'Jane the Virgin's' Latin Lover Narrator Talks 'Blessing' of Being a Latino American Who Can Speak English and Spanish
Voice-over actor Anthony Mendez says his Latino American background has given him the ability to nail roles like his part in the upcoming The CW series "Jane the Virgin."
Mendez is the narrator for the show, which stars Gina Rodriguez, and said the new series "brings something different" to the table.
"If you are of any generation -- first, second or third or the daughter the son, the father, the mother, the grandmother, anybody -- this is a show that I can [guarantee] you will fall in love with because the characters and the actors are just so brilliant! It will warm your heart," he told Latina magazine.
According to Mendez, his part is written as "Latin Lover Narrator" on the script. At first, the expectation "shocked" the voice-over actor, but he soon became comfortable with the part.
"It's something I've kind of always done: the smooth talking, Hispanic-accented, almost over-the-cuff narration," he said. "The funny thing about the narration is the very unique way it's written. ... It's not a regular voice-over. You're kind of getting things done through the narrator that you wouldn't get done visually or through the characters. ... This is almost like the Latin Lover Narrator is a totally separate character in the cast."
Mendez, who has also lent his voice to Nick Jr.'s "Bubble Guppies" and the video game "Grand Theft Auto V," according to IMDb, said being able to speak both English and Spanish is a gift for many Latino Americans.
"The ability to be able to do that -- to call upon my Spanish accent and turn that volume up on that accent 100 percent -- that's really a blessing that I think a lot of American Latinos have," Mendez said. "Because the downside of the growing demographic of Latinos is that everybody thinks it's some kind of homogenized culture. The reality is that there's such a varied culture and several cultures within the Latino community that we have the advantage of being able to play all of that."
"Jane the Virgin" premieres on Oct. 13 on The CW.
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.
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