‘Jane The Virgin’ Star Gina Rodriguez Talks About ‘Enjoying’ Her Directorial Debut

“Chapter Seventy-Four” of “Jane the Virgin” Season 4 was a first for lead star Gina Rodriguez, since it was her first time to take a seat at the director’s chair.

The episode, which aired Feb. 9, was undoubtedly special for Rodriguez since she got to collaborate creatively with show creator, Jennie Snyder Urman. As challenging as the whole process was, Rodriguez had to admit she found it enjoyable.

“I found myself enjoying directing and acting [simultaneously] so much because I feel so instinctual with Jane and because as a director you’re given direct access to Jennie’s brain and what Jennie wants and what Jennie’s looking for and the tone,” she shared with Variety. “Usually it goes from Jennie to the director to then us, so the director is translating what Jennie told them. I had the direct connection, and because of that, I was able to go out there and know that I was giving exactly what Jennie wanted.”

It also helped Rodriguez that her boyfriend, Joe LoCicero, was extremely supportive of her new gig. When the time came for Rodriguez to direct, she began to feel overwhelmed and asked him, “This is a lot of work, why did I take this on again?”

And he gave her the perfect answer: “Because you can, and all of the work you’re doing now is going to allow it so that when you’re on set, there will be less work.”

In the episode directed by Rodriguez, Rosario Dawson was a guest star as lawyer, Jane Ramos. The two ladies seemed to have a lot of fun on the set, and Dawson even posted about the experience on Instagram.

When talking about her directorial debut during a guest appearance on The View earlier, Rodriguez said that it was important for her to step up and take it on so that it will send a positive message to other girls.

“As a woman of color, I think that being able to have the opportunity to direct and to be able to direct my show is very exciting,” she said at the time. “But I think the idea that I get to go and tell other young ladies that I’m doing it. I’ve seen them now decide to approach their showrunners and want to do it themselves on shows.”

“Jane the Virgin” Season 4 airs Fridays on The CW at 9 p.m. EST.