'I grew up in the hood': Jane The Virgin star Gina Rodriguez describes her hunger to succeed as she goes braless for cover of Latina
Her parents told her to get an education and be successful as a lawyer or doctor while growing up in the Puerto Rican 'hood' of Chicago.
So it wasn't easy for Gina Rodriguez - who won a Golden Globe in January for her role in Jane The Virgin - to inform her family that she wanted to be an actress, the beauty told the March issue of Latina magazine.
'Education was definitely number one, and that's why acting scared my parents,' the 30-year-old beauty said. 'They were like, "What are you going to do with that? How are you going to make money?'"
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Sitting pretty these days: Gina Rodriguez of Jane The Virgin posing in a black dress and cage heels for the March issue of Latina magazine
She took the plunge: The 30-year-old actress went braless for her portrait where she had on an open jacket
The TV star then added, 'We didn't grow up with money, so they always instilled that education was going to get you to where you needed to be and it definitely did.'
Rodriguez added, 'I grew up in Chicago, in the 'hood, where it was predominantly Latino and Polish.
'The whole area starts with a big ol' Puerto Rican flag and ends with a big ol' Puerto Rican flag.'
There was pressure to succeed: The star was told by her parents that she should be a lawyer so she could make money, but she offered that she could play a lawyer on TV
Gina, who was interviewed by Adrienne Bailon, went daring for her cover of the monthly magazine.
The actress decided to go braless and use only her arm to keep her black and white tuxedo-style jacket closed.
In another shot, the Go For It! actress shows off her toned legs as she sits on the floor of a living room while clutching the bottom of her black dress.
Spiky cage heels add even more sex appeal.
In another set up she is barefoot and holding her hair back as a leg peeks through a high slit dress.
A fourth shot has the Mommy XXX star is a plunging white gown with a bold white ring and her ombre locks flowing down her chest.
Her siblings do well too: One sister is a doctor while another in an investment banker
Gina also talked about how her successful siblings put the pressure on even more.
'I have two older sisters: One's an investment banker and the other is a doctor,' she explained.
'We all did good until I came around, and they were like, "Actor? No you're trying to be a lawyer." And I was like, "I'm not trying to be anything with law, but I'll be one on TV."'
On her hit CW show: The brunette with co-star Justin Baldoni on her series Jane The Virgin
That pressure made her attend Columbia University and graduating from New York University before heading to Hollywood.
Rodriguez picked up new fans with her sincere Globes speech where she said, 'This award is so much more than myself, it represents a culture that wants to see themselves as heroes.'
The Illinois native can next be seen in the movie Sharon 1.2.3. with Nadone Velazquez and Erinn Hayes, as well as Sticky Notes with Ray Liotta and Justin Bartha.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2941411/Gina-Rodriguez-describes-hunger-succeed-goes-braless-cover-Latina.html#ixzz3Qv1bHjSe
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