This article has been updated to clarify Gina Rodriguez’s comments on a hypothetical superhero movie.
The latest film from Alex Garland, Annihilation, boasts an impressive cast that brings together three of the most bankable Latino stars currently making waves in Hollywood: Gina Rodriguez, Oscar Isaac, and Tessa Thompson. Garland’s follow up to the Oscar-winning Ex Machina is an inclusive and female-centric sophisticated sci-fi thriller about an expedition into mysterious terrain where an environmental disaster took place.
Glowing with a tireless smile, Gina Rodriguez – who just had her directorial debut on last week’s Jane the Virgin – stopped to chat with Remezcla on the red carpet at the movie’s Los Angeles premiere.
Although she shares the screen with four other women, Rodriguez formed a tight bond with one of them in particular, Tessa Thompson, as both of their Twitter feeds can confirm. When asked about their friendship, Gina effusively proclaimed her fondness for her co-star, ”I’m absolutely in love with Tessa. She knows. The world knows it. If anybody sees me talk about her [they know] I’m absolutely obsessed with that woman.”
But beyond their connection on a personal level, the actress also noted the significance of having an ally on set, “It was very empowering having another woman of color, another Latina around, another woman that understood the importance of our presence there and how much we weren’t taking it for granted, and to protect one another.“
Counting on her experience as a producer and her newly tested ability in directing, we asked Gina what story would she tell if she could make a superhero movie starring people of color. Her answer was equal parts intriguing and exciting. “I think it would be about Christopher Columbus coming over, the migration of the Spaniards, and the influence of the mixes [of people] in South America and in the Caribbean. That’s were my superhero movies would lay, like the 1400 or 1500s.” History retold from the perspective of the victims of colonization could certainly make for a mind-blowing blockbuster.
Of course, we wanted to know who she would cast to bring this genius idea to life, and her response was once again better than anticipated, in normal Gina Rodriguez fashion: “All new faces, so we can create new stars.”
Update 2/23/2018: An earlier headline for this article may have left the incorrect impression that Gina Rodriguez is actively producing a superhero movie. Her comments on this subject were a response to a hypothetical question posed to her. Upon further investigation, we have confirmed her comments were outlining that she would like to see indigenous communities celebrated as heroes, and that it would be powerful to draw from Latin American history as inspiration.
Annihilation opens in theaters nationwide on February 23, 2018.
