Ivonne Coll – Jane The Virgin

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What can you tease is new this season on “Jane the Virgin?”

A) It’s going to be very interesting, especial for Team Michael people. You never know if it is Michael or not. Is he Rose? Is he Michael? Then, in the end it will have a conclusion that I guess will normalize the whole thing in the end. My character’s life takes a little turn. I think she finds her emotional being very well rounded, along with Jorge (Alfonso DiLuca). He brings a little bit of conflict in my household as well with everyone getting adapted to Abuela having a new relationship. The Villanueva is going to have a new addition in many ways. There will be growing pains with everyone adapting to new people in your life. So, it’s going to be funny and a real human journey that happens in her life and emotional life from now on. I hope people enjoy it.

Q) What are you going to miss about portraying Alba Villanueva?

A) I’m very saddened I’m ending with this character after five years. I hold her life close to my heart and her journey is so important in terms of what it means to so many people in the states that are like her. It’s an all-American story for Alba. It’s an all-American story in the sense of what the country is going through with immigration – illegal immigration as it were; how it unfolds for her and her becoming an American citizen and how she has contributed to this country. I’ve never experienced anything like that in my whole career. So, I’m going to miss her adventures, pains and joyfulness and her Catholicism.

Q) At the end of Season 5 we saw Alba become an American citizen. Talk about what that meant to you.

A) I’m Puerto Rican so I’m an American citizen, but our situation is very different because we’re kind of like second class citizens. We’re not allowed to vote for the President of the United States or general voting. But we can serve! [laughs] That’s a cause close to me as a person, as opposed to what it means to an immigrant from another country that comes here without their papers maybe seeking a better life because what they have in their countries is more oligarchy – gang oriented. There are many countries like that where gangs are recruiting and the military recruiting little kids. So, they have it different from what I’ve experienced as Ivonne, a Puerto Rican person. So, an immigrant that comes here and takes the risk and they achieve their citizenship because it’s one of their dreams I think it’s so beautiful and it’s an accomplishment for them, their family and their lives. In the case of Alba, I’m extremely happy that after all the years as an illegal immigrant contributing to society and her household and the country. I think that’s a reward for her that she doesn’t have the pain knowing she could be booted out of the country after she has had her family here for so long. So, it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to that, but in that sense, it was her dream to become an American citizen to be here safely and without any worries.

Q) Jennie Snyder Urman said at “Jane The Virgin” they are always making the personal political and the political personal and intertwine those. What have been some of your favorite examples of this throughout the seasons?

A) I made it personal in the sense that immigrants have been vilified by the president of our country in such a way that to show the opposite of what he describes to his followers and to the country and to show this person that it is a fictional character – a fictional character though that is very much alive in this country. This Alba character very much exists everywhere and they are contributing in the sense of the vilification of illegal immigrants that people are getting so it’s very personal for me to vindicate that and show the other side of the coin. There are people in the world who are criminals, gang bangers, etc. Most of the people that immigrate here, even if it’s illegally (without proper documentation) don’t come here to be hoodlums! Why would you cross the desert and have all that pain to come here to break the law? [laughs] It doesn’t make any sense. Alba came through the airport and with her husband and they just had a tourist VISA and overstayed it, which many people do that – not only from Latin America, but from Canada, China, Romania, Russia and everywhere. Many people do it! It’s not a problem that only pertains to Latinos. It pertains to anyone who is not a natural born citizen that comes here and wants something else.

Q) How has she evolved throughout the seasons?

A) I think that she started very stern. The first episode she talks about virginity and Catholicism. I think that through her experience she has opened up. She has been forced to be open or she has opened to many other possibilities of life and many other ways of thinking because she’s here and she is surrounded by her daughter and granddaughter who were born here and think as North Americans – as opposed to Alba who thinks as a Latin American and a Latin American who is very Catholic, which is what happens in most Latin American countries; Catholicism pervades. I am happy that she has grown out of it. [laughs] And now she can maybe have a healthy sexual life and a life without having any guilt about it. You will see. She’s changed. She’s a little bit more open now, but she’s also baffled by many things. Yesterday Gina was doing a scene where Jane was doing an exercise for when you have high anxiety and when we did it in the scene I was like, “What the hell is going on?!” To an older person of another culture, to be able to express yourself with therapy in front of other people it’s like, “What?!” So, I play off of all these things that are very North American. When I say America, I mean American as in all of the Americans. We’re all Americans in the Americas. It’s very interesting.

Q) In this last season were you looking forward to sharing more scenes with anyone in particular?

A) I wish I had more scenes with Petra (Yael Grobglas). I think she is hilarious. I love that character. But I am having a real nice scene with her mom and I was looking forward to that one, very much so. I think I’ve played with almost everybody. I think they’ve had Alba play with almost every character. Not a lot with Justina Machado’s character, which I wish I had more time with that.

Q) What were some of your most memorable moments from filming through the years?

