Meet the new Jane. Jacqueline Grace Lopez (East Los High) has landed the lead in Jane the Novela, the CW’s Jane the Virgin spinoff pilot. The telenovela anthology series project hails from Jane the Virgin creator/executive producer Jennie Snyder Urman, star Gina Rodriguez, exec producers Ben Silverman and director Brad Silberling. as well as studio CBS TV Studios.
Written by Jane scribe Valentina Garza and directed by Silberling, Jane the Novela is envisioned as a soapy, telenovela-inspired anthology series in the tradition of Jane the Virgin, where each season is based on a different fictional novel “written by” Jane Villanueva and narrated by the author herself.
The first installment takes place at a Napa Valley Vineyard, where family secrets (and family members) don’t stay buried for long. It centers on Estela (Lopez), an up and coming art curator who has spent years playing it safe and coloring within the lines. But a shocking secret changes everything and forces her to live a double life.
Being “in the tradition of Jane the Virgin,” Jane the Telenovela mirrors the setup of the original series. It too follows a driven, imaginative twenty-something Latina woman (Lopez) who is torn between her boyfriend, Luen, and Felix, a handsome, rich guy. In this case, Luen is head of security while Felix co-owns a winery vs. Jane Villanueva’s (Rodriguez) cop boyfriend Michael and rich love interest Rafael, co-owner of the Marbella hotel.
