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Read an interview with Gina Rodriguez, who plays Jane Villanueva.

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"Jane could [have been] a black girl, a white girl, an Asian girl," Gina Rodriguez says of her charming character on the very clever Jane the Virgin, which earned the CW network its first-ever Golden Globe nominations last week, for best TV series, musical or comedy, and best actress in the same category, for Rodriguez. In addition to making awards history, the delightful series breaks down ugly ethnic and gender stereotypes with Rodriguez playing an ambitious young woman who won't let men or an unplanned pregnancy-(she was accidentally artificially inseminated with her boss's baby)-get in the way of her values or career plans. "She is positive and uplifting and funny and brave," the Chicago-raised actress, who aspires to change people's perception of her culture, says, " and, she gets to be Latina."

With a surprise hit series on the air, an award nomination under her belt, and bubblegum-pink billboards strung all over Hollywood, this holiday season is shaping up to be infinitely better than the actress's last-when she broke up with a boyfriend, fell out with a good friend, and found out that Wild Blue, the Fox Navy drama she was attached to at the time, was not being picked up . . . on Christmas Eve. In celebration of this turn in tide, and last night's mid-season finale, Rodriguez phoned VF Hollywood on Tuesday to talk about the series, her television father, Rogelio, and why she might be secretly, personally, rooting for Jane to reconnect with Michael, her character's wholesome detective ex.
VF Hollywood: Congratulations on your Golden Globe nominations! How did you celebrate?
Thank you! It's very, very exciting. It's almost like, "Who did I fool?" There wasn't a moment to soak it all up [during the week] so my friends threw me a party on Saturday and it was lovely because it was just so much love in my group of friends. We are just striving to make our dreams come true. It was just so hopeful. And then I went home and took care of my boyfriend because he is sick. [ Laughs]
Does he watch the series?
He does, and do you know what is interesting? A lot of people say [ Jane the Virgin is] a chick show but you'd be surprised. All of the men I know and men I meet are like, "Oh girl!" See, men, they love the drama! My father is obsessed with the show too. He is a boxing referee. A super-tough man. He boxed the majority of my life. He is the ultimate man's man . . . super-macho, like I've seen him cry once in my life, at my grandmother's passing. And he is obsessed with the show. He is like, "Just tell me, Gina. Are you going to stay with Rafael [the hotel tycoon with whom Jane is romantically entangled]?"
Is there any part of you that is Team Michael?
It is super-difficult for me because I love both boys very differently. They are very different actors and people but they are both amazing. With Jane though, I don't know anything that is coming yet. The writers don't tell us. When I first started working, I shot like five or six episodes before Jane left the Michael character and I was so in tune to Brett [Dier, who plays Michael]. We worked so well together and we found this adorable relationship together. So to have a grasp on that as an actor, and then to come in at the table read and find out that Jane is leaving him, I was like, "What?!" I was looking around at the writers like, "Why are we getting rash here, guys? Was it that bad?!" I was like making excuses for Jane.
I feel like that was a justifiable reaction.
It was also my fear of starting to work with a new actor. Obviously I love Justin [Baldoni, who plays Rafael] and he is one of my best friends now on set. But to start doing that all of a sudden, and to have to fall for Rafael really quickly . . . We just had to find our own dynamic and after two or three episodes we found it. As a little spoiler/teaser though, there are a lot of flashbacks and flash forwards and dreams so you're going to be able to see Jane and Michael together again. Brett and I miss that so we are like, "Yes!," when we see that we have [relationship flashbacks in the script]. I love the Jane-Rafael [storyline] because it is such a beautiful fantasy for every girl. But for Gina, me, as a human being, I kind of like Jane and Michael together. There is something super-wholesome about them. And I am not even a wholesome chick, by any means.
