“Jane the Virgin” fans may have noticed a pattern emerging from the “Matlock” casting department.
“Jane” star Gina Rodriguez guest-starred in this week’s Season 2 finale of the CBS legal drama as federal agent Lida Gutierrez, who helped bring down Senior in the Wellbrexa cover-up. By our count, she’s at least the fifth “Jane” alum to appear on “Matlock” in two seasons — which makes sense, when you realize that “Matlock” showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman also wrote the “Jane the Virgin” pilot and served as showrunner for all five seasons of “Jane” on The CW.
So when it came time to cast Lida, Urman tells TVLine, she naturally turned to a familiar face. “I was literally just sitting on my bed, struggling on how to write this role,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘Who would it be, and how would it be interesting?’ And then I was like, ‘If it was Gina, it would be so interesting!'”
Urman texted Rodriguez “at, like, 11 at night” to offer her the role of Lida, she remembers, “and she texted back at 11:03 and said yes.” Casting Rodriguez as Lida helped Urman figure out “just what kind of person [Lida] is, and how to create this sort of odd duck of a loner who comes in for not that many scenes, but very significant scenes.”
Senior was arrested in the finale’s closing moments, but he’ll still have to stand trial. So will we see Rodriguez back as Lida next season? “I hope so, yeah,” Urman says.
Matlock is filled with Jane the Virgin alums
But Gina Rodriguez isn’t the only “Jane the Virgin” alum to walk through the halls of Jacobson Moore. So far on “Matlock,” we’ve seen Yael Grobglas (aka Petra) as jury consultant Shae, Justina Machado (aka Darci) as Senior’s ex-wife Eva, and Yara Martinez (aka Luisa) as a client developing AI software. Plus, in the Season 2 finale, Bridget Regan — who played the drug lord Rose on “Jane” — guest-starred as a hard-charging prosecutor.
At this rate, we’re going to see the full “Jane” cast on “Matlock” sooner or later. So can we expect to see Rogelio de la Vega himself, Jaime Camil, playing a glamorous client at some point? “Yes, yes, yes,” showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman says with a laugh. “Absolutely. One hundred percent.” (Jaime, call your agent.)
And when it comes to Grobglas as Shae, Urman hints that “I definitely want her back” next season, “because she and Matty, there was something real that was forged there.”
Which “Jane” alums would you like to see on “Matlock” next? Let us know in the comments!
