10 Mar On the Set of the CW’s Jane the Virgin
On the Set of the CW’s Jane the Virgin
- // California
My husband and I aren’t materialistic, which is a good thing, but it can leave gift giving a little difficult. What do you get the person who has the things they want and need?
Because of that, we are really big on experiences in lieu of things when gifting time rolls around. Most of the time we give each other travel (that’s how we go so many places).
But this past Christmas my sweet hubby went above and beyond on the experience giving and got me the most thoughtful gift. He was the highest bidder on the charity auction site CharityBuzz.com and won us a set visit to one of my favorite shows, CW’s Jane the Virgin! (While we were in LA, we also got to be in the audience for The Bachelor’s After the Final Rose — what?!?! How is this my life?)
After emailing with Micah Schraft, one of Jane the Virgin’s executive producers and writers, we settled on a date when a lot of the cast would be filming in the studio. And that date was this past Wednesday!!
I have to say, I don’t get excited about celebrities. But the cast of Jane the Virgin feels like family to me, and I know a lot of other fans out there feel the same way. So when I walked onto set and saw Gina and Justin filming a scene in real life, I have to say, it took my breath away a little bit.
We spent about 7 hours on set with the cast and crew, we ate their craft services (OMG – endless bowls of peanut M&M and peanut butter-filled pretzels), and learned a lot about what goes into a show like Jane the Virgin. I left loving the show even more – and I think that says a lot about all of the people involved with its production.
Takeaways From My “Jane the Virgin” Set Visit
The Set of “Jane the Virgin”
The set for the CW’s show Jane the Virgin is housed in two sound stages on the MBS Media Campus. We were able to tour both locations but they were only shooting on stage 2 on the day we visited. When production is not using a particular set, everything in the room is covered up with clear plastic sheets to protect the set from dust and damage.
Stage 1 houses the Marbella’s lobby, gift shop, staff area/kitchen, valet stand, (infamous) hallways, and restaurant as well as Petra and Rafael’s offices and penthouses. Stage 2 includes the Villanueva house with all its rooms and the crying porch, Rafael’s small apartment, and Xo and Rogelio’s lavish Miami home.
The colors on each set are way more (and I mean way) more exaggerated than they appear on TV. Xo and Rogelio’s house looks like somewhere I would want to live on screen but definitely not in person. (Family pictures are on the mantle above the fireplace, including the crazy pictures Rogelio had made of Jane, Xo, Alba and his and Darci’s baby, Baby, dressed up in animal costumes).
The biggest shock is the Marbella which looks so elegant and classy on the show, but has an almost cartoonish quality in real life — down to the “marble” floors, which are actually stickers on plywood.
All of the sets are really, really detailed. On the Marbella set there is even a linen supply closet which has toiletries, towels and bathrobes for the hotel guests. Everything was customized for the fake hotel – robes and towels were embroidered with the hotel’s logo and labels were created for the little bottles of shampoo and even the toilet paper rolls.
In the Marbella’s bar, the 100 or so liquor bottles labels have all been replaced with fake ones created for the show (maybe you can just order them?). And there are even plastic menu stands with Marbella’s specialty drink concoctions (including prices) and chef’s specials.
We heard that on a lot of shows they delay telling people that a show is getting canceled or is ending because items on set will start disappearing. I could definitely see myself “going shopping” in the Marbella’s gift shop!
I never noticed this before, but next time Rafael’s office gets airtime, pay attention to the artwork behind his desk. It features a lion in a tree about to pounce on an elk. You know who’s in charge, right? Wrong.
Head on over to Petra’s office and that same lion is in a collar and leash being held captive by a glamorous woman. Interesting right?
The “Jane the Virgin” Actors
Ivonne Coll (Alba) is an extremely talented actress. She never had to ask for her lines, never messed them up and can convey incredibly different emotions with a simple sideways glance or arch of an eyebrow. Also, she was in line in front of us at the lunch that is brought in for the lot (the only actor on set I saw partaking of catering, BTW) and talked about loving to watch cooking shows that have kid competitors with her grandkids (I’m assuming Chopped Junior or Food Network Star Kids).