On a less than wholesome note: What is it like wearing a mermaid costume on a semi-regular basis? (Her character wears the costume occasionally during her job, as a cocktail waitress.)
I didn't realize that was going to be so popular. I also didn't know how sexy you'd feel in a mermaid costume. It was the most uncomfortable thing you can possibly imagine though. Once you fall into the water, it sticks to your body so you have to have people pull it off of your legs, then dry you off, dry your hair off, put you back into the costume and pretend like it never happened. It was, like, an 18-hour night of shooting, at, like, three in the morning freezing in Long Beach. I couldn't walk in the mermaid suit so someone would carry me around. I felt like such a diva.
Are you mentally prepared to play more pregnant, and deal with the physical challenges that come with it?
Oh girl, I am [filming] episode 15 and [Jane is] five months pregnant. I don't think anyone could have prepared me for that. Of course I get to take [the bump] off at the end of the day. I have so much respect for mothers and hope to God that I can procreate one day. But I put on that baby bump and it's hard for me to sit and get up. I get it . . . not fully . . . but I get the discomfort. And the clothes get tighter and tighter. But we have an amazing costume designer Rachel [Sage Kunin] who puts me in the prettiest dresses I've seen in my life. She should dress every pregnant woman alive because she is amazing at it. I feel like I am Blake Lively and am like, "This is the way I want to dress when I am pregnant."
On the subject of physical challenges, is Jane's abuela going to be O.K.? We saw her take a nasty spill down the stairs in last night's episode.
Oooh, I don't think so. I mean, I wouldn't have been able to take a fall like that.
My co-worker Joanna and I are kind of obsessed with your television dad, Rogelio, whom she listed as one of the best television characters of the year. He is charismatic, suave, looks great in purple-what is actor Jaime Camil like to work with?
He is the most amazing man you have ever met in your life. He is interesting, giving, generous, down-to-earth. He is way too young to be my dad but I feel like he takes care of me and he protects me. He has promoted the show with so much love. He's kind of the most amazing superstar you've ever met in your life . . . just being around him makes you happy. My boyfriend has a huge man crush on him. He jokes that we should have him over, open the door, and say, "Oh here, I have old-fashioneds and I have a pizza in the oven." Honestly, he has the best wife and two amazing kids. I want to be Camil when I grow up.
In addition to being such a great character, Jane is culturally significant since she is one of the few Latina protagonists we've seen on television. How cognizant are you of the social responsibility that comes with that?
I grew up very similar to Jane. My grandmother spoker Spanish to me. And I responded in English. I was very much the two identities of both cultures that were very much important in my life. Then I went to college to become an actress and realized that I was viewed very specifically because of my brown skin which was interesting to me because I never looked at myself specifically because of my skin before. But I was limited to certain roles because of that skin. And viewed a certain way because of it. I don't want to say that I was saddened because I was still hopeful but I was very aware that the images I saw onscreen influenced the way I felt about myself.
In what ways?
There were four or five Latinas [on-screen] but I didn't look like the majority of them. I love J. Lo and I wish I had a booty like J. Lo but I don't look like that. I look like me and I am O.K. with that because I think I am beautiful. But there were images that I could not live up to in the industry. I wanted to make my image known-my image, which is relateable to a lot of people who might also want to look like J. Lo but look like me. [I remember] how much it mattered to me to see Latinos on screen who were playing characters of the doctors and the lawyers and the investment bankers because then it made me feel like I belonged to that demographic or could. Latinos are not just our nannys and our landscape artists, although both of those jobs are very admirable and pay a lot of money, thank the Lord. But that's not all we do.

