- It's alright. I know Mateo's just playing
- — Anna when Mateo pulls her hair[2]
Anna & Elsa (nicknamed Ellie) are recurring characters on Jane the Virgin, portrayed by Mia and Ella Allan.
Characters[]
Anna and Ellie are the twin daughters of Petra Solano and Rafael Solano, born in 2016. At age 4 in 2020, the girls are heralded as very bright and extremely well-behaved, winning awards and recognition for their prodigiousness. They spend a lot of time with their family, which includes their mother, father, brother Mateo and Aunt Jane. Mateo can be a little wild, around the girls too, like one time when he pulls Anna's hair, but the girls handle it calmly and continuously are excited about spending time with their brother.
Story[]
Background[]
After Petra discovers Rafael's last sperm sample,[3] she inseminates herself with a turkey baster without Rafael's knowledge or permission, believing Rafael still has feelings for her and this could bring them together.[4] Rafael was angered by this but agreed to keep the baby and be a part of its life.[5] He soon warmed to the idea and was around a lot during Petra's pregnancy. He was there on the day of the ultrasound when it was discovered that Petra was having twin girls, much to Petra's shock.[6]
After experiencing great stress, Petra experiences some bleeding, which has her put on bed rest and she admits to Rafael that she worries she will lose the twins, the way she did last time she was pregnant with their baby boy four years prior. Rafael takes it upon himself to care for Petra's needs and they choose the names for their girls.[7] Rafael and Petra grow closer during Petra's pregnancy, and the pair even share a kiss, but Petra doesn't move forward due to Rafael's feelings for Jane.[8] Petra asks Rafael if she and her daughters will be "second-class citizens" to Jane and Mateo but he assured her he will be there for everything.[9]
Birth and early life[]
After a long labor with no medication, as she has a blood deficiency, Petra gives birth to the twins with Jane as her birthing partner. Jane holds Elsa after the birth, and Petra tells her that she and Rafael have decided to name them Elsa and Anna respectively. Jane, naturally, sees the humor in the Frozen connection and explains as much to Petra. The new mother shrugs it off, informing Jane that she will be the only one to think in those terms. Rafael, who was stuck in traffic with Jane's boyfriend (now fiancé) Michael Cordero, soon joins the scene and apologizes to Petra for missing the birth. He then takes the twin that Jane is holding and Jane leaves them to bond.[10]
Petra struggled to bond with the twins and mostly left them with her nannies. They met their big brother, Mateo for a play-date and Rafael continued trying to get Petra more involved with them.[11] After Jane took her to a Mommy class with them, she was diagnosed with postpartum depression.[12] She started spending more time with them but still kept some distance until one night when she made Elsa laugh for the first time. But just as she thought she was finally bonding with them, her twin-sister Anežka paralyzed her and took her place.[13]
While Petra was left paralyzed for months, Anežka posed as her and took care of the twins in her place, resulting in them getting closer to her. When Petra managed to get free from her paralysis and took back her life[14] the twins didn't know her anymore and cried when she picked them up. Feeling like the only thing she could do for them was provide them the financial stability that she never had, she destroyed the amendment to Rafael's father's will, which would result in him giving up his share of The Marbella.[15] To help her, Rafael set up a family bonding-day for them all but when Rafael told her he was going to prison, Petra panicked at the thought of being left alone with the girls. She was saddened by Elsa and Anna's continuous rejection of her, especially upon seeing how they responded to Anežka. However, after a night of successfully taking care of them and Mateo she realized she could handle it and told Rafael to do what he had to do, which was to plead guilty and go to prison.[16]
Three years later[]
After Rafael was sent to prison, Jane and Petra agreed to meet with the kids once a week for brunch, a tradition that they upheld for the years to come. Three years in the future, the twins have grown up to be two very well-behaved girls who get on well in pre-school and have much patience with their brother who can be a hand-full. Sick of the Frozen connection, Elsa has had her name changed to Ellie.[2] Petra got upset when the twins brought home a drawing of her as a dragon, believing they thought she was scary but Rafael reassured her it was because he had told them that she was fierce and the twins knew that she would always protect them.[17] Anna and Ellie got to take a test for the Gifted and Talented program. They got on well with Petra's boyfriend, Chuck and although Petra told them he was just her friend they understood he was her boyfriend.[18]
