It's so exciting to headline a film. It's not every day you see a Latina carrying a full-length feature.
My husband is actually biracial. He is Caucasian and African American. And my brother's fiance is Latina. So we have a colorful family.
I realized how Latina I was, and then also, at the same time, how not Latina enough I was, because I'm born and raised in Los Angeles. I speak Spanish, but I don't speak perfect Spanish, not like a native speaker.
The thing is to convince people that a part not written for a Latina woman - or maybe not even written for a woman at all - is a female part. You convince them you can do it.
I'm a Latina from Miami. I pity you if you think you're going out-shout me.
I'm really Americanized. The only real Latina thing I do is cook rice and beans with chuletas and tostones. I do the healthier version of what my grandmother would have made: a lot less salt, a lot less fat, a lot more vegetables. Sometimes I serve it with brown rice, which is, like, sacrilegious.
I really needed a show like 'Jane' when I was growing up, so being able to portray a positive Latina character means a lot to me because I feel like it's helping me to contribute to someone's dreams.
Growing up, I didn't think it would be possible to be an actress - I didn't see a lot of Latina faces on TV or in movies. But that didn't stop me from trying. I realized early that anything I really wanted was worth working for.
To not see black or Latina women as famous in my industry is crazy! I have to talk about it.
We made history when President Obama appointed Sonia Sotomayor, a proud Latina, the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. And as the President likes to say, 'Every single one of them wasn't just the best Latino for the job, but the best person for the job.'
