Father's near death experience made me positive: Gina

London: Actress Gina Rodriguez says her father's near-to-death experience when she was just a teenager taught her to stay positive and chase her dreams.

The 31-year-old "Jane The Virgin" star was just 15-year-old, when Genaro nearly died after finding himself involved in a nasty car crash, and whilst he has made a full recovery, his close call had a lasting effect on her attitude towards life, reported Female First.

"My father got into a terrible car accident. The car was like an accordion, it was so smashed. They were totally sure we were going to lose him.

"Then he started making me look in the passenger-side mirror every day and say, 'Today's going to be a great day. I can and I will.' At the time, I thought it was so lame. The worst! But he wouldn't let me out of the car until I did it. What I came to realise is that there is no better way to live than the way that man lives."

The actress said her dreams have only got bigger as her career progressed. "And I want to be a superhero. I want to be an X-Man. Talk about Storm ... I want to create a storm! My dreams keep getting bigger. I don't expect them to happen tomorrow. But I believe they'll happen before I'm done.

"I think you must believe something can happen in order for it to happen. I definitely always believed I was capable of doing all this, as long as I didn't stop trying," she said.