Gina Rodriguez on directing: ‘I need to come so correct I cannot be denied’


Variety has quotes from Gina Rodriguez’s appearance at a convention in Austin called Create and Cultivate. It’s aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs and Gina was the keynote speaker over the weekend. Checking out the photos on their website, it looks like a great time was had by all. Gina gave plenty of excellent advice, particularly about her career path and about representation. I know she’s not beloved by everyone, but I admire how she doesn’t pull punches and how driven she is. She’s also an incredible actress. Here’s some of Variety’s article, apparently she let it slip that Jane the Virgin is ending, and I’m including some more of her quotes at the bottom via the Create and Cultivate site.

On directing and doing her homework
Rodriguez discussed directing, which she tried her hand at in a pivotal season 4 episode, saying, “When it came to directing ‘Jane,’ as the star of the show — as a woman, as Latina, I was like, ‘I need to come so correct that I cannot be denied.’”

After calling it “the most incredible experience,” Rodriguez noted that her episode happened to be “the highest-rated of the season” and concluded by noting that she has plans to “do more [directing] next year — in our final season.”

However, the CW has not yet made any official announcements or pick-ups for returning shows next season.

Other quotes from Gina
“They talk about the boys club right, but where’s the girls club?
“You can never tell us that we are not profitable. You can never tell us that people do not want to see our stories.
“I do not do anything alone. I have an amazing group of people on my team who lead me and follow me.
“I’ve never arrived, I’m constantly a student. I’m very humbled by that.
“The blessing of the journey is the reminder that there are human beings trying to rise above all the hate in the world.
“Kindness goes a long way.”

[From Variety and Create and Cultivate]

I’ve been on a self help kick trying to distract myself from all the awful things happening. I listen to podcasts in the car like Quote of The Day, Read to Lead and Success Talks. Gina is not saying anything revelatory here but there’s a reason why all that advice sounds similar – those approaches work. Work hard, stay focused, do your homework, be humble and surround yourself with good people. Yes Gina can sound a little self righteous, but how else would she have achieved so much at 33 without believing in herself? I want to sound like that. Gina is the real deal and we’ll be seeing her for years to come. She’s also moving on from Jane The Virgin, which seems inevitable.

I really like that quote she gave about her team so I made it into one of those script-type motivational images.
GinaRodriguezQuote

#sxsw2018 panels on panels

A post shared by Gina Rodriguez (@hereisgina) on

wenn33878459

photos credit: WENN, Getty and Instagram/Gina Rodriguez

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

11 Responses to “Gina Rodriguez on directing: ‘I need to come so correct I cannot be denied’”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Who ARE These People? says:

    Saw “Annihilation” this weekend…she was good in it.

  2. JA says:

    Didn’t know she was in town, sad I missed her! Excellent advice as she is beloved by Me! I’ve posted this before but it feels amazing to see more Hispanic/Latino/Mexican American representation in the media and entertainment. She is smart, funny and sexy and not a cardboard stereotype…Team Gina!

    • Lily says:

      There are more Latino cultural identities than just Mexican-American.
      They shouldn’t be the template for representation in media nor should they continue to be caricaturized as they have been in the past.

  3. JeanGenie says:

    Did she have plastic surgery tweaks? I’m curious whether any other JTV fans have noticed some changes to her face that probably aren’t due to natural aging.

    • Laura says:

      Retired derm here (still keep up with the industry, etc): I’d say it looks like she’s had laser treatment for her skin (fraxel possibly) plus some subtle lip filler in her top lip – it’s a small enough amount to not be instantly obvious and it’s been distributed superbly, but if you know what to look for you can see a few very subtle signs. Other than that I think it’s just better skincare regime (possibly a bespoke regime supervised by her derm)/makeup/access to makeup artists. She’s one of the few celebrities who haven’t changed their nose (at least since becoming well known). Her brows have also grown out or been microbladed so they look more balanced. See this picture from 2013 for contrast:
      http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Gina+Rodriguez/Arrivals+Hollywood+Hot+List+Party+Part+4/CI3vwfQ-Vvo

  4. Marty says:

    If she wants to come correct, she needs to start with her ignorance on Latino representation because her quotes on the subject lately have been problematic as hell.

    • tegteg says:

      What does come correct mean? At first I thought maybe English was her second language, but she’s from Chicago. I have never heard “I need to come so correct” before, but it seems like I’m the only one that finds it odd. Is she saying that her directing work needs to be without fault? Or that she needs to approach this the most politically correct way possible?

      Also, I hadn’t heard about her problematic quotes on Latino representation. I’ll have to read up on that.

      • Marty says:

        It’s an aave term, it means being knowledgeable, or doing something the right way.

        Look, I still support Gina but if she’s willing to put the work into directing, there is no excuse for not doing the same when talking about Latino representation. She needs to educate herself before someone does it for her.

  5. Rumi says:

    Beautiful, talented and smart!
    I wish we all could understand we are all in this together. So much easier to lift each other up instead of tearing each other down.
    One day we’ll reach equality and it’ll be thanks to many women from all walks of life from all backgrounds.