Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez Blows Us Away with Speech on Cultural Identity

Gina Rodriguez flashes her beautiful smile while attending a panel for her new show Jane the Virgin during The CW’s portion of the 2014 TCA Summer Press Tour on Friday morning (July 18) at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The 28-year-old actress was joined by co-stars Justin Baldoni and Yael Grobglas. They also attended the network’s party the night before!

During the panel, Gina was asked why she took the role in the series versus a part in Lifetime’s Devious Maids. Here is her profound answer (via Buzzfeed), which touched on cultural identity.

“I wouldn’t say that I chose Jane over Devious Maids. When I was presented with Devious Maids after Sundance, after I did a film at Sundance and I had an ABC holding deal, I found it limiting that that was the one that was available to me. I found it limiting for the stories that Latinos have. For the stories that Americans have, I feel like there’s a perception that people have about Latinos in America specifically – somebody growing up in Chicago, English being my first language, Spanish being my second – that we are perceived a very certain way,” Gina started her answer.

FYI: Gina is wearing a BCBG dress and shoes for the panel. She is wearing a BCBG dress and Michael Kors shoes at the party.

Click inside to read the rest of Gina Rodriguez‘s important message on cultural identity…

Our stories have been told, and they’re not unmoralistic, you know, being a maid is fantastic. You know, I have many family members that have fed many of their families on doing that job, but there are other stories that need to be told. And I think that the media is a venue and an avenue to educate and teach our next generation. And, sadly, right now the perception they have of Latinos in America are very specific to maid, landscape, pregnant teen. Mind you, I am playing pregnant but not a teen.

I didn’t become an artist to be a millionaire. I didn’t become an actor to wear Louis Vuitton. I have to give this dress back when we’re done. 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 actor, and I never saw us being played as investment bankers and actor. 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.

And for me, to look on younger girls and to say, ‘Well, Gina’s like me, maybe not necessarily the same skin color, maybe not necessarily the same background, but like that’s me. I’m not alone. I can do it too.’ So every role that I’ve chosen has been ones that I think are going to push forward the idea of my culture, of women, of beauty, my idea of liberating young girls, of feeling that they have to look at a specific beauty type. And I wasn’t going to let my introduction to the world be one of a story that I think has been told many times.

I wanted it 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. And I don’t have to be a perfect size zero. I can be a perfect size me.’ And that’s what I live. So Jane, I waited for her patiently. And now she’s here. And thank you for being here with us. Because this is a dream come true to me.