There Are No Words to Describe How Fit Gina Rodriguez Looks in the New Issue of Women's Health

Updated on 4/16/2016 at 3:00 PM

Excuse us, but we've lost the ability to use words after seeing Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez kill it in the May issue of Women's Health. The star looks so incredibly badass and healthy as she poses for the cover in a crop top and formfitting skirt, and for the inside spread in her boxing gloves and a red-hot swimsuit — but always with her signature long waves.

In the interview, Gina got candid — are you surprised? — and shared incredible wisdom about feeling like you're enough and loving yourself, and even the role of Latinos in media. Scroll ahead for her must-read quotes and more jaw-dropping images from the issue.

On what keeps her grounded in Hollywood: "I know that this journey hasn't been easy or quick. It seems to almost get harder because my dreams get bigger and I desire more. The idea of staying grounded is so crazy to me because I remember what it was before those dreams came true. I remember all the challenges and obstacles and I see the new challenges and obstacles as I go along. Everything comes to an end. Every chapter has an end. I'm not going to be Jane the Virgin forever. I'm going to do movies that fail; hopefully I'll do movies that succeed. I want to do theatre, I want to play different characters and I want to transform, so I need to remember that the reason that I got there was because of hard work, was because of the fact I know that it could be taken away from me at any minute, because I know that there are millions of people that would love to be in my shoes. I'm not going to take that for granted. I'm definitely pushed by God's grace and there's not a second that goes by that I don't thank everything and everyone and everything around me for it."

On how the success of Jane the Virgin took her by surprise: "It's crazy because when I read that script, I was like: This is special. There's something very special here. I knew the challenges we had as a majority Latino cast. I knew what kind of stigma that would bring to the table, and then, not to mention the synopsis of the show was heightened, to say the least. But I knew that there was heart to it – it had a pulse. It was definitely changing the way you viewed America, which is what I've always wanted to do with my art was to change the perception of Latinos. I grew up in Chicago, I mean, I'm American, and I get to walk around with this beautiful shade of culture that I carry on my back, that I walk everywhere with – I can't make it go away and I don't want it to go away. That being said, I want to change the ideas that we have that are viewed by the media because, shoot, television is a receptor for what reality is. It's a reflection of what the U.S. holds, so I knew Jane held that and I knew Jane had something that we hadn't seen before."

On using social media for good: "I'm trying to use my social media as a way to communicate that I'm flawed and that I'm okay with it. It's a very strange feeling to be okay with a little cellulite or a little extra anything. I don't look at it and feel terrified anymore, and my confidence changed because of that. I carry myself differently."
On her role models in the industry: "Growing up, there weren't too many of us [Latinas] on screen. Rita Moreno, which I was so blessed to do a tribute to her at the Kennedy Center Honors, which was a dream come true because it was 15-years-ago that I prayed for that moment or thought about that moment. That just goes to show you, you gotta like never give up because 15 years is a long time! But then you got it, and then you experience it, and you're like, this is incredible, I get to tell one of my heroes how much I love her. Rita Moreno talked about diversity, she talked about being Latino, she talked about being a woman, she talked about sexuality, she talked about stereotypes. That was huge for me. Meryl Streep, who was never viewed for beauty, but for her talent. I mean, beautiful woman, don't get me wrong, but her talent was at the forefront and I always felt like if I worked on my talent, because I never was a cookie cut out of what I saw on screen."

On believing you're good enough: "In our society, it's easier to sell somebody the idea of not being enough versus 'You are enough.' It's like we women consciously decide we're going to be mean to ourselves. But you're your own hero, not some image you can't live up to."
On the power of Latinos: "Every marketer, every studio I talk to wants to know how to cater to this demographic. I want Latinos to understand where their power lies. Think about how crazy a movement it would be if Latinos just stopped watching until they put a Latino or Latina lead in Fantastic Four or Robocop."

On her family: "My family. My family, they're just so driven and so motivated even after failure, after failure, there's no stopping them. They know success is just eventually gonna hit. As an actor, that is probably one of the greatest things they gave me because I hear 'No, No, No, No, No, No' and you're like, when is it going to give? And you think to yourself, if I just don't stop, it's going to crack. Eventually. The ceiling is going to break through and I'm going to come tumbling down and hopefully there is somebody there to catch me. They really gave me a heart of steel."
On her other life passions: "To be honest, growing up I always wanted to be a teacher. I love the idea of spreading love. Actually bringing in alternative teaching to schools. Teaching young kids how to love, how to be generous, how to be gracious, how to be humble, how to be sensitive, how to be vulnerable. You're there [at school] . . . the majority of the transformative years of your life. I thought that if I could just touch — I just want to touch people. I want to change the way people feel about themselves because I have changed the way I've felt about myself. I haven't always felt this way, I just know that if I didn't have the tools, I don't know if I ever would have found it. I don't know if I ever would've been able to search for me, and be good to me. So teaching – and a lot of philanthropy I do now. There's a lot of things I want to do. I have a foundation with my siblings."

On her upcoming projects: "Deepwater Horizon which comes out . . . this year, September 30 of this year, was tremendous. I'm not going to say it's biographical to a tee, but it's one person's account of the incident, and you're really just looking at the day of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which happened back in 2010. You're looking at the survivors of the incident and their heroic journey through that day and that very sad, very scary, very tragic day. I get to play Andrea Fleytas and she was quite the hero and I feel very, very lucky I get to step in her shoes for a millisecond because there's no way I could've done what she did."