At a recent panel at SXSW, the Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez expressed interest in playing Marvel’s newest queer Latina America Chavez.
There’s been a drastic call for diversity on screen over the past few years. This includes everything from different genders, races, sexualities, and beyond, so when Marvel dropped news of America Chavez, a comic about a queer Latina who’s kicking ass and taking names, people took notice. And not just people who read comics, but people like Gina Rodriguez, the star of The CW’s Jane the Virgin.
At this years SXSW, a panel titled “Hacking the Script: Disrupting Diversity in Hollywood” was hosted. The entire goal of this panel was to avoid the stigma’s and the bias’ that come along with roles in Hollywood these days so better and more diverse representation can be seen. Along with Rodriquez, panelists included Yara Shahidi of Black-ish, Wendy Calhoun of Empire, Jon Spaihts, and Courtney McCarthy.
During the panel, Rodriquez had a lot to add about watching TV as a child and not feeling like she was well represented, and how she wants to be a voice to change that.
Gina Rodriguez talking about growing up and not feeling represented in the media. #SXSW #GOCSXSW pic.twitter.com/aTZe31nAz1
— Geeks of Color (@GeeksOfColor) March 15, 2017
She expressed her love for Marvel’s Doctor Strange during the panel and was quoted for saying that she’s waiting for Marvel to come out with a female Latina character so she can jump on board. The lovely folks of Geeks of Color were able to meet up with Rodriquez after the panel was over and asked her if she knew about America Chavez.
"“She immediately jumped with excitement and pointed to her manager. Gina told me that she’s a fan of the character and iterated that if Marvel ever decides to adapt America to live action her manager already knows to get her an audition right away!”"
Okay, Marvel. Time to get going on a live action adaptation of America Chavez because who wouldn’t want to watch Gina Rodriquez in that?
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