Listen Live
Majic ATL Featured Video
CLOSE

2014 NCLR ALMA Awards - Backstage

Who is Gina Rodriguez? Gina Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican actress from Chicago, who just won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her role as Jane in Jane the Virgin. She’s been acting since she was a teenager, from the moment she was accepted into Columbia University’s Theatrical Collaboration at 16 years old. But what else is there to know about the award-winning actress?

1. She sings and raps as well as she acts.

Rodriguez is a triple threat. In addition to acting, she danced when she was in high school and she also dabbled on singing. This all lead her to her breakout role in the independent film, Filly Brown, where she played a rapper. Because of the movie, it inspired her to record her own album. In an interview with Complex, she said,

“I’m in the studio all the time, doing my own songs. “Dream Big,” one of the songs that opened the movie, was actually the only one I was able to write while we were shooting and it got into the film. A year and a half later, I’m finding myself writing all the time, and it’s crazy! My whole trajectory has been acting and now given this gift of music, I have to keep exploring this.”

2. She was a soap star.

Latina Magazine's "30 Under 30" Party - Red Carpet

Rodriguez appeared as a recurring guest star on Bold & the Beautiful in 2011.

3. She’s an inspiration to many and stays true to herself.

According to Time, she only takes roles that portray Latinas in a positive way, and that’s what attracted her to Jane the Virgin. Of the role, she said:

“To read a story about a young girl where her ethnicity wasn’t at the forefront, where her dual identity was so integrated in life that it didn’t feel like a separate conversation, was such a breath of fresh air.”

Her Golden Globe-winning speech was proof to the fact that if you stay true to who you are, there’s no stopping you:

“The award represents more than myself. It represents a culture who wants to see themselves as heroes. My father used to tell me to say every morning, ‘Today’s going to be a great day. I can, and I will.’ Dad, today’s a great day. I can, and I did.”

Watch her speech at the 3:00 mark below.

 

Like TheUrbanDaily.com on Facebook!

Who Is Gina Rodriguez? 3 Things To Know About The Golden Globe Winner  was originally published on theurbandaily.com