Gina Rodriguez opens up about her anxiety: ‘I empathize with myself’

A post shared by Gina Rodriguez (@hereisgina) on


Gina Rodriguez posted a brief clip of herself to Instagram with a caption explain that it was part of her friend, Anton Soggiu’s “ten second portrait” series. In the video she’s wearing a baseball cap and a cute printed bomber jacket with her hair tucked back. She also has no makeup on. Her caption explains that she’s nervous without makeup, that she suffers from anxiety, and that watching the clip makes her feel empathy for herself. You can watch the video above and here’s what she wrote:

My beautiful friend @antonsoggiu came to visit from Norway and he included me in his magical art. TEN SECOND PORTRAITS. It’s always great to be in front of his lens but this time it was just me. Bare and exposed in the streets of la. No makeup. No styling. Just me. I suffer from anxiety. And watching this clip I could see how anxious I was but I empathize with myself. I wanted to protect her and tell her it’s ok to be anxious, there is nothing different or strange about having anxiety and I will prevail. I like watching this video. It makes me uncomfortable but there is a freedom I feel maybe even an acceptance. This is me. Puro Gina.

[From Instagram]

As I often say, I don’t leave my house without makeup. Very few people, only those I’m closest with, have actually seen me without makeup. I know this may sound ridiculous to some of you, but I feel so self conscious without it and I would be so nervous to leave the house without at least mascara and eyeliner. So I needed to hear this. Also, I honestly couldn’t tell that Gina was anxious in that clip. She’s just beaming and she looks so happy and carefree to me. At the end, if you know what you’re looking for, you can see her swallow very slightly but other than that I couldn’t tell at all. I guess that just shows what a good actress she is. I like that message to empathize with yourself. So many times we give friends and even strangers more kindness and acceptance than we give ourselves.

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photos credit: WENN.com

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16 Responses to “Gina Rodriguez opens up about her anxiety: ‘I empathize with myself’”

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  1. PIa says:

    Cute idea.

    I also am a makeup fan, and on my makeup-lite days, I still rock eye liner and fill in brows, both super sparse areas. I basically look sick and get stares when totally makeup free.

    Oddly, makeup lets me feel like I can go incognito…

  2. Pansy says:

    I love her so much!! So seemingly genuine and honest–it’s refreshing. On her ig she spotlights a Hispanic artist once a week. Such a cool lady.

    • Erinn says:

      I love her too. And her instagram is great. I follow most of the Jane the Virgin people – Yael who plays Petra is actually super funny as well – the whole group of them are lovely people, and seem to use their celebrity to really push issues that are important to them.

  3. Phaedra says:

    Terrible awful actress but she seems nice!

    • Tanguerita says:

      Huh? I realize opinions might vastly differ, but “terrible awful”? (by the way, these two words mean pretty much the same thing so one would have sufficed). I haven’t seen Gina in anything but “Jane the Virgin” and sie lights up the screen with her presence. .

  4. RedOnTheHead says:

    She is so cute I can’t stand it! Her smile just lights her up, and everything around her. Yes, I am an unapologetic Gina fan. I’m addicted to Jane the Virgin because of her. She looks great with or without makeup.

  5. laulau says:

    I have a thing where social anxiety causes hyperhydrosis (intense, excessive sweating) it’s humiliating. but I started just being honest about it, like when a clerk at the store is like “is it raining out” i’m just like ‘no, it’s just anxiety’.
    I wish I had realized when I was younger that the truth really takes the sting and embarrassment out of things. not only am I no longer dreading that moment where my skin starts to heat up, a lot of people mention their own things in response (“oh, I’m a huge nail-bitter” etc.)

    • adastraperaspera says:

      That is a great way to deal with it! I have once in awhile been brave enough to admit my anxiety is a bad problem, and I agree that it often opens other people up to share their feelings. In a stressful world, I am always so pleasantly surprised when strangers reach out to one another kindly like this.

      • Beth says:

        When I realized I wasn’t the only one with this problem, I found it easy to talk to anyone, about anything. I’ve been really lucky to have even perfect strangers help me if they see me having a bad anxiety attack or seizure. It’s great that there really are nice people out there

      • laulau says:

        I’ve seen such a positive change in this regard.
        I feel like people are finally realizing that the term ‘mental’ health is just refering to physical problems in the brain, and unfortunately they seem to be affecting an increasing number of people worldwide.

  6. Beth says:

    When I start to sweat and shiver, gasp for air because I feel like an elephant is sitting on my pounding heart, not wearing makeup or not having my hair styled has nothing to do with it. I feel bad for anyone who has anxiety and anxiety attacks because I know they’re absolutely awful

  7. Darlene says:

    I am the same. Very few people have seen me w/o makeup, and 90% of the time they do, I get “are you sick? are you ok? why is your skin so red?” UGH.

  8. NeoCleo says:

    I never used to leave the house without a “face” on. Then I got old and now I just don’t give a xxxx. I don’t have much good to say about getting old but having way fewer xxxxs to give is a wonderful side-benefit.

  9. Chelsey says:

    I adore her. She’s genuine, talented, witty, intelligent, and a great role model. She’s also gorgeous without makeup- jealous!