So I knew as an artist that I needed to pick projects that broadened that appeal and that knowledge. And with what is happening with Eric Garner and these marches, we are clearly not living in a post-racist society. That is very evident to me and has been as a kid. Because of how Latinos were portrayed, people would expect them to be a certain way, to only speak Spanish, to have eight children, and to be on welfare. And that's terrible that that's the education. I am not a politician. I am not doctor or lawyer. So [I always wanted to change] people's perception with my art.
Have you passed on parts that you felt perpetuated that negative stereotype?
There have been a lot of roles that have come to my attention to audition for or test for that I had to say, "Not today,"or, "Not for me," to because that would not be contributing to what I want to do in this world. So to be the first Latina on CW as a lead, to be the first show that gets nominated on the channel for a Golden Globe because of the talent . . . To have this happen, girl, this is the best thing to happen in the whole world. And not for me. It is for the 54 million people who live in a country who don't get to see themselves as the hero. Now Jane is a hero [and she is being recognized]. And not Gina-Jane, the character. She is positive and uplifting and funny and brave . . . and she gets to be Latina.

Related: The Best New TV Shows of 2014

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Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez on Breaking Ethnic Stereotypes and Her Golden Globe Nomination

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"Jane could [have been] a black girl, a white girl, an Asian girl," Gina Rodriguez says of her charming character on the very clever Jane the Virgin, which earned the CW network its first-ever Golden Globe nominations last week, for best TV series, musical or comedy, and best actress in the same category, for Rodriguez.

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Take a Look at some Photos Throughout Season 1

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Take a Look at some Photos Throughout Season 1

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See photos from Jane the Virgin episodes, red carpet events and get the latest cast images and more on TVGuide.com

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American Television shows Based on Telenovelas 

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American Television shows Based on Telenovelas 

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Here are just a few shows, including Jane the Virgin, that are based on telenovelas

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Your favorite American television series may have borrowed its storyline from one of your mother's favorite telenovelas. Check out which popular American shows are English-language interpretations of popular Latin American telenovelas.

1. "Ugly Betty"

One of the most popular telenovelas of all time, "Yo Soy Betty La Fea," was brought to American television in September 2006 by ABC and Executive Producer Salma Hayek in the hit series "Ugly Betty."

Honduran-American actress America Ferrera starred in the lead role of Betty Suarez, a Mexican-American Latina who takes on the fashion business. Betty proves herself worthy while staying true to who she is despite being an outsider in a judgemental industry.

The same year that "Ugly Betty" aired, the classic Colombian telenovela was also remade by Canal de las Estrellas in Spanish with actress Angélica Vale in the lead role. The telenovela was called "La fea más bella" and was very successful. The Spanish-language remake aired its first episode on January 2006.

"Ugly Betty" was also very successful, had four seasons on ABC and earned a Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series. Ferrera also won a Golden Globe for Best Actress, a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Emmy Award. Ferrera became the first Latina to win a Best Actress Golden Globe.

2. "Devious Maids"

This Lifetime series, which stars Ana Ortiz, Roselyn Sánchez, Dania Ramirez and Judy Reyes, is based on the Televisa telenovela "Ellas son...la Alegría del Hogar."

Like the telenovela, the English-language series depicts the lives of five Latina maids who work for the wealthy and powerful families of Beverly Hills. In classic telenovela style, the plot is filled drama, secrets and deception. The series was renewed for Season 4 in September 2015.

3. "Jane The Virgin"

What may be The CW's most successful show, "Jane The Virgin" may seem like an original idea to many of its viewers but its over-the-top plot and satire are due to it being an adaptation of the 2002 Venezuelan classic "Juana la Virgen."

Just like in the original, young Jane, played by Gina Rodriguez in the American remake, gets pregnant from artificial insemination because of a hospital error. The rest is telenovela gold.

The role has made Rodriguez a television household name and earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress, the first Golden Globe for the network.

4. "Chasing Life"

"Chasing Life" had all the makings of a dramatic ABC Family drama, but the series' concept, of a young woman who learns she has cancer, originally came from the Mexican drama "Terminales."

In the 2008 original series, Abril Márquez learns she is terminally ill and must learn to live her life in ways she hadn't before. "Chasing Life," which starred Italia Ricci and ran for two seasons, followed the same storyline.

5. "Queen of the South"

The upcoming USA drama, "Queen of the South" is an English-language take on the super popular narconovela "La Reina del Sur," which starred actress Kate del Castillo.

"La Reina del Sur" first aired in 2011 and is the most expensive telenovela that Telemundo has ever made. In the drama, del Castillo plays Teresa Mendoza, a woman from Mexico who goes on to become the most powerful drug trafficker in Spain after she must flee the people who killed her boyfriend.

The USA series will star Alice Braga in the role of Teresa. However, instead of heading to Spain, her character will make her way to the United States to seek refuge and establish herself in the drug cartel.

The series will premiere Summer 2016.

Tags telenovelas, tv shows, Latin American telenovela, ugly betty, Jane the Virgin, Devious Maids, Chasing Life, Queen of the South

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5 Popular TV Shows That Are Remakes of Telenovelas

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Your favorite American television series may have borrowed its storyline from one of your mother's favorite telenovelas. Check out which popular American shows are English-language interpretations of popular Latin American telenovelas. One of the most popular telenovelas of all time, "Yo Soy Betty La Fea," was brought to American television in September 2006 by ABC and Executive Producer Salma Hayek in the hit series "Ugly Betty."

