Gina Rodriguez

Gina Alexis Rodriguez is an American actress born on July 30, 1984. She is best known for her leading role as Jane Gloriana Villanueva in the CW satirical romantic dramedy series Jane the Virgin (2014–2019), a performance that earned her a Golden Globe Award in 2015.

Rodriguez was raised in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, as the youngest daughter of Puerto Rican parents Magali and Gino Rodriguez. Her father was a boxing referee, and she grew up alongside an older brother and two sisters. She performed with the salsa dance company Fantasia Juvenil starting at age seven and focused on salsa dancing until age 17, when she shifted toward acting. At age 16, she was accepted into Columbia University's Theatrical Collaboration. She later attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, training for four years at the Atlantic Theater Company and Experimental Theatre Wing before earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2005.

She began her acting career in theater in 2003, portraying Frida Kahlo in the world premiere of Casa Blue in the UK and in The Last Moments in the Life of Frida Kahlo at the American Stage Theatre. Her screen debut arrived in 2004 in an episode of Law & Order, followed by guest roles on Eleventh Hour, Army Wives, and The Mentalist. In 2011, she secured the recurring role of Beverly on the soap opera series The Bold and the Beautiful and was nominated for an Imagen Award for her work in the musical film Go for It!. Rodriguez achieved her film breakthrough in 2012 starring as young hip-hop artist Majo Tenorio in Filly Brown, winning an Imagen Award and the Best Actor Award at the First Run Film Festival in New York.

Following her breakthrough, she starred in Jane the Virgin and built an extensive feature film record. Her film credits include Deepwater Horizon (2016), Ferdinand (2017), Annihilation (2018), Smallfoot (2018), Miss Bala (2019), Someone Great (2019), Scoob! (2020), Awake (2021), I Want You Back (2022), and Spy Kids: Armageddon (2023).

Rodriguez voiced the titular character in the Netflix animated series Carmen Sandiego (2019–2021) and served as executive producer and star for the Disney+ series Diary of a Future President (2020–2021), earning a Children's and Family Emmy Award nomination. She also executive produced and starred in the ABC comedy series Not Dead Yet (2023–2024). Through her production company, I Can & I Will Productions, she has worked on projects focused on the Latino community. In 2024, she became a co-host of the ABC game show Lucky 13.

In her personal life, Rodriguez married actor and mixed martial arts fighter Joe LoCicero on May 4, 2019, after meeting on the set of Jane the Virgin. The couple has two children, a son born in March 2023 and a daughter born in December 2025. She has also engaged in philanthropic endeavors, including serving on the board of directors for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, participating in anti-bullying campaigns, and contributing to relief efforts for Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.