Gina Rodriguez's History-Making Golden Globes Speech Will Make You Cry

You might be hearing the whispers, you might be reading the tweets, and they're all saying, "Who is Gina Rodriguez?" She's the star of the CW's first ever Golden Globe-nominated show, Jane the Virgin, and without a doubt, she's the biggest breakout of the night. The winner of Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Comedy or Musical, first-time nominee Rodriguez beat out Lena Dunham (Girls), Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep), and Taylor Schilling (Orange Is the New Black) for the coveted trophy. It's the first time in history the network ever took home any Golden Globe hardware, and it's well-deserved by its golden girl.

"Thank you God for making me an artist," Rodriguez began her speech, before thanking her cast and crew. She continued, "Thank you to my mom and my dad for telling to dream big, and never stop dreaming...This award is so much more than myself. It represents a culture that wants to see themselves as heroes."

Before landing Jane the Virgin, Rodriguez, now 30, made waves in the indie film Filly Brown and the soap The Bold and the Beautiful, but it wasn't until she landed the CW show that people took notice. Jane the Virgin follows Rodriguez as Jane Villanueva, an aspiring teacher determined to save herself for marriage. That is, until an accidental artificial insemination leaves her pregnant, completely disrupting her perfectly manicured life. It's a schmaltzy but heartfelt telenovela that deserves to be seen, especially thanks to the sensitivity, vulnerability, and comedic timing Rodriguez brings to the role.

But the show isn't the only thing that put her on the map. This summer, Rodriguez made headlines at TCAs with her unforgettable speech on cultural identity and what Jane the Virgin means to her. Read the speech below:

I wouldn’t say that I chose Jane over Devious Maids. When I was presented withDevious Maids after Sundance, after I did a film at Sundance and I had an ABC holding deal, I found it limiting that that was the one that was available to me. I found it limiting for the stories that Latinos have. For the stories that Americans have, I feel like there’s a perception that people have about Latinos in America specifically — somebody growing up in Chicago, English being my first language, Spanish being my second — that we are perceived a very certain way.

Our stories have been told, and they’re not unmoralistic, you know, being a maid is fantastic. You know, I have many family members that have fed many of their families on doing that job, but there are other stories that need to be told. And I think that the media is a venue and an avenue to educate and teach our next generation. And, sadly, right now the perception they have of Latinos in America are very specific to maid, landscape, pregnant teen. Mind you, I am playing pregnant but not a teen.

I didn’t become an artist to be a millionaire. I didn’t become an actor to wear Louis Vuitton. I have to give this dress back when we’re done. I became an actor to change the way I grew up. The way I grew up, I never saw myself on screen. I have two older sisters. One’s an investment banker. The other one is an doctor, and I never saw us being played as investment bankers. And I realized how limiting that was for me. I would look at the screen and think, ‘Well, there’s no way I can do it, because I’m not there.’ And it’s like as soon as you follow your dreams, you give other people the allowance to follow theirs.

And for me, to look on younger girls and to say, ‘Well, Gina’s like me, maybe not necessarily the same skin color, maybe not necessarily the same background, but like that’s me. I’m not alone. I can do it too.’ So every role that I’ve chosen has been ones that I think are going to push forward the idea of my culture, of women, of beauty, my idea of liberating young girls, of feeling that they have to look at a specific beauty type. And I wasn’t going to let my introduction to the world be one of a story that I think has been told many times.

I wanted it to be a story that was going to liberate young girls and say, ‘Wow, there we are too, and we’re the doctors, and we’re the teachers, and we’re the writers, and we’re the lawyers, and I can do that too. And I don’t have to be a perfect size zero. I can be a perfect size me.’ And that’s what I live. So Jane, I waited for her patiently. And now she’s here. And thank you for being here with us. Because this is a dream come true to me.

If it wasn't evident enough, it's time to start paying attention to Gina Rodriguez.

Unfortunately these things can also take a turn for the awkward. Take a look at past Golden Globe moments that made us cringe.

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[Photo Credit: Getty Images]