PaleyFest 2015 Features Jane The Virgin

Every year PaleyFest brings fans together to see the talent behind hit television shows. Attendees enjoy highlights of the featured work and Q&A after the discussion among the actors.

This year I was fortunate to see the panel discussion of the hit CW show Jane the Virgin. JTV is a dramedy that centers on the life of a young Latina woman named Jane played by Gina Rodriguez who becomes pregnant after being artificially inseminated by mistake. The show debuted on The CW in 2014. Gina Rodriguez won the 2015 Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Television Series Musical or Comedy.

PaleyFest 2015

During the discussion about JTV, Gina Rodriguez remarked, “It talks about same sex marriage, it talks about women’s rights, reproductive rights without saying it’s black or white, it’s yes or no.” She added, “What is your opinion? It doesn’t have to be ours. It can be yours. We can do it as light and funny and sometimes dramatic. We do it with our beautiful vehicle of art. We do it to actually create peace and tolerance through art and that is awesome.”

Justin Baldoni who plays Rafael Solano, the hotel owner and the biological father of Jane’s child who has fallen out of love with his wife Petra Solano mentions on the discussion “We love what we do, we have fun, we work hard so that you guys can laugh and cry with us.” He also added, “Take a second away from your life, enjoy the moment and see yourself among all of us.”

After the event fans went near the stage and had the cast sign autographs, take selfies and just shake their hands. I asked DeWayne Cox one of the attendees to give his impressions of the event. DeWayne said, “I truly enjoyed the panel discussion because of the poignant insight from the show’s creator! As an African-American, I was also heartened by audience members that expressed the importance of having Latino role models on televisión that looked like them! I can identify with that! ”