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Among the many issues it cares about is the concept of Latina womanhood-not that there is a monolithic Latina womanhood, or that Jane the Virgin is the first show to star Latinas. The series focuses on three different generations: 23-year-old Jane (Gina Rodriguez), her mother Xiomara, and her grandmother, Alba. But unlike the short-lived ABC sitcom Cristela, Jane the Virgin doesn't construct Latina-ness through pointed racial or ethnic humor. And unlike Ugly Betty, it doesn't play off many of its racially loaded storylines by making them about social "awkwardness" or "not fitting in."

Instead, it takes the more daring route of understanding its female characters. Latin American telenovelas often rely on problematic portrayals of women that fall into two types: sexy, fiery, and brazen, or cloyingly sweet, naïve, and submissive (though this has changed in recent years). Jane's mother and grandmother are modeled after these opposing versions of Latina femininity. Alba (Ivonne Coll) is a warm-hearted, endearing grandmother. Because she's also a devout Catholic, her granddaughter's virginity is important to her. But Alba's preoccupation with Jane's purity is also a result of her daughter's teen pregnancy. Xiomara (Andrea Navedo), now a 39-year-old aspiring pop star, is the counterbalance to her mother. She's flighty, sassy, and often forces Jane into the role of caretaker. Even though telenovelas often present these two types of womanhood as irreconcilable, Jane the Virgin spends a lot of time teasing out their hidden complexities.

In the pilot, an accidental artificial insemination leaves Jane pregnant and seriously contemplating whether she wants to be a mother. When Jane asks Xiomara if she regrets not getting an abortion, Xiomara replies in a roundabout way, seemingly confirming Jane's feeling that her birth derailed her mother's plans. Jane fears her mother would have chosen an abortion if Alba had allowed it, but the show doesn't allow that interpretation to last long. Later, Alba confesses to Jane that she, in fact, advised Xiomara to get an abortion, but Xiomara refused. By subverting what's typically expected of characters like Alba and Xiomara, the show makes the telenovela format its own and adds dimension to characters who could otherwise be flat and unoriginal.

Similarly, Jane's status as a "virgin," cemented in the show's title, seems destined to define her. Instead, she quite literally "tries on" various types of womanhood as episodes progress. In scenes that play out in Jane's imagination, and that combine Pedro Almodovar's satirical edge with 's whimsy, she becomes a sexy maiden, a damsel in distress, a girl-next-door, a saint, and a rom-com heroine. Her flights of fancy evolve into more elaborate set pieces, a change that coincides with Jane accepting her ambitions to be a writer. Over time, she learns some roles "fit" her better than others. Sometimes Jane is strikingly similar to the virtuous telenovela heroines who overcome obstacles with a little help and a lot of luck. Sometimes Jane is more proactive, relying on her own resourcefulness and gumption. Jane the Virgin 's attempt to legitimize and revise the representation of women in the telenovela makes it clear that it takes its characters and its Latina viewers seriously.

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'Jane the Virgin' Proves Diversity Is More Than Skin Deep

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Among the many issues it cares about is the concept of Latina womanhood-not that there is a monolithic Latina womanhood, or that Jane the Virgin is the first show to star Latinas. The series focuses on three different generations: 23-year-old Jane (Gina Rodriguez), her mother Xiomara, and her grandmother, Alba.

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Known as one of the most popular television review sites, Jane the Virgin hits a home run!

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A comedy-drama following a chaste young woman who is accidentally impregnated via artificial insemination as she struggles to inform her devoutly religious family and make the right choices concerning the child.

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Watch as Ellen and the star of Jane the Virgin, Gina Rodriguez, discuss the show.

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Read about the importance of Target in Jane the Virgin.

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Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we're up to by signing up here.
Jane Villanueva, the titular character played by Gina Rodriguez in Jane The Virgin, is a simple girl. Jane's mother Xiomara sums up her daughter in the first season's fifth episode, saying, "Jane's not impressed with money or power. She likes going to the movies or shopping at Target. That kind of thing. Low-key stuff."

