Things You Never Knew About Gina Rodriguez

Jan Welters

Everyone who has had the pleasure of meeting, talking to, or—you know—just *watching* Gina Rodriguez knows that the 32-year-old Chicago native is basically an open book. But she still has some secrets. Or did. Until she told us this:

1. Her favorite TV show is Six Feet Under.

2. She performed as a salsa dancer at age 7 with a youth dance company. At 13, she taught swimming lessons to children with disabilities.

3. Her favorite TED Talk is Elizabeth Gilbert's "Your Elusive Creative Genius."

4. Her parents wanted her to become a lawyer. (Which, quite obviously, did not happen.)

5. When applying to NYU, she told the interviewer, "I'm going to make it. So either NYU can claim me, or another college can." (She says now: "Such an asshole. What was I thinking? It was this confidence that my mother and father gave me. Claim your life. Claim what you want.")

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Today I get to celebrate two incredible blessings. Being on the cover of @marieclairemag has truly been a dream of mine since I was a young girl. They honor and uplift women and not only have they empowered me but are honoring all the ladies from our new awards show airing on Dec 19th on the CW @youngwomenshonors in this issue! This partnership is a dream come true. And...well, this morning I got my third Golden Globe nomination and I'm just stunned. Just stunned. What a fanFreakingTastic Monday. Let's get it!!!!! @goldenglobes #GinaForMc Written by: Laurie Sandell Photo credit: Jan Welters/Marie Claire @janwelters_official Fashion editor: Alison Edmond @edmondalison Hair: Jenny Cho @jennychohair Makeup: Pati Dubroff @patidubroff Nails: Karen Gutierrez @karengnails

A post shared by Gina Rodriguez-LoCicero (@hereisgina) on Dec 12, 2016 at 8:43am PST