Gina Rodriguez candidly spoke with Latina Magazine for her cover story in the October issue about how powerful she felt the Latino community would be if more people banded together to fight for common causes and lifted one another up.
Though she noted that Latinos are helping one another in Hollywood and, beyond, she felt the community as a whole could be doing better.
“Sadly, our culture has been living the crab-in-the-barrel effect,” she said to Latina. “We’re so afraid there isn’t enough room for all of us that we fight to get to the top. We don’t need to do that. There’s room for all of us. We’re stronger in numbers. As Latinos, we put Barack in office. We could do the same in making sure that Donald Trump doesn’t get in office. We are that strong.”
And the 32-year-old actress has made a concerted effort to practice what she preached.
Rodriguez, who plays Andrea Fleytas in the upcoming film “Deepwater Horizon,” told the magazine that if she didn’t land the role, she wanted to make sure it at least went to another Latina.
“It didn’t need to be me,” she explained. “I told Peter, ‘If it’s not me, it could be Natalie Martinez. It can be Melonie Diaz. It can be Génesis Rodriguez. It can be Stephanie Beatriz. It can be Melissa Fumero. It can be any Latina out there crushing it and killing the game.’”
Rodriguez’s mission to lift others up as she rises in her career isn’t limited to the Latino community; she's also committed to representing and advocating on behalf of all women.
“A strong leader is one who creates other leaders,” she explained. “So if I am encouraging young girls to take control of their lives, to spread kindness, then I am doing the job God put me here to do. With every attempt we make within the industry, with every project I take, it will be to advance women. Not only women of color but all women and men.”
Read more of Gina Rodriguez’s interview with Latina magazine here.
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