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Jane the Virgin is an American comedy-drama television series airing on The CW. It is a loose adaptation of the Venezuelan telenovela Juana la Virgen, created by Perla Farías.[1]

Premise[]

Set in Miami, the series details the surprising and unforeseen events that take place in the life of Jane Villanueva, a hard-working, religious young Latina woman whose family tradition and a vow to save her virginity until her marriage to a detective is shattered when a doctor accidentally artificially inseminates her by mistake during a checkup. And to make matters worse, the biological donor is a married man, a former playboy and cancer survivor who is not only the new owner of the hotel where Jane works but was also her former teenage crush.

Starring[]

Main cast[]

Gina Rodriguez as Jane Villanueva
Andrea Navedo as Xiomara Villanueva
Justin Baldoni as Rafael Solano
Yael Grobglas as Petra Solano
Ivonne Coll as Alba Villanueva
Jaime Camil as Rogelio De La Vega
Brett Dier as Michael Cordero Jr. (Pilot to Chapter Fifty-Four, Chapter Eighty-Two to Chapter Eighty-Eight)
Elias Janssen as Mateo Solano Villanueva (Chapter Sixty-Five to Chapter One-Hundred)

Recurring cast[]

Yara Martinez as Luisa Alver
An OB/GYN and Rafael Solano's sister
Priscilla Barnes as Magda
Petra's scheming mother
Bridget Regan as Rose Solano
A former lawyer, Emilio Solano's wife and Luisa Alver's lover
Diane Guerrero as Lina Santillan
Jane's childhood best friend
Justina Machado as Darci Factor (3—5)
Rogelio's ex-girlfriend
Yael Grobglas as Anežka (2—4)
Anezka the evil twin sister of Petra and Magda's other daughter
Azie Tesfai as Nadine Hanson (1—2)
Michael Cordero's partner at the Miami Police Department
Megan Ketch as Susanna Barnett (Season 2)
Michael's new partner
Carlo Rota as Emilio Solano (Season 1)
Guest starring
Rita Moreno as Liliana De La Vega
Rogelio's mother
Castulo Guerra as Manuel De La Vega
Rogelio's father
Keller Wortham as Esteban Santiago
Rogelio's telenovela rival + nemesis, who is currently in a relationship with Darci
Melanie Mayron as Marlene Donaldson
Jane's second grad advisor and mentor
Fabiana Udenio as Elena Di Nola (1—2)
Rafael Solano's absent mother
Michael Rady as Lachlan Moore (1—2)
Rafael's business rival who is favoured by Emilio
Adam Rodriguez as Jonathan Chavez (2, guest 4)
Alano Miller as Roman Zazo (Season 1)
Rafael's college roommate who has an affair with Petra
Co-Starring
Aiden Tiago as Mateo Solano Villanueva (until 54)
Jenna Ortega as Young Jane
Wes Armstrong as Scott Archuletta (1 — 3)
Rosie Garcia as Young Alba
Dennis Mencia as Mateo Villanueva
Christopher Corbin as Ivan Rogachevsky (1—2)
Christopher Allen as Dennis Chambers (3 • 5)
Greg Collins as Coop Armstrong (1—3)
Brian Dare as Luca (1—2)
Camille Collard as Frankie (Season 1)

Characters[]

Main[]

Jane Gloriana Villanueva

Jane is a 23-year-old, religious young Latina woman who becomes pregnant after being artificially inseminated by mistake. After meeting Rafael and hearing his situation, she agrees to carry the baby full term and turn over custody to him and his wife Petra, but only if she is sure her baby will be safe and loved with them. But, as the pregnancy grows, they both start to have feelings for each other. Jane ends up having a baby boy named Mateo Gloriano Rogelio Solano Villanueva.

Rafael Solano

Rafael is a 31-year-old ex-owner of the Marbella Hotel and the biological father of Jane's child who has fallen out of love with his wife. As the series progresses, he develops growing feelings for Jane and divorces Petra after discovering her affair.

Petra Solano

Petra is Rafael's scheming ex-wife and a member of a shady Czech crime family who got married to Rafael in order to steal his wealth, though over time she did fall in love with him. She later divorces Rafael and in Season 2, she gives birth to their twin daughters, Anna and Elsa (later Ellie).

Mateo Gloriano Rogelio Solano Villanueva

Mateo is Jane and Rafael's baby. Named after Jane's grandfather and Alba's husband, who died before Jane was born.

Rogelio De La Vega

Rogelio is a self-involved, famous telenovela star and Jane's biological father. In Season 1, he is trying to gain a relationship with his newly discovered daughter. He also has feelings for Xiomara, who was his girlfriend in high school. He marries Xiomara in the season three finale.

