Gina Rodriguez Calls for More Latinx Representation: 'We Deserve the Same Respect'
Gina Rodriguez pulled no punches during the 2018 Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday. Showing up to the red carpet with her Jane the Virgin costar Yael Grobglas, the actress briefly gushed about her costars in upcoming films Annihilation and Miss Bala before launching into an impassioned call for Latinx representation in Hollywood films.
“Yay, Sony, for putting a Latino in the lead, because barely people do that,” she said, punctuating her points with meaningful looks at the camera. “I mean, we do make $50 million plus for the country—no big deal—you should throw us in a movie or two, it would make sense. We do buy 1 in every 4 tickets every single weekend and make sure that your movies do well. So it would do you a service. And not only service, it would be—I don’t know—integrity. So thank you, Paramount and Sony, you’re driving the game, you’re doing it. You’re opening the doors.”
Rodriguez has been outspoken in the past about breaking into the predominantly white film/TV industry, as well as the gender pay gap. This issue is especially a concern for Latinx women, who face the largest pay gap, earning just 54 percent of the pay earned by white men. Gender inequality in the workplace continues to be a major issue as Hollywood women continue with the #TimesUp initiative. Rodriguez was one of 300 Hollywood women who signed Time’s Up’s open letter, which advocated for gender and racial inequality in the workplace, measures taken against sexual assault and harassment, and a legal defense fund.
“I believe it is a movement and not just a moment,” she told Glamour on the red carpet, when asked about her #TimesUp pin. “We all need to get on our platforms and speak positively through the movement itself. For me, we talk about inclusivity, but Latinos are still super underrepresented in our community, in our industry. We make up 1 in 4 tickets bought at the box office every weekend, we are holding every movie up, so we should be included in those movies as well. From European Latinos to Afro-Latinos, we come in all shapes and sizes and colors and backgrounds and political expressions, and I think it’s important for us to express and explore the complexities of the Latino demographic, because we are loyal consumers, and we deserve the same respect we give to all these industries.”
As for the conversation in the past few months spurred by the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, Rodriguez believes “a hundred percent” that change is starting to take place. “I feel it’s in the air, I feel like we are talking about it, we are making it a conversation,” she said. “We are not going away from the hard topics.”