Petra was horrified when her mother Magda turned up for the first time in years and was cuddling with the twins[19] although they didn't understand why she was so mean to her. She told them she would work things out with her but promptly demanded that she stayed away from them.[20] When Anežka faked her death, the twins were not saddened by her passing and played around before her funeral, resulting in them accidentally spraying perfume in Petra's eyes, making her seem sad about the death which helped her win Anežka over when she revealed that she had faked her death to see who really cared about her. However, Anežka posed as Petra and talked to the twins who said they didn't miss their aunt and revealed why she was crying at the funeral which resulted in Anežka confronting Petra, ending in her accidentally being shoved off the balcony[21] after she threatened Anna and Ellie.[22]
When Mateo lost one of his teeth and was excited about the tooth fairy coming, Anna and Ellie revealed that she wasn't real. After it upset Jane, Petra forced them to go back and tell him they got it wrong and she was real to not ruin it for Mateo, although he didn't quite believe them and they accidentally revealed Santa wasn't real either.[23]
When Rafael dropped them off early at Petra's they were accidentally introduced to her new girlfriend, Jane Ramos. After agreeing to be serious with each other, Petra introduced her to them properly.[24] They seemed to get on well with her as they hung out while Petra was away,[22] however, after they witnessed her holding a gun after shooting Miloš in self-defense, they became convinced that she was a bad guy and tried to break her and Petra up. When Petra realized this she and Rafael agreed to put the girls in therapy for their trauma and she told JR she had to end things to put her children first, although she asked to at least try with them first.[25] They started to warm up to her but it went down-hill when she agreed to spend some alone time with them and after they started acting out she ended up screaming at them which upset Petra when she found out. However, she realized she had overreacted and they talked about her role acting in a parenting capacity with them.[26]
When Jane was set to marry Rafael, she wanted to bond with the girls more as she would be their step-mom. She agreed to babysit them and they had a good time. However, they got upset with her when she told Petra about a small incident where they used their iPads after she told them not to. Following that, they acted out, calling her "lame Jane" for telling on them. When she had to pick them up later, they accompanied Jane as she was trying to sneak into a building to deliver her novel to an agent. As they were about to get caught, Anna and Ellie stepped up for her, pretending to be the daughters of someone living there in order to get past security. Afterwards, Jane thanked them and they said they would lie for her any time after which Jane clarified that what they did was a last resort but wrong of her, giving herself the punishment of no iPad for a week which made the twins laugh. Jane then tells Petra that she can't always tell her everything and needs to have her own relationship with them.[27] They are last seen during Jane and Rafael's wedding where they get to play part in the ceremony as flower girls alongside Mateo.[28]
Relationships[]
As babies, Petra struggled to bond with the girls and avoided spending time with them.[11] She was diagnosed with postpartum depression[12] and just when she finally started to bond them, she was poisoned and left paralyzed by her sister.[13] The months she spent paralyzed caused the twins to bond more to Anežka and when she was finally freed[14] they didn't know her anymore and would cried when she held them.[15] Rafael convinced her to spend a day with them to bond and after a successful night with the girls and Mateo she realized that she could do it.[16] When Rafael goes to prison, she takes care of the girls on her own and three years in the future they have a close relationship.[2]
Although, Rafael was initially horrified when he learnt Petra was pregnant with his child,[5] as time went on he came around to the idea and was excited about being a father again. He missed the twins' birth due to being stuck in traffic but was thrilled to finally meet his daughters, agreeing with Petra that they were beautiful.[10] As babies Rafael wanted to be there for them although he worried when Petra didn't seem to be able to bond with them.[11] Three years into the future, the twins are seen having a good relationship with their father, and Petra and Rafael are comfortable co-parenting them.[2]
Anna and Ellie enjoy spending time with their half-brother and although they don't live together most of the time, they have brunch with him and their parents every week and enjoy spending time with him. They have much patience with him, like when he pulls Anna's hair and throws carrots at them.[2] They feel sorry for him when Jane worries he'll get a bad teacher at school and goes to hug him to make it better.[29] However, they don't always get along as the twins' closeness can cause Mateo to feel left out, making him act out, although they make up in the end.[30] The twins can look down on Mateo at times, like when they told him the tooth fairy didn't exist and laughed at him believing in Santa[23] or dismisses his lower grades.[24]