Xiomara Gloriana De La Villanueva

Xiomara (aka Xo) is Jane's outgoing mother. She was only sixteen years old when she had Jane, which is why Jane would rather keep her virginity until marriage than make the same mistake her mother did. She is a dance teacher but dreams of having a singing career. She marries Jane's father in the Season three finale.

Alba Gloriana Villanueva

Alba is Jane's pious maternal grandmother (Abuela) and Mateo's great-grandmother (Bisa). She is highly religious and encourages Jane to save her virginity until marriage. Although she rarely speaks English, she understands it, since her granddaughter usually only speaks to her in English. She was in the country illegally until she got her green card in season two.

Michael Cordero Jr.

Michael is Jane's 29-year-old husband who was a detective. He is aware of Petra's affair and blackmails her to ensure that her marriage remains intact so that Jane will give the baby to them, however later he decides to support Jane's decision to keep the baby. He also dislikes Rafael due to Jane's, and eventually Rafael's, attraction to one another. He is the head detective in the hunt for Sin Rostro, a high-profile drug dealer who seems to be based in the Marbella Hotel, however, he later quits to become a lawyer.

Recurring[]

Luisa Alver

Dr. Luisa Alver is a former doctor and recovering alcoholic, who is the adoptive sister of Rafael and in a relationship with notorious criminal Sin Rostro. She is also the doctor who accidentally artificially inseminated Jane.

Sin Rostro (aka "Rose", Clara Ruvelle)

Rose is a former lawyer, girlfriend of Luisa, and eventually stepmother of Luisa and Rafael who defends Luisa against the malpractice suit. She is later revealed to be the crime lord Sin Rostro and is arrested in season three. Luisa works to try to break her out of jail throughout season 4.

Anežka Archuletta

Anežka is Petra's long-lost twin sister who grew up with a rough life in the Czech Republic. At the end of the second season, she drugs Petra and begins a scheme with Magda to impersonate Petra so they can gain controlling shares in the Marbella. In season 4, she fakes her own death to find out who really loves her and thinks that Petra does when she sees Petra crying (because the twins sprayed pepper spray in her eye). She later finds out the truth and ends up in a dispute with Petra with Anežka falling off a balcony.

Darci Factor

Darci is Rogelio's ex-girlfriend and the mother of her and Rogelio's daughter “Baby Michaelina de la Vega Factor”. She runs a matchmaking business.

Format[]

Jane the Virgin, an adaptation of a telenovela but itself just incorporating elements of the genre, employs a number of storytelling gags and references to real telenovelas.

Jane's story is told through a specific theme for each season:

Season 1 is the story of Jane's journey from accidental insemination to childbirth
Season 2 is Jane's discovery of motherhood and how it informs her identity
Season 3 is the journey of growing up and what that costs

The story itself is told like a book with chapters, which are added into parts of Jane's story. It is as following:

PART 1Chapter One to Chapter Twenty-Two
PART 2Chapter Twenty-Three to Chapter Fifty-Four
PART 3Chapter Fifty-Five to Chapter One-Hundred

"In my mind, it’s a three-part narrative and this is a giant seismic shift that happened around our midpoint. So, you know, they’re not equal thirds" — Jennie Urman[2]

Part 3 is the last part of the story.

Episodes[]

Main article: Episode Guide

Accolades[]

Peabody
2014 Peabody Award Winner[3]
Jane the Virgin is the 2015 People's Choice Winner for Favorite New TV Comedy[4]
Jane the Virgin was nominated for 2 Golden Globes Awards for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy and Gina Rodriguez won Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy.[5][6]
Jane the Virgin was nominated for 2 Teen Choice Awards, Gina Rodriguez and Jaime Camil won Best Actress and Best Actor- Television Series Comedy, respectively.

Trivia[]

  • In the US the series airs Friday nights on The CW in the 9 p.m. (ET/PT)/8 p.m. (CT) time slot.
  • Jane the Virgin is the first series from The CW to be nominated for and win a Golden Globe Award.[5][6]
  • Jane the Virgin is breaking ground in TV motherhood depictions.[7][8][9]

Music[]

SUPERVISORS

Kevin Edelman

Photos[]

Jane the Virgin

Media[]

How Jane The Virgin Reimagined On-Screen Sex For Women (REFINERY29 • MAY 2019)
‘Jane the Virgin’ is full of telenovela twists and turns. It is also profoundly real. (THE WASHINGTON POST • APRIL 2019)
"Jane The Virgin" Stars Are Saying Goodbye To The Show And Now I'm An Emotional Wreck (BUZZFEED • APRIL 2019)
How 'Jane The Virgin' Costume Designer Sage Kunin Uses Fashion To Bring The Telenovela Down-To-Earth (BUSTLE • APRIL 2019)
Latina™: Where Jane the Virgin Fails in Latinx Representation (THE MARY SUE • MARCH 2018)
Jane the Virgin Cast Greatness (BUZZFEED • JANUARY 2016)

Videos[]

Notes and references[]

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