'Jane The Virgin' guest star Jane Seymour talks romance writer role, real-life plans to pen erotic novel

Jane The Virgin has made its mark on primetime TV with its use of magic realism—and, in a particularly playful twist, Jane Seymour will guest as a romance novelist who also leads a support group for writers.

“Even I went ‘what?’” says Seymour of hearing the storyline for her three-episode story arc. “All I can say is in the first episode, I’m teaching a romance writers group and we’re asking for people’s opinion of other people’s work. I have very strange rules about what we do and don’t do. And of course, Jane doesn’t quite understand it, and as usual, she gets it all confused.”

The Emmy Award-winning actress is well qualified to play a writer—after all, she’s penned a number of books, including the 1986 title Jane Seymour’s Guide to Romantic Living. But that’s where the similarities between Seymour and her character end.

“She’s only ever written one novel,” says Seymour, laughing. “She thinks she’s the queen of that world, but she’s really only ever done the one book. One was clearly enough because it was very successful, but she does consider herself the queen of romance.”

Though the actress refuses to spill additional details about her romance writer role, she admits that in her second episode of Jane, she somehow becomes “involved with the family.” Seymour says her character is neither “mousy” nor “a hippie.” Might that make her an over-the-top temptress?

Possibly—which leaves room for her character to flirt a bit with Rogelio (Jaime Camil). “I did a scene with him,” says Seymour. “We had so much fun …every time I said his name with my stupid accent, [Camil] literally lost it. He tried not to laugh and was crying and crying.”

In fact, working opposite the Mexican soap star has helped secure Seymour’s reputation as a top-notch actress. Well, among a certain set, anyway. “We took some photographs together that went up on the Internet, and everybody, especially everyone I know from Mexico, they went, ‘Oh my God! Now you actually have a career,’” says Seymour with a chuckle.

Jokes aside, while Seymour had never watched Jane The Virgin before being approached about a guest role, she’s found that she has plenty in common with the show’s main character, an abstinent young woman.

“My first role that I ever played when I started was as a virgin on an English television show called The Onedin Line, and then the next thing I immediately get is the virgin Solitaire in Live and Let Die. I think I was the only Bond girl who was a virgin. And then if you think about it, at the age of 40, they signed me to play Dr. Quinn, who—guess what—she was a virgin,” Seymour says. “The character was 30, but in real life, I was 40 and I already had three children. And I was still playing a virgin. So I’ve been playing the virgin thing for a long time!”

For the record, Seymour says she’s open to writing the type of super-sexy romance novels that Jane loves so much. “I’ve been asked on many occasions to do it, and at one point, my literary agent and I came up with some concepts and ideas and then I just, I got so busy doing other things that I didn’t do it,” she says. “It’s not completely out of the question in the future.”

Should she write a romance novel, expect a racy read in the vein of Sylvia Day or E.L. James.

“It’d be a chance to tell some major stories and not have to attribute them to me or anyone I knew,” says the Golden Globe winner. “It’s probably a safer option than writing an autobiography!”

But first, she’s open to the possibility of becoming series regular on Jane. “I’m going to be in a third episode next season and then, who knows?” she says. “I told them I’m very happy to come and go whenever they’d like.”