As babies, Jane helped Petra with the twins by taking her to a Mommy class.[12] When Rafael went to prison, Jane and Petra agreed to have brunch once a week with the kids to check up on each other and three years into the future the twins call Jane "Aunt Jane".[2] When Jane is set to marry Rafael, she wants to get closer to the twins as she'll be their step-mom and offers to babysit. Although she ends up upsetting them when she tells Petra about their bad behavior. In the end, they make up and Jane tells Petra she needs to have her own relationship with Anna and Ellie and can't always tell her everything.[27]
When Anežka first turned up, she would help Petra with the twins and admired her for giving them such a great life after coming from nothing.[31] After paralyzing Petra and taking over her life, Anežka was the one taking care of the twins[13] and unlike Petra who had struggled to bond with them, she had no issue getting close to them.[14] After Petra regained control, the twins were still bonded to Anežka and responded more to her than their mother.[16] However, three years in the future, the twins has no relationship with their aunt.[2] When Anežka was thought dead, the twins were not sad and even played around at her funeral.[21]
As babies, Magda showed no interest in the twins. Three years into the future, she got close to them, even gave them eye-patches and hooks to look like her, but this was only to upset Petra and force her to sell The Marbella. The twins wondered why Petra was so mean to "Babicka" and seemed to like spending time with her. Petra told Magda to stay away from her children,[20] and was later horrified when she realized Magda still had access to them had spent with them.[32]
The twins doesn't have much of a relationship with their aunt as she wasn't present during the time they were born. In the three years while she was traveling with Rose Solano, Rafael had stopped her from seeing his children, although she did bring them presents when she came to visit.[33] After making amends with Rafael, Luisa was ready to meet all his kids, although, she only got the chance to meet Mateo before he realized she was still involved with Rose and cut her out of their lives again.[26] However, as of the finale, she is back on good terms with her brother and presumable has gotten the chance to have a relationship with her nieces and nephew as well.[28]
When they were first together, the twins seemed to get along well with Petra's girlfriend, JR.[24][22] However, after they witnessing her pointing a gun at Miloš, they became convinced that she was a bad guy and tried to break her and Petra up in order to save their mom from her.[34] Realizing this, JR wanted to try harder them to convince them she wasn't a bad guy[25] and they started to warm up to her. Though she initially struggled with spending alone time with them as she didn't know what to do when they started fighting and ended up shouting at them, she eventually got comfortable acting in a parenting capacity with them.[26]
Trivia[]
- The babies playing the twins in season 2 and 3 were uncredited. Mia and Ella Allan took over the roles as of Chapter Fifty-Five.
- The girls were inadvertently named after the sisters from Frozen.[35]
- They did meet their auntie Luisa in season 4 episode 5 when Rafael had a fight with her sister and they walked in.
- It is possible that the twins may not be Rafael's.[36]
- Jennie Urman in May 2015: "She's a young woman; she doesn't need [Rafael] to get her pregnant."[37]
- Although, as of the series ending this has never been suggested within the show making it unlikely to be the case.
- Petra had Elsa's name legally changed to Ellie.
- Both JR and Petra agree that the twins are spoiled. Petra admits that's probably a result of her spoiling them to make up for her own scrappy childhood.[26]
- After they asked her, Petra told Anna and Ellie that the tooth fairy and Santa Clause don't exist as she practices radical honesty on her children.[23]
- After Petra left the parental control off on the iPad, Anna and Ellie watched a lot of inappropriate shows and learnt all about the opioid crisis.[38]
Photos[]
Episodes[]
SEASON 2 (6/22)
- Chapter Thirty-Six • Chapter Thirty-Seven • Chapter Thirty-Eight • Chapter Forty-One • Chapter Forty-Two • Chapter Forty-Four
SEASON 3 (13/20)
- Chapter Forty-Seven • Chapter Forty-Eight • Chapter Forty-Nine • Chapter Fifty-Three • Chapter Fifty-Four • Chapter Fifty-Five • Chapter Fifty-Six • Chapter Fifty-Seven • Chapter Fifty-Eight • Chapter Fifty-Nine • Chapter Sixty • Chapter Sixty-Two • Chapter Sixty-Three
SEASON 4 (13/17)
- Chapter Sixty-Six • Chapter Sixty-Seven • Chapter Sixty-Eight • Chapter Sixty-Nine • Chapter Seventy-One • Chapter Seventy-Three • Chapter Seventy-Four (Ellie only; voice only) • Chapter Seventy-Five • Chapter Seventy-Seven • Chapter Seventy-Eight • Chapter Seventy-Nine • Chapter Eighty • Chapter Eighty-One
SEASON 5 (7/17)
- Chapter Eighty-Four • Chapter Eighty-Five (dream only; as adults) • Chapter Eighty-Seven • Chapter Eighty-Nine • Chapter Ninety • Chapter Ninety-Six • Chapter One-Hundred
Notes and references[]