For a CW sitcom based on a Venezuelan telenovela about a devout Catholic Virgin who was accidentally artificially inseminated with a cancer-surviving trust fund lothario's sperm (plus a murder or two, for good measure), its main character really is low-key. And she really, really, really likes shopping at Target. In the world of Jane The Virgin, Target doesn't just exist through surreptitious product placement (though Target's signature bullseye insignia totes are ubiquitous: on public transportation, in Jane's kitchen on a sexy taco night). The store, instead, is a part of her personal brand.

Speaking to how the store became embedded in Jane's character, Jessica Carlson, a Target spokesperson said, "The writing comes first. And then products/integration ideas are woven into the content/scene. This is definitely an editorial process to ensure the integration is as organic as possible." It's meant to be organic, but - to borrow a telenovela phrase - ¡dios mio!, it can feel distracting. Sweet, moral Jane doesn't just wear Target dresses or engage in light banter with her accidental sperm donor in the cookie aisle. She reps the lifestyle.

We see brands consume characters' passions in plenty of comedies as well-received as the beloved first season of Jane the Virgin. On Arrested Development, Tobias Funke and Carl Weathers take a business meeting in a Burger King, which Tobias asserts is a "wonderful restaurant." On 30 Rock, Liz Lemon finds herself obsessed with Outback Steakhouse's Bloomin' Onion, reportedly fueled by a sponsorship. An entire episode of Broad City was dedicated to Abbi's obsession with Bed Bath & Beyond. But on Jane the Virgin, the Target placement is part of a long game for the brand, not a quick money grab by the network. It feels a lot more pointed. Target isn't a character quirk like Liz Lemon's obsession with junk food. It's a corporation's attempt for Jane to represent a huge chunk of American women.

The integration of the Target brand and Jane the Virgin is the keystone of an ad package that launched earlier this year called "#SinTraduccion," or "Without Translation." According to Carlson, "[#SinTraduccion] launched in March as a year-long campaign that celebrates the untranslatable moments in our Hispanic guests' lives." #SinTraduccion is part of a larger push on behalf of Target to court more Spanish-speaking customers, the living, breathing counterparts of Jane, the fictional pregnant virgin Latina from Miami.

According to the Ad Age Data Center, Target's is broadening its idea of a "core shopper" from a busy, family-oriented (and white, though this is unspoken) mom to include the millennial, Hispanic woman. In 2013, Target spent $51 million on Hispanic media in the US, the 28th largest spender in Hispanic media for that year. Obviously, Target isn't courting the platonic ideal of "Jane" out of a social concern for representation in media. Target is looking to make money off of her. The spending power of Latinos is expected to grow to 1.4 trillion dollars this year.

#SinTraduccion and Target's involvement in Jane the Virgin were conceived separately, but the brand aligned the timing of the campaign launch to coincide with the show. A commercial focusing on the untranslatable word "arullo," a time when a mother creates a cozy, comfortable environment for her baby, first popped up during an episode of Jane the Virgin. It's a sweet, tightly orchestrated serendipity for a show about motherhood -between Jane and her mother, and now between Jane and the baby boy Mateo she delivered in the final episode of season. Jane's affection for Target will likely swell as Mateo grows.

Now that Jane's had her baby, she's going to need a lot more stuff. In addition to the flirty sundresses and snacks purchased in her pre-child days, she's going to need diapers and baby shampoo and BPA-free bottles and cotton onesies. And since Jane is about to be a grad student and a mother at the same time, convenience and affordability are necessities when shopping. Lucky for Jane, and for all the Latina women for whom she is shorthand, that Target exists, right?

The second season of Jane the Virgin premieres on The CW on October 12. "You may just see Target pop up again!" said Carlson. Sounds about as likely as a pregnant virgin, so in this show's world, almost a guarantee.

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'Jane the Virgin' and Target's Televised Push for Millennial Latinas

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Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we're up to by signing up here.

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Some say he is the best part of the show. Meet Jane the Virgin's narrator, Anthony Mendez.

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subscribe to Code Switch podcast

On a recent March morning at his home in a New Jersey suburb, Anthony Mendez was on his living room couch with his 9-year-old daughter. He was watching the previous night's episode of Jane the Virgin, studying his own performance as the show's unseen narrator.

