The cast of “Jane The Virgin” felt at home tackling illegal immigration in the magical realism of the CW’s telenovela.
The series’ mid-season premiere Jan. 19 revolved around Jane’s abuelita Alba (Ivonne Coll), who faces deportation after a traumatic brain injury (she’s since recovered).
“I represent thousands of immigrants who came to this country,” Coll said Sunday at PaleyFest L.A. Her Spanish-speaking character, “puts a face on all of the thousands of illegal immigrants who are here who aren’t criminals. I think we’re doing something important.”
Others in the cast share Coll's sense of added pressure. Back in January, Gina Rodriguez said her Golden Globe win represented a “culture that wants to see themselves as heroes.”
It was the CW’s first Globe win and has helped push the ensemble cast to new heights. “When you’re in a scene with Gina, it makes you better,” said Justin Baldoni, who plays Rafael Solano, one of Jane’s would-be fiancés (the other is played by Canadian actor Brett Dier).
Politics makes good entertainment, if it’s not treated like “medicine,” said Jennie Snyder, who created the adapted series with ex-NBC Entertainment head Ben Silverman.
“Every television show has a point of view. But if things are politicized, you take them as medicine,” she said. “[Alba] is a woman who has worked so hard to raise her family. You’re attaching [the issue of immigration] to personal experiences.”
Snyder said she doesn’t think of her characters as Latino. “It’s about writing characters and writing people, not writing race,” she said.
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