Gina Rodriguez to Play Latina President of the United States in Disney Series
It’s no secret that Gina Rodriguez is one of the most prominent young Latina actresses in Hollywood today and now she’s taking on a groundbreaking series about a Cuban-American female president for Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+
Photo: Instagram/hereisgina
It’s no secret that Gina Rodriguez is one of the most prominent young Latina actresses in Hollywood today and now she’s taking on a groundbreaking series about a Cuban-American female president for Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+.
During a time when other successful Latinas like Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and attorney Tiffany Cabán hold positions of power in politics–it seems the premise of Rodriguez’s latest series isn’t too far from reality.
Diary of a Female President follows Elena, a 12-year-old Cuban-American girl, as she navigates middle school and experiences the ups and downs of her journey to becoming the future president of the United States. The series will follow Elena’s story through diary narration.
Rodriguez, who will also executive-produce the show, will fill the guest-starring role of Elena as an adult on the campaign trail. She will also be directing the first episode of Diary of a Female President. The series is produced by Rodriguez’s I Can & I Will Productions.
Some of the cast for the new Disney+ series has also been announced.
Tess Romero (Blind Spot) will play teenage Elena, and is described as “unabashed, semi-dweeby, ultra-observant.” Actress Jessica Marie Garcia of “On My Block” will also star in a role that has yet to be revealed–though she did post a video on social media of Rodriguez “proposing” her to be on the show.
T R O U B LE
🤣♥️✊🏽 pic.twitter.com/hfahPpiBPy— Jessica Marie Garcia (@JessMarieGarcia) July 12, 2019
The remainder of the cast includes Charles Bushnell as Bobby, Elena’s sweet-faced but mischievous older brother; Cuban-American actress Selenis Leyva (Orange Is the New Black) as Gabi, Elena and Bobby’s intelligent and loving mom; and Michael Weaver will play Sam, a lawyer at Gabi’s firm who is establishing a relationship with her, according to Deadline.
Rodriguez will work alongside producing partner Emily Gipson on the series, with Robin Shorr (The Carmichael Show, The Middle) as showrunner and series creator Ilana Peña (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) as the scriptwriter.
Disney+ is expected to launch November 12 with several other Disney titles–which will be removed from Netflix. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the new streaming service will also launch with other scripted originals including, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Star Wars: Rogue One, High Fidelity, High School Musical, an animated Monsters Inc. series and a slate of Marvel shows.
With Jane the Virgin’s final season wrapping up, Rodriguez is already lining up other projects including a JTV spinoff that she’ll executive-produce and narrate. She also previously worked with Disney when she voiced an episode of Elena of Avalor, the first Latina Disney princess.
Now in production in Los Angeles, the 10-episode, half-hour comedy is set to premiere next year on Disney+.
“I established my production company as a vehicle to tell stories for and by the underrepresented,” Rodriguez tells Deadline. “Bringing this story to Disney+ is a dream come true, not to mention hope for our future.”
