Gina Rodriguez: ‘For so long, I put every man in front of me’


Gina Rodriguez covers the February issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. They put her in a green gathered dress with a blue cardigan and it looks bizarre. Those two pieces don’t go together. Gina talks about what it’s like to be famous and how hard that can be. She doesn’t sound like she’s complaining, just like she’s explaining what it’s like for her. It sounds like she felt isolated and overwhelmed in the first few years of her fame. She realized that having her dreams come true wasn’t as incredible as she expected. She did meet the love of her life on the Jane The Virgin set though. Joe LoCicero had a bit part in season two and they fell in love.

She started having anxiety
The anxiety started coming, like, two years into Jane. I had my first panic attack at a sushi restaurant. All of a sudden, I thought I was going to die, and people are taking pictures. It was horrendous. There are a lot of things in the manual of living out your dreams that you don’t know about. Like you don’t have any more friends. You never go out to eat. You never see your family, your boyfriend…

On her fiance, Joe LoCicero
Dating Joe was a new experience for me because I put myself first. For so long, I put every man in front of me. As a successful woman, it is so hard because of our cultural norms that, like, the man has to be the breadwinner! And the man has to be the more powerful one. It was so difficult for me to find a man who didn’t want me to dim my light for his ego.

On people talking catty about her body
I remember my first cover shoot. I heard them ­whispering, ‘When she stands like that, it doesn’t look good.’ Those comments feel like knives from across the room. I can hear you! And who fucking cares if it doesn’t look attractive? This is the way I look when I sit. My sh-t folds!

On self acceptance
I finally love my bod. I let go of the anxiety and the fear of not looking beautiful. Because it’s not about the picture. It’s about the fact that I stand on this cover with every Latina who wished she saw herself reflected. Because it’s not my face—it’s the 55-million-plus girls who are like, ‘Holy shit! We belong.’

[From Cosmopolitan]

I could relate to her saying she put men first and tried to be aware of their fragile egos. She’s 34, if she’s realized this already and found a man who lets her be herself then she’s way ahead. You can see how much she and Joe adore each other too, it comes through even on the red carpet.

Also, I disliked Annihilation but her acting was superb. She really stood out without overacting. She was also great on Deepwater Horizon.

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InStyle Warner Bros Golden Globe After Party

photos credit: WENN and Cosmo

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18 Responses to “Gina Rodriguez: ‘For so long, I put every man in front of me’”

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  1. Tanguerita says:

    I used to like her, but she has made a lot of questionable statements about black women that made me question her “wokeness” big time.

    • Tiffany says:

      She ain’t woke. She is not for intersectionality at all and needs to be called on it. The way she hung on to Taraji at the GG after all that was a all around embarrassment.

      • Tanguerita says:

        Preach. I side eye her really hard for this whole “black actresses are paid more than Latina actresses” and her “all lives matter” attitude. That was a disaster that she hasn’t addressed so far, so for me she is cancelled.

    • Renee2 says:

      Thanks for saying this so that I did not have to. Someone needs to check her ass big time.

    • detritus says:

      Damn. That’s disappointing.

    • Sid says:

      I just popped in to see if she had made another one of her slick comments about Black women in this article. Glad so many others are seeing what she is up to.

  2. Lolly says:

    She can’t go out to eat anymore? At least in the states, I highly doubt that’s true. I’m familiar with her name and show, but I couldn’t pick her out in a lineup. I bet all that’s true for someone like Taylor Swift though,and I wouldn’t change my life with her ever.

    • me says:

      who is she? maybe she feels that way in LA but I definitely don’t recognize her at all

    • Tiffany :) says:

      I don’t doubt her at all. The general public can be very weird about celebs, and they don’t even have to be actual “fans” to want a memorable encounter. Her show was decently rated and pretty beloved, especially when it first came out.

  3. Esmom says:

    I like the Cosmo cover because it reminds me of 80s fashion magazine covers, where everything looked kinda crazy and mismatched. She is lovely. And her fiancé is super cute.

    Although I’m not sure how/why she lost her friends?

    • Tiffany :) says:

      I think it can be hard to meet new friends when you are famous, because there’s a weird imbalance. People sometimes think they know you already. It can also make you suspicious of people and their motives. As for old friends, it can be very hard to stay in touch with a heavy filming schedule. People lose touch and grow apart.

  4. elimaeby says:

    She and her fiancee are a gorgeous couple. There’s my niceness for the day 😉

  5. Gina says:

    I used to live for her show but her comments about black women especially are not even problematic that were disgusting especially from another woman of color .

    Will not support anything she is in sorry not sorry

  6. Alarmjaguar says:

    I find it fascinating that both she and Serena in today’s article commented about finding men who did not try to “dim their light.” Great advice, ladies!

  7. Vanessa says:

    Has anyone actually read those comments properly? She wasn’t disparaging, she talked about intersectional pay disparity and how white women get paid more than women of colour.
    https://www.indiewire.com/2018/11/gina-rodriguez-black-women-get-paid-more-1202023020/

    • youknowhwo says:

      Thanks for posting this…I love Jane the Virgin and am a fan of Gina. I don’t understand the criticism if that is all that she said?? Theodore-Vachon’s comment makes no sense. Because there is one Latina actress who makes more than one Black actress that means all Latina actresses make more than all Black actresses?? My favorite part is “a quick Google could have cleared this up.” I hope Twitter pointed her in the right direction. Perhaps to a basic statistics class.

  8. Tiffany :) says:

    I had no idea she was 34! I thought she was in her early 20s.