Actress Andrea Navedo of “Jane the Virgin” chatted about her new book “Our Otherness is Our Strength.”
In the book, Navedo shares her story of growing up in the South Bronx, in order to inspire young people who grew up like she did and who, after being counted out, were still determined to succeed.
She recalled booking the show “Jane the Virgin,” spoke about the digital age, and furnished her definition of success.
What inspired you to write your book?
I was invited to give the commencement speech at my high school alma mater 30+ years after graduating. I was excited to have the opportunity to send a message to the kids at the school. I wanted them to know what I needed to know when I was their age, that growing up in the hood, being a person of color is not a strike against them, but the very thing that could be their super power.
I didn’t want them to look at me up on that podium and feel like I was preaching to them or feel like the success I had achieved was unattainable or too far of a reach. I wanted them to know that I sat in the very seats that they were sitting in (literally and figuratively).
I wanted to light a path from those seats to that podium, to inspire them that their dreams were possible. After delivering that speech many kids came up to thank me. One of them in particular stood out for me.
She was a young Latina graduating that day. With tears in her eyes she thanked me for sharing my shame and embarrassment that it took me five years to graduate high school but how I turned it around and realized that the most important thing was that I graduated, period. She said it took her five years to graduate as well. She was encouraged by the fact that we had that in common and that I still came out winning.
That young lady and my speech was the spring board for this book. I wanted to encourage many more like her. I felt that a book with that message could reach a whole lot more people than that one speech could.
Was it therapeutic/cathartic for you?
Writing the book wasn’t necessarily cathartic for me. If it were a memoir perhaps it would’ve been. What it did do for me was make me look back to where I started and made me realize how far I had come, a little Latina brown girl on welfare growing up in adverse conditions to
realizing my dreams of being a working actress and representing my people in a way that I needed to see when I was growing up.
Did it teach you anything about yourself?
Yes, that I can do hard things and that growing up in the Bronx with all the strikes against actually turned out to be the very thing that made me able to deal with challenges, like the challenges of pursuing an acting career. You’ve have to be self motivated, tenacious, thick skinned, tough and resilient.
How was your experience in “Jane the Virgin”?
Booking “Jane the Virgin” truly was a breakthrough for me. It was like giving birth. It was much pain for over twenty seven years to get to the point in my career where I played Xiomara. I loved portraying her. She was not the stereotypical hot sex-craved Latina I saw in TV and film growing up. She had so many colors.
She was a fiercely loving and protective mother to her daughter Jane. She was also smart, funny, sexy, insecure, tough, vulnerable and so much more. With each episode I discovered more of who she was and in turn more of who I was.
She was a dream character and I got to play her with a dream cast, crew, uber talented writers and super supportive brave producers and network. From top to bottom we had an amazing team.
It was an honor for me to represent my Latino culture in a positive, inspiring and real light on “Jane the Virgin.” Although I act for the love of it, I also know that every time I show up to an audition, job, award function, etc., I am representing my people and essentially saying that we matter.
The younger generation especially needs to see the positive images of ourselves. I speak from personal experience. I had been emotionally and psychologically starving from the breadcrumb Latino images doled out over the years.
As children we are looking for inspiration, we’re looking for something to hold on to, we’re looking for something to strive for, we’re looking for ourselves. We want to see ourselves. If you grow up not seeing positive cultural or racial images of who you embody, the subliminal message is that you have no value, that you’re not important.
I felt invisible when I was growing up. I grew up in a predominantly Latino and African American neighborhood but when I watched TV, I didn’t see much of us and what I saw were negative stereotypes.
When I finally booked “Jane the Virgin” it was incredible to see and be, as the series developed, Latino characters not only lead the show but also be portrayed in a beautiful positive light.
With flaws, too, yet at the same time revered. We were the heroes of the story. It validated the little girl in me–who’s still very much there–who still wants to be valued and heard and seen and loved. I realized, “Jane the Virgin” was what I needed when I was growing up. It would have made a big difference.
But it’s okay because that wasn’t supposed to be my journey. My journey was perfectly set up to make me feel the negative impact of not being valued. It forced me strive to value myself, to put myself forward, to pick me before society or anyone else was gonna pick me. I had to fight for me.
Doing that empowered me to go the long haul eventually landing me on “Jane the Virgin” where I got to play a role that had an impact on people who were just like me, who needed to see themselves reflected in a positive light, who needed to see it to be it.
How does it feel to be an actress in the digital age? (Now with streaming and technology being so prevalent)
When I first started in the business there were no cell phones. I remember having to find a pay phone on the street throughout the day to check my messages to see if there was an audition or important message from my agent.
Then, we went on to beepers, then cell phones, then smart phones. All of that made life as an actor easier but was also a curse because there was a learning curve with each of them but especially social media and now self tapes.
Most of my auditions are not in person anymore. I have had to learn how to do them remotely, lighting, shooting, editing and uploading plus self directing. Not easy. There are pros and cons but you just have to roll with the times or get left behind.
What is your advice for young and aspiring actors?
My advice for aspiring actors is always the same, really learn and practice the craft of acting and don’t get into the business to be famous. Get into the business tell human stories that can help change the world or teach or make it better. Fame is not what you think it will be if you get there and if you do it will not make you feel better about yourself or make you happy.
Which actors would you like to someday work with as your dream acting partners?
Viola Davis. I love what she creates on screen and in real life. She represents the struggle, overcoming that struggle, and healing.
What does the word success mean to you?
Success used to be for me making lots of money and even being a famous actress. I used to have lofty goals always striving for the next big thing that movie, TV series etc to prove to myself that I was worthy, but through the work I’ve done on myself over the years my perspective has changed.
Now my biggest goal is to love myself and help others to love themselves too. Thats what Our Otherness is Our Strength is about. While I haven’t 100% arrived at that, I am happier than I have ever been and that’s due to the work I’ve done on Andrea. Being happy inside is success to me.
What would you like to tell our readers about your new book? (What’s the one thing you want them to get out of it)
I hope they will be inspired and motivated to take responsibility for their lives. To believe in themselves in spite of the internal and external negative messages they’ve received. I hope to help them feel pride in themselves and to know that anywhere along the line they can make a change for the better.
Her book is available on Amazon by clicking here.
