The Denver Gazette

GINA RODRIGUEZ

The Jane the Virgin star, 38, returns to TV as the star and executive producer of the new comedy Not Dead Yet (Feb. 8 on ABC), as Nell Serrano, a journalist who left her life behind Hve years ago to follow her Hancé to the U.K, and is now unengaged, unemployed and insolvent. When she comes home and lands the only job she can Hnd—writing obituaries at the company where she used to work—Nell starts getting life advice from the dead people she’s writing about. Rodriguez, who is married to actor Joe LoCicero, spoke with Parade the day before their Hrst baby was due.

What was the appeal of a series where your character gets advice from ghosts? I have always felt like my ancestors have been with me, have been present in my journey and are taking care of me in those moments of fear or doubt. And, so, when I read this script, I was immediately attracted to this idea that when people pass, when they transition, that they can come back and give you elements of knowledge that you wish you had or that you need in the moment. There’s this idea that we can learn from our ancestors and the people that have gone before us, whether they’re a feeling, or they’re there with the knowledge they gave you when they were in the flesh.

We’ve watched your career ever since playing Jane. She was such a driven character and, in real life, you’re a go-getter. What was it about Nell that made you say, “I want to do that?” It’s so funny because Jane was so pivotal in my life. It was such a phenomenal character to play, it was so vastly different than myself. I got very lucky to play such a kind, loving, always good, did the right thing and honest [woman]. That really helped me reflect on how I should be. I would literally say, “I should probably be a little more like Jane.” But the good thing about that is I would go out into the world, and all of the beautiful viewers of Jane would be so loving and treat me like I was Jane. And I was, like, “I am learning, and I’m failing, and I’m tripping, and I’m flawed and I have so much to grow.” So, to play a character like Nell, someone in her 30s, thinking that she’s got it together, and then it all kind of falls apart, is just so much easier to connect to as I go into this next chapter in my life [motherhood]. I have no idea what I’m doing. I can’t even see past the birth. It’s like a void. And I’m going to fall, and I’m going to trip, and I’m going to make mistakes, and I’m going to ask for help and I’m going to need to lean on all of the incredible people around me. And I’m going to have to ask for forgiveness. And Nell is that. She gets to fail but gets to learn from her failures. She gets to learn from the people around her, and she’s at times afraid to learn and rejecting of those lessons, and then at other times really is so appreciative. Her life depends on learning from those moments. So, it’s really cool to be playing this in a time where I’m now just continuously unraveling and rebuilding myself.

PARADE

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2023-02-05T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-02-05T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.denvergazette.com/article/282737705984583

The Gazette, Colorado Springs