Gina Rdgz
Actress Gina Rodriguez arrives at the 21st Annual Critics' Choice Awards in Santa Monica, California January 17, 2016. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

Last Monday, Gina Rodriguez kicked off a new social media movement inspired on her desire to see more Latinos in film and television. The “Jane the Virgin” star, who already has one Golden Globe under her belt, aims to highlight a different colleague on social media every Monday and elaborate a little on their talent and most importantly, current shocking facts about the industry.

Guatemalan actor Oscar Isaac was the first Latino celebrity to be featured on the innovative, and much needed, campaign, in which Rodriguez encourages the audience to “start making noise with where it matters most, where we put out dollars.” For this week’s post, the Puerto Rican actress chose Rosa Salazar, a Cuban-American actor who “has graced us with her talent in the huge franchises ‘Divergent’ and ‘Maze Runner.’”

The 31-year-old Chicagoan’s new initiative not only highlights Latino talents who are currently involved in major projects, but also offers great insight to the Hollywood reality many are still too scared to talk about, “Latinos make up 4% of speaking roles in films ONLY 4% (We are 17% of the population!) Latinos watch 9.5 movies a year making us the highest majority of movie watchers!!! ‘You don’t have a major hit without Hispanic moviegoers,’ Chris Aronson, FOX’s president of domestic distribution, told The Wrap. We watch the most movies than any other ethnic group, can you even fathom the power we have?!?! It’s amazing!!!”

Gina explained that the lack of diversity talk that originated after this year’s Oscar nominations motivated her to begin this project, share her opinion as Latin American who wants to see more Latinos making it big in the industry, and show her support for her peers. Follow @hereisgina on Instagram to find out more about this amazing campaign.

© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.