Gina Rodriguez Says Justin Baldoni Is 'My Brother Forever' Nearly 10 Years afterJane the Virgin’s Premiere (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Gina Rodriguez and Justin Baldoni attend the Paley Center For Media’s 2019 PaleyFest LA.Photo:JB Lacroix/Getty

JB Lacroix/Getty

Jane Villanueva and Rafael Solano aren’t just endgame onscreen — they’re like family in real life.

“Justin is a sweet, sweet soul. Man, he’s a sweetie pie,” she raves ofJustin Baldoni, who played the Rafael to her Jane. “That guy is — that’s my brother forever. Forever and ever.”

Rodriguez, 40, says that “hands down” Baldoni, 40, is “the person I stay in touch with the most, for sure” out of the cast ofJane, though they’re all pretty frequently in contact.

“I talk toYael [Groblas]andBrett [Dier]a lot also.” she adds, referring to the actress who played her enemy-turned-confidant, Petra, and the actor who played her character’s first love, Michael. “But Justin is just my brother.”

Gina Rodriguez as Jane and Justin Baldoni as Rafael in ‘Jane The Virgin’.Patrick Wymore/The CW

Patrick Wymore/The CW

The actress, who is now co-hosting an all-new game show, ABC’sLucky 13, withShaquille O’Neal, says that she feels “old” when she thinks back to the premiere ofJane The Virgin.

“I feel old. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. The second thing that comes to mind is: I want to do a reunion,” she admits. “I freaking loved that experience so much, and those people, and that show was so cool. That show was so different. That show was just so unique.”

“Every moment was perfect,” she continues of the show, for which she won aGolden Globein 2015. “Even in the hardships, even in the difficulties, even when we were doing 16 hours a day, even when it was just bleeding me dry of energy and life, and I would miss birthday parties and Christmases and vacations with family, and I would miss everything… I just made sure that I appreciated why I was missing all those things, and I did.”

Gina Rodriguez as Jane and Justin Baldoni as Rafael on ‘Jane the Virgin’.Kevin Estrada/The CW

Last month,Rodriguez and Baldoni both marked the five-year anniversaryof the show’s2019 finalewith Baldoni writing on Instagram that he “can’t believe it’s been five years,” and Rodriguez then shared hisposton her Stories, writing, “I miss this life.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Jane the Virgincan be streamed in full on Netflix, andLucky 13airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

source: people.com