Jaime Camil (Rogelio) is super friendly! We were sitting off to the side with the writers while Gina and Justin were filming. Sensing a commotion, I looked away from the monitors and saw Jaime joking around with some crew members. He saw me, recognized that he’d never seen me before and came over to introduce himself! WHAT?! Yes. It’s true folks. Also, adding to Harvey Weinstein’s list of transgressions: Jaime mentioned that since he’s Mexican, he likes doling out hugs but that he was afraid to give them out any more thanks to ole HW. So #metoo. Thanks, Harvey.
He stayed around and talked with us for a good 10 minutes. Jaime’s also cutting up a lot while the cameras are getting repositioned or another actor is getting direction. High-quality jokes, too – like his support of the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms (while flexing his biceps).
Justin Baldoni (Rafael) is just as hot in person and, for those ladies out there wondering, he smelled like patchouli and sandalwood.
Gina Rodriguez (Jane Villanueva) was really nice — and constantly dancing around on set. Her boyfriend, actor Joe LoCicero, was on set when we were there (not in an acting role). Gina, clad in a comfy-looking sepia-colored robe, and Joe were walking around outside one of the studios while everyone was breaking for lunch – his hand lightly resting on her right ass cheek. Fans, you’ll remember Joe from the show! Before they were dating, Joe was cast as the Don Quixote Stripper (2016, Chapter 39). Since then, he’s also been cast as Prince Charming (2017, Chapter 63) and Masked Figure (2018, Chapter 74).
Brooke Shields (River Fields) must be an editor’s dream because she did about 10 takes of a single scene and in each take she completely changed up how the lines were said. It was really amazing to watch. Also, as you could have guessed, damn she’s tall.
Filming
In the whole time we were on set (about 7 hours), we saw 4 scene … what I’ll call “segments” for lack of a better term … which might have amounted to 6 minutes of a 45-minute episode. It’s crazy to think how much time goes into shooting and editing one episode.
Jane the Virgin is shooting about three episodes ahead at the moment. So I got some major spoilers (which I won’t reveal, so don’t ask)!!
** I would love to be able to share more pictures with you, but I was told that photos on set weren’t allowed. The one I shared of Krishna’s desk was taken before anyone told me not to.
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About Sarah
Sarah hails from the land of fried chicken, sweet tea, buttered biscuits, and the friendliest people you’ll ever meet…Alabama! She loves exploring undertouristed locations — places that you wouldn’t automatically think “I’ve always wanted to go there!” Of course, we’ll always have Paris, but what gets Sarah really jazzed is finding those diamond in the rough cities and sharing them with you. Read more…
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Andressa
Posted at 10:24h, 20 DecemberHello Sarah! My name is Andressa and I’m from Brazil. I’ve found your post about visiting Jane the virgin’s set in a research on google ’cause I’m trying to know how to do it as well. You’ve said it was a gift from your husband and he owned it because he was the highest bidder in a charity thing. But I would like to know if you know how to get on set in some other way. I have never been on a tv studio before and have never dreamed about it, but this show is amazing and I’ve heard next year will be the last season.. so I started to think how can I achieve this. Other issue is that the official CW’s website isn’t available to Latin America, so I couldn’t find official information by now.
If you could help me I would be grateful for the rest of my life.
Anyway thank you in advance and I’m really happy for your experience! Best regards
Sarah Johnson
Posted at 12:58h, 20 DecemberHi Andressa! My husband purchased the set visit from a site called http://www.CharityBuzz.com. They actually have an auction for a Jane the Virgin set visit up right now! Here’s the link: https://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/visit-set-of-jane-virgin-for-5-people-in-manhattan-1681202 It’s for 5 people and the going bid right now is $550 with 14 days left. You could gather up 5 friends and go in on it together! Other than CharityBuzz I don’t know of any other way to visit the set (besides having an inside connection of course — which would be AMAZING!). Good luck and let me know if you get to go! It was such a dream come true to see this in action. I hope you are able to experience it as well! — Sarah