"I'm like, 'That's Daddy,' and she's on her computer, not even looking up. She says, 'I know.' And I'm like, 'That's Daddy - you're not even impressed?' And she's like, 'I'm on YouTube,' " Mendez says. His daughter - one of three kids - runs a YouTube channel where she vlogs about makeup with her sister.

This is the sort of thing Mendez says helps keep him grounded.

Still, Mendez's ability to turn an omniscient narrator into one of Jane's funniest characters has gotten him plenty of attention. He's been described by people as "the best thing about the show" and " one of the show's most entertaining characters," and is growing a small cult following on the Internet.

His voice-overs recap the show's dramatic, telenovela-style plots: Jane, a 23-year-old virgin, was accidentally artificially inseminated; the father just happens to be a playboy hotel owner she once kissed; the doctor who accidentally inseminated her is the father's sister; and so on and so on.

But Mendez's performance is unique from other narrator roles because of its comedic timing and punch. In an episode in which Jane goes to her high school reunion, Mendez's voice swoops in to introduce us to Stephanie Kovakovich, a mean girl who Jane used to beef with. A string of text - as if the narrator is typing it - appears on screen: Stephanie Kovakobitch. "Oops," the narrator apologizes, correcting his typing. "No, I meant it," he says, changing it back to Kovakobitch.

(Real-life Mendez is just as playful as his character. Before I arrive at his apartment, he posts a humble-braggy video to Snapchat and Instagram, in which he announces he has to clean his apartment before his NPR interview. The video pans to him nudging a plastic container under his bed.)

But his journey in finding this voice - one that encourages him to play with an accent instead of dampen it - came after years of career change and trying to fit himself to a mold.

Finding His Voice

A typical kid, Mendez loved comics. They fed his imagination and were a break from a more serious, less typical childhood: He sold headstones at the family business - and even designed a six-crypt mausoleum as he got older. Mendez's dad, who immigrated to the states from the Dominican Republic, worked in a tombstone factory before opening his own business, and hoped Mendez would take it over with his three other brothers.

But Mendez had other ideas. He studied architecture - the most creative major he thought he could get away with - for a short while at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. After that, he tried pursuing a career in producing reggae, struggling so much in the early 2000s he thought he'd be homeless.

"In your mind, you're like, 'No, I'm gonna show them, I'm gonna show them,' " Mendez recalls feeling about his parents, who hadn't wanted him to leave their business. "But, you know, it takes eight to 10 years to show them, so at the beginning when I was struggling, they said, 'Come back to the family business,' and I actually agreed to do it."

But Mendez said he had a nightmare that stopped him from returning. He dreamed he was trapped and anxious, working at a headstone factory forever.

So he fell back on something he had all along: his voice. People always said there was a Mendez voice - his grandfather, his father, his brothers all had it - that was deep and booming.

"In high school when I would read in Spanish, especially, some of the girls would ask me to do it again ... and that kind of took me back, like, 'Huh, there's something there,' " Mendez says.

He signed up for voice-over classes and learned his Dominican-New York-New Jersey upbringing made things complicated. During one class, he'd just finished recording a track in the studio and his classmates were on the other side of the glass, observing. They thought he couldn't hear their reaction to his voice-over.

"You heard everyone in the room talking about, 'What accent is that?' where they had never heard someone in voice-over who had an urban, Latino, New York, New Jersey mixture. So they were like, 'That's urban. That's urban,' " Mendez says. This insistence on labeling him one thing - which he's written about before - was an issue he ran into with talent managers, too. He was sent African-American voice-over roles and Spanish-speaking ones, but rarely received ones meant for the general market.

"[Managers] were like, 'Oh, you've got an accent. You're not gonna do it,' " Mendez says. His goal was to learn to talk without his accent but not lose it entirely.

So in his makeshift studio, in the bedroom he shares with his wife, recording out of a small closet that's lined with board games and books to absorb the sound, he created a workout he calls VO 90 X - like boot camp for your voice - with which he spent 30 minutes daily for 90 days, intensely working on sounds.

His L's, N's, M's and R's, he says, are weaker than standard American English. He studied how people's inflections and tongue placements change depending on what accents they're taking on. "Grandmother" in standard American English has different syllable emphasis - "GRAND-mother" - than the word spoken with, say, English with a Dominican accent - "Grand-MO-ther."

