in danger of cancellation, EW reported Thursday that the show got a full season order from the CW. The show airs 9 p.m. Mondays.

[Gina Rodriguez Image: CW]