A) When Michael (Brett Dier) and Jane got married and Bruno Mars was there…To me, uh! That was like a dream come true for Ivonne. Oh my God! I couldn’t get a word in! I was head over heels. We loved each other instantly! Even with Juanes, who was there at the beginning, that was another dream come true.

Q) Costar Gina Rodriguez headed back into the director’s chair this season. What is it like for you watching her perform double duty?

A) Oh, I thought Gina was extraordinary as a director and actor. One of the few people I’ve seen more ready to really get in there as a director and know exactly what she wants to with her shot, where she is going to place the camera, how she is going to move the scenes in technical terms and how she is going to direct the actors actorly wise. Most of the directors don’t have time to direct you. They’ll give you a note according to the notes that the writers will give them for the tone of the scene, but many directors just focus on the technical. Gina was extraordinary because she’s an actor so she can come give you the notes as an actor and speak your language as an actor. Then, she can give you different choices for the same scene. Usually the director is ready for scenes and has studied exactly what your character would be doing and not doing so she can give you the choices. It was one of the most beautiful experiences in these five years to be directed by Gina. She was there every day so she learned the language. She was there every single day for five years so she learned the language of the crew, technical things that they say amongst themselves like the cameraman, DP, the sound, etc. So, she knows all these nuances. Plus, she has a vision of how she sees the scene, how she sees the episode and how she wants us working in it. I hope she has a long career as a director because she’s really good. Really good. I was supposed to direct an episode, but I suffered an injury with my ankle and tour a tendon. I could barely walk at the beginning of Season 5 so we decided to move it to the second half. By then they were already covered so I lost my opportunity to direct an episode. But we’ll see what happens after this!

Q) Were there any mementos you took home with you from your time working on the show?

A) There is a little chicken bowl in the kitchen of the house. I already told the prop people that I am taking it! I want to take that little hen. It’s like a sugar bowl with a little hen. I wish I could take more things. And I’m going to see if I can get a few of the shoes because they’re my size! Maybe a few pants from wardrobe that don’t look very grandma because I’m not going to be playing the grandma in the spinoff! I’m going to be playing the mother in the spinoff if it goes. I wish I could think of more things. I did take one book that they put in my bedroom as Alba. It was a prayer book called Answered Prayers by Paramahansa Yogananda. I thought, “This is mine because I do worship at the Self Realization Fellowship.” I thought, “God sent it to me. I’m not stealing it. I’m just taking it because it belongs to me.” [laughs] If I could take more things…believe me. Oh, and I want a photo of Jorge and me that is in the house. That would be a nice memento.

Q) What has it meant to you have three strong Latinas as leads of a show?

A) Oh my God! I think history was made by having three Latinas as heads of the show. It has opened up the doors for other shows to exist with a Latina also. You have “One Day at a Time” where most of the leads are female! I think it has inspired other shows to go ahead and show the strength of the Latina woman. Usually we are portrayed as background characters who maybe come in and say “Si Senora” or “No Senora.” Maybe we’re the nanny or the housekeeper or maybe the illegal immigrant that is running and asking for help. But in this case, they see they are career oriented, especially my granddaughter. I have a career as a nurse and I take care of elderly people. Then, my daughter was a teenage mother so she doesn’t really have an education not have a career, but she has a talent for dancing. So, she had her academy for dancing. These are people that are not dependent on being employed. They holding their own jobs. I loved that it was three generations because usually they just show you the younger generations – the younger generation and the mother. Never the abuela! The abuelas are always cooking with an apron and saying, “Mija! Do you want something to eat?” That’s all they do. In this case, the abuela is not like that. They’ve had me run the gambit with this character and attribute all of that to Jennie Snyder Urman because she is the one who has created this venue. It took a woman. It took a minority woman to bring three Latinas to the forefront. It took a woman to write a woman. She’s so talented. I don’t know if this will happen again. I hope it does! It hope it wasn’t just a fad. I hope this keeps them coming back to different Latinas in different situations and that it moves on to other shows where the Latinas are educated and with professions. It does influence the mentality of how we are perceived in the country. Television goes into your home and it creates an intimate relationship. People feel they know you just because you are in their house on the TV. [laughs] So, it’s very important that we keep on telling them. This was very special and unique and I hope it doesn’t stop there.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work on “Jane The Virgin?”

A) I’m so grateful to the people who have supported our work and to the fans that have been loyal and loving. I hug everybody because I feel that the people who love your show it’s a sign of love towards your work and what you’re doing. I really appreciate it so much in my heart. I appreciate their faithfulness through my prior work. They’ve gone through a rollercoaster of all these emotions and that we’ve done for these past five years and they’ve remained loyal to us. With “Jane The Virgin” everyone has been, “Oh my God! I’m binging on it for the third time!” That is what I hear and I’ve never really had that experience with a character and a show. I did “Teen Wolf” and “Switched at Birth” and they were very big, but “Jane The Virgin” takes the trophy. So, I’m so grateful to all the fans for supporting our work, supporting the show and for being faithful these five years. God bless them. God bless them all.