And it worked. Mendez began booking gigs with brands like CNN, Miller Lite and Target, lending his voice to ads in both Spanish and English.

A few years ago, he got an email invitation to audition for a TV show - Jane the Virgin.

"It said telenovela announcer with a Hispanic accent. The role literally said 'Latin Lover Narrator.' And I was like, I don't wanna do this. This sounds like a joke. Stereotypical stuff. So I put it away," he says. At first glance, Mendez thought it was yet another role poking fun at Latinos.

Then, later that day - before he had to pick his kids up from school - he pulled up the email again, and decided to give the audition a shot. Not knowing much about the narrator - who he was, even - Mendez debated how the voice would sound.

"Initially I was going to do a standard telenovela announcer, which is what I call the Spanish Dracula, the 'Telemundo guy,' " Mendez says. "I said an hour show with that guy is going to get really super annoying."

He didn't want the narrator to sound stereotypical, but he wanted people to hear a real connection to the Spanish language.

When asked about how his own father feels about his career, Mendez is equivocal. He says his parents, who returned to the Dominican Republic, don't really watch Jane the Virgin, but they understand he's made a mark in a difficult industry. He might have left the family headstone business, but at least he's successful on his own terms.

These days, as Jane begins its between-season hiatus, Mendez is busy with his other voice-over gigs. And in a throwback to when he was a kid, he's working on a motion comic series - a mix between audio book and animation - called Mike Tomb. It's about a Dominican-American guy named Mike Gonzalez.

Gonzalez's goal? To break from the family tombstone industry and become a poet.

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How The Narrator Of 'Jane The Virgin' Found His Voice

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subscribe to Code Switch podcast On a recent March morning at his home in a New Jersey suburb, Anthony Mendez was on his living room couch with his 9-year-old daughter. He was watching the previous night's episode of Jane the Virgin, studying his own performance as the show's unseen narrator.

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Learn about one of televisions best love triangles!

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Team Rafael or Team Michael?     NO, TEAM JANE

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Team Rafael or Team Michael?     NO, TEAM JANE

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An article all about Jane. Who needs Rafael or Michael.

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Every time I watch Jane the Virgin, I find myself appreciating how real and honest its heroine, Jane Villanueva, is. And after she suffered a big heartbreak during "Chapter 18," I realized that with all of this Team Rafael and Team Michael talk, every fan should really just be on Team Jane. The episode on April 13 showed Jane deciding to have faith in Rafael and their relationship, and ended with Rafael asking for a break after only a brief interaction with his long-lost mother. Jane would never make such a hurtful decision so quickly, and the fact that Rafael could do something like that makes me think he doesn't deserve her.

Now just because I'm Team Jane doesn't mean I don't appreciate the love triangle that Jane the Virgin has been brewing up. I want Jane to be with a man who makes her happy and has earned the right to be around her and all her awesomeness. (I started as Team Rafael, but I've been slowing moving toward Team Michael.) I'm also OK with her taking some time off from romance. But part of her knows that too, otherwise she wouldn't have made the right decision when Rafael proposed. (Sorry, dude. You may be dreamy, but it was way too soon.)

I honestly cheer for something that Jane says during every episode. Whether she's giving advice to her loved ones or getting help from others, Jane is a woman that every other woman can relate and learn from. So here are 10 reasons why I'm #TeamJane. (Rogelio would be so proud of my hashtag use.)

She Is Devoted To Her Family

The women of the Villanueva family are all fabulous in their own ways - each being a feminist, even if they don't realize it. Her grandmother Alba gave Jane faith, understanding, and kindness. Her mother Xo gave her strength to stand up for herself and do what makes her happy. Their conversations on the porch swing are always heartfelt and they all help each other when it comes to making hard decisions. That doesn't mean they aren't above arguing and holding grudges, but most people would be #blessed to be an honorary member of the Villanueva family.

She's An Over-Thinker

Perhaps one of Jane's greatest strengths and biggest flaws is the amount that she overthinks things. It's rare on TV to see characters regularly struggle with making decisions and then fully understand why they choose to do what they do. But we see Jane constantly analyzing - whether she's talking it out with her mom and grandma or imagining some crazy/elaborate/hilarious scenario in her head. And whatever course of action she decides upon, I know that she gave it the time and attention (perhaps too much) that it deserved. As a fellow over-thinker, this trait of her's makes Jane even more relatable - and lovable - to me.

She Makes Tough Decisions About Her Relationships

Her analyzing also extends to her choices in her love life, like when she broke up with her fiancé Michael. It was one of Jane's quicker decisions, but Jane said she did it because she was falling in love with Rafael. She knew it wasn't fair to keep stringing Michael along if her heart belonged to someone else. (But can she please tell Michael about his ex-girlfriend Andie shadily befriending her... please?) And she wasn't afraid to say no to Rafael's very public proposal (as previously mentioned). No matter what happens next, I know she will end up doing what's best for her.

She Isn't Afraid To Be Emotional

Jane has every right to be emotional at this point in her life with so much drama surrounding her - and she doesn't actually feel the need to defend her actions (which she shouldn't). I mean, Rafael's sister impregnated her when she was a virgin and although she contemplated suing her, she's still been crazy classy about it. (Luisa probably would have a black eye or something if I were in Jane's shoes.) But Jane laughs and cries, gets angry and forgives. She's a woman with a very intelligent head on her shoulders, but that doesn't mean that she is invincible - and she doesn't try to be.

She Owns Up To Her Responsibilities & Doesn't Make Up Stories

Most hyper-dramatic TV shows have me screaming at the television when characters decide to tell a lie instead of the truth (normally because they don't want to hurt someone's feelings or get in trouble). Jane, bless her, never does that. She knew it would be hard to tell Rafael that she was responsible for pissing off the city commissioner and thus, messing with the Marbella's liquor license, but she told him the truth. And then made it right (by staying up all night to Google topics that ladies who lunch would enjoy). That's just the kind of person she is.

But She's Not Above Fibbing To Make Things Right

Growing up with two strong women, Jane was (and still is) often in the middle of fights between Xo and Alba. She knows they are both too proud to admit when they're wrong, so she would gently prompt them into moving on by faking apology letters from Xo to Alba. Yeah, it's a bit of trickery, but it allowed the two most important women in her life to forgive one another.

She's A Talented Writer

Besides her faux apology notes, the latin lover narrator has made it clear that Jane really is a good writer. She wrote Rogelio's touching farewell scene on The Passions of Santos and she's open to working on her craft by attending romance writer's workshops. What makes her (and her skills) even more appealing is the fact that she's such a fangirl when it comes to loving the romance writers who have inspired her.

And A Hardworker

At the beginning of the show, Jane was a student and a waitress at the Marbella. By "Chapter 11," she tried her hand at writing for a telenovela while student teaching and still waitressing... and let's not forget that she was pregnant through accidental artificial insemination the whole time. Of course, her abundance of work could have been due to her hesitation to make a decision, but when you're given multiple great opportunities, you want to be cautious. All I'm saying is, girl deserves a break.

She's A Total Catch

Remember her dance of joy when she found out she was going to meet her favorite author Angelique Harper? How freakin' cute was that? Whenever Jane the Virgin shows how smitten Rafael and Michael are with Jane, I totally get it. She's funny, smart, silly, and unafraid of being herself. But all of that adds up to much more than being deserving of a man's love...

She's The Realistic Role Model We All Need

I think Jane would be shocked to find out that she's a role model, but that's what makes her such an excellent one. With all of the craziness that has been introduced into her perfectly planned life, she has taken it in stride (all while still being pretty type A about it). She may be judgmental, but she has a big heart. She may make sacrifices for the ones she loves, but she is always true to herself. All of these contradictions make her such a real, fully-formed character. Even with the emotional roller coaster she has been on, Jane acts in the way that I would hope I would be capable of in her situation. The fact that I wish I was more like her has officially solidified that I am 100 percent #TeamJane.

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Why #TeamJane Is The Best 'Jane The Virgin' Team

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Every time I watch Jane the Virgin, I find myself appreciating how real and honest its heroine, Jane Villanueva, is. And after she suffered a big heartbreak during "Chapter 18," I realized that with all of this Team Rafael and Team Michael talk,...

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Jane the Virgin takes place in beautiful Miami, and follows Jane Villanueva, a 23 year old virgin, who goes to the doctor and is mistakenly